The Vic privatised Rail System

[mauried@tpg.com.au (Maurie Daly)]

Not living in VIC anymore , there are some aspects to all of this that
I dont understand.

1/ In the Metro area where we have the two franchised suburban rail
operators , who is responsible for track maintenance .
Are there any common tracks , ie tracks over which both operators
regularily run.
Do both of the operators have a track access regime for other
operators who wish to run over their tracks.
Who owns / is responsible for the stations , including Flinders St and
Spencer St.
Who operates and pays for manning of signal boxes , including Metrol.

2/ In the country where NXP runs most of the country trains does it
have to negotiate access rights to run over other peoples tracks.
eg if NXP want to run a train from Spencer St to Geelong who does it
have to gain access rights from , who provides the train control.
Who staffs and pays for the signallers at Werribee,Nth Geelong A,B and
C and Sth Geelong.
Who maintains the signalling communications etc, which is common to
both FA and ARTCs tracks.

Sorry for the heap of questions , but Ive never understood how all
this can work properly.

thanks
MD