[Vic] Siemens' win a boon for local industry

["David Lindstrom" <D_Lindstrom@Bigpond.com>]

http://www.theage.com.au/bus/20001016/A52685-2000Oct15.html

Siemens' win a boon for local industry

By PHILIP HOPKINS
Monday 16 October 2000


The German giant Siemens has dipped its toes into Victoria's
transport waters.

Siemens' transport arm has won a $570 million contract to supply
trains and trams to public transport operator National Express.

A visiting Siemens transport delegation last week said this
would be the start of greater things, including partnerships
with local manufacturers and bids for the State Government's
proposed regional fast trains and airport-to-city train.

The company even has hopes for the magnetic levitation (maglev)
high-speed train, in which Siemens is a partner with Thyssen and
Adtranz - and local industry would play a role.

The executive director of Siemens' energy and transport division
in Australia, Stephen Jones, said the National Express success
had created a "vertical take-off in orders" and would be the
basis for building the company's business in Australia.

Siemens did not want to just sell the parent company's products
in Australia, but wanted to develop value-adding and be
established in supply and maintenance, he said.

Mr Jones said Siemens winning the contract had been a sensitive
issue, with Victorian manufacturers missing out on much of the
work.

"However, we have responded with a charter set up based on
guidelines from the Industrial Supplies Office," he said. (The
ISO sources local products to replace imports.)

The aim was to maximise the role of local manufacturers in
supplying sub-systems for the new rolling stock, he said.

Mr Jones said the head of the rail purchasing group from Germany
had visited Australia and taken part in briefings and
interviewing and assessing suppliers.

An 18-person trade mission with the ISO to Vienna had also made
breakthroughs and significant orders for Australian
manufacturers were in the pipeline, Mr Jones said.

The products of Port Melbourne company Pacific Communications
had been so well received that it was bidding for work,
potentially worth $80 million, with Siemens in Britain, he said.

Hans-Dieter Bott, vice-president of the transport division of
parent company Siemens AG, said this was extremely important
because Siemens wanted to expand global sourcing for its orders.

"We will still source in Germany to a large extent, but we want
to find other, competitive sources. Australian companies could
be part of this," he said.

Mr Jones said Siemens was interested in the government's fast
regional train initiative and the proposed airport-central
business district train service.

"Siemens has the technology and products for a number of
alternatives for the fast train services," he said.

The ideal was the tilt train but the rail track was in such a
poor condition that not even a tilt train could run on the track
at any speed.

Mr Jones said the base-model option for the Tullamarine-CBD link
was to have customised trains on the existing suburban corridor
with a spur lane to the airport.

"This would be the easiest to get under way, but it would still
run on the suburban network and would take 23 minutes to get to
the city," he said.

"This is a long time if you are a businessman who has just spent
more than an hour flying from Sydney, and then you still have to
catch a taxi at the station," he said.

Mr Jones said the maglev train would get from the airport to the
city in eight minutes.

However, it would be more expensive and would need a dedicated
track.

The maglev's top speed was 550 kilometres per hour in the
country, but it could travel 250-300 kilometres per hour in the
city.

Mr Jones said the train travelled without significant noise
because, unlike conventional trains, magnetic force propelled
the train and there was no friction from wheels on the track and
acceleration was smooth.

Even though the maglev was new technology, he said many
components were conventional and would be sourced locally.

Mr Jones said Siemens had not given up hope that Maglev could
win the high-speed train project between Sydney, Canberra and
Melbourne, and even the whole east coast, despite the fact that
Speedrail, with French TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) technology,
was the preferred developer on the Sydney-Canberra route.

The maglev would do Sydney-Melbourne in two hours 30 minutes,
creating a real alternative to air. "But it all depends on what
the Federal Government will do," he said.



--
Regards,
David Lindstrom