BHP 330 car trains. May be of interest.

["Toad" <toad@norcom.net.au>]

Here's a copy of a press release. May be of interest.
Regards,
Toad.
BHP plans to introduce giant iron ore trains up to 3.5km long as part of its
ongoing push to trump arch rival Rio Tinto in the Pilbara productivity
stakes.
Stung by the realisation a couple of years ago that Rio's Hamersley unit was
able to produce iron ore significantly cheaper, BHP Iron Ore is studying
every nook and cranny of its business to enhance value.

BHP claims that several improvements - including labour reforms, staff
cutting, improved strip ratios and the use of contractors - have
dramatically narrowed the profitability gap between the two companies.

Graeme Hunt, president of Western Australia Iron Ore for BHP, said last week
that he hoped to cut a further $1 per tonne from BHP's cash operating costs
this fiscal year.

He said the new programs for "operating excellence" included coordinated
scheduling, continuous stockpile management, and reduced train cycle time.

The latter will be achieved by using 330 car trains (up from 220 cars
currently) that are 3.5km in length.

These rail behemoths will be critical to BHP's rail scheduling as it seeks
to accommodate new ore from its $350 million Mining Area C development over
the next few years, as well as more sales from Yandi.

BHP's two railway systems - one linking the Newman and Yandi mines and the
other the Yarrie mine - deliver iron ore to shipping facilities at Nelson
Point and Finucane Island on opposite sides of Port Hedland harbour.

A 1.16km-long under-harbour tunnel transfers fine ore from Nelson Point to
the Finucane island ship loader and the HBI Plant at Boodarie.

Jim Netterfield, vice president of BHP Iron Ore's railways and ports, said
last week that BHP's current rail capacity was around 72 million tonnes -
64Mt into Nelson Point and 8Mt into Finucane.

The company expects to ship more than 60Mt in the fiscal year ending June
30, but exports will grow as more tonnes come out of Mining Area C and
Yandi.

"In the next five or ten years there are some relatively easy expansion
steps available at the port," said Netterfield. "We've got more than enough
rail capacity available to meet the current record demand, but we want to
look a bit further out."

The move to 330 car trains will require longer sidings, better brakes and
improved control systems, among other technical innovations.

In simple terms, a smaller number of bigger trains on the track should
result in less single line "meets" - reducing the time lost by trains
waiting on sidings for another train to go past.

"The trials have shown that it seems to be practical," Netterfield said.

However, BHP still needed to develop the best loading/unloading practices to
suit the bigger trains, he said.

The train extension program would be installed over the next 12 months at a
rough cost of $10-20 million, Netterfield said.

The latest "low cost" rail plan comes after a couple of larger expenditure
programs in the 1990s. The company spent $20 million last year installing a
new ship loader on Finucane Island and $282 million between 1996 and 1998 on
a railway and port capacity expansion.