> The real competition is road and air.
The subject asks about the future of FreightCorp. Air is not in
competition with FreightCorp, but with NR, as FreightCorp operates
entirely within the state. The only competition with FreightCorp is from
road. FreightCorp's main income is from coal haulage in the Hunter
Valley, and there is no way that road can compete with rail here. It
would take 2 men to move 8100 tonnes of coal from a mine to the port by
rail. It would take about 300 men to move the same amount of coal by
road. This is an area where competition could strike. Private companies
would only require one man to move the load, and would probably scrap
things like shift penalties, tonnage money and length money.
-- David Johnson - Rail Services Authority trainman@ozemail.com.au trainman@railpage.org.au http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman