Towards a better charging regime for Rail.
Maurie Daly (mauried@commslab.gov.au)
Tue, 17 Feb 1998 08:22:31 GMT
I have been thinking about the method of how Train operators are charged under
the various track access schemes,and have come to the conclusion that Rail can
never compete with road simply because the fundamental differance of the
charging regimes.
The road freight industry doesnt pay the equivalent of a rail access
charge,you could call it a road access charge.
Rather it pays 2 components in fees.
One is a annual registration charge for the prime mover , based on the number
of axles and gross weight.
The other is the federal fuel excise on diesel fuel consumed.
This essentially means that the road user doesnt pay a road access charge per
trip , but only pays based on the fuel used.
This essentially means that it is economic for the truckie to keep his truck
on the road as much as possible,as it increases his revenue.
Rail on the other hand , has to pay the Federal fuel excise and also pay a
track access charge based on the number trips and the tonnage hauled.
This means that rail has a massive disadvantage over the trucking industry.
Should we be moving towards a locomotive registration charge for each
locomotive based on the equivalent truck charge , ie the axle load and the
number of axles,and completely forget track access charges.
This means that the rail industry then has the same incentives as the road
industry,ie keeping all the registered locomotives running as much as possible
thus raising the available income.
Charging track access fees is essentially calling Rail Network a Toll Railway.
Comments.
MD