Re: How about some facts about the NR class?

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <363bfc64.0@tpg.com.au> "K & D" <coota99nee@tpgi.com.au> writes:
>From: "K & D" <coota99nee@tpgi.com.au>
>Subject: How about some facts about the NR class?
>Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 17:23:13 +1100

>There seems to be an opinion out there that NRC went overboard with the NR
>order.

>Just out of interest.

>1. How many NRs are actually in use at any one time?
>2. How much has IP on-time running changed (+/-) since NR took over?
>3. Do interstate freight trains now operated by NR have less or more lost
>time due to loco problems?
>4. By what amount have running costs changed since the NR class was
>introduced ?
>5. Would the EPA allow ALFs/CLFs/BLs/80s/etc to be run in NSW  by a private
>operator in the medium to long term (> 3 years time)?

>--
>K & D.

>        *** Remove 99 from email address to reply ***


These are good questions , but they dont really address the original problem.
There is no doubt that any rail operator who buys a new fleet of locomotives , 
and uses them in place of old locomotives will find an improvement in 
reliability, fuel economy , time keeping , all the sorts of things that 
Railway operators need.
The question that really needs to be asked , and for which we will not get an 
answer is 
Does the increased reliabilty , reduced costs due to greater fuel efficiency, 
reduced costs due to greater on time running totally compensate for the 
increased liabilities in order to meet the interest payments on the loan 
required to buy the new locos in the first place.

For example , some Railway operators like ASR and WCR are clearly making a 
profit, in the case of ASR , a very good profit , operating with a fleet of 
old rebuilt locos (CLP/CLF & ALF) + a number of very old series 2 GMs.
This company has shown up till now anyway , no sign of buying a fleet of new 
locos.
WCR is a classic example of another Company doing very well with incredibly 
old locos, same goes for NRR.

There is no right answer to any of this .
Traditionally Government Railways in this country have always bought or leased
brand new locos , and then when there life was expired,scrapped them and 
bought new ones.
Private railways , like the Iron Ore Railways in WA , (The most efficient 
Railways in the world by the way.) have taken the rebuilding approach much 
more often.
There are some examples of Govt Rebuilds namely the CL / AL to CLF and ALF and 
the original Vline Bs to As , although I would argue that this wasnt a rebuild 
but a completely differant loco in the same frame.

NRC are operating a lean , mean operation , and good luck to them , I hope 
they can keep it up  , but there are some things that worry me .
Firstly , if one assumes that NRS new loco fleet has improved operations as 
much as NR would like us to beleive , how are companies like SCT, TNT and 
Patricks able to successfully compete with them over the same corridors with 
older , less reliable and less fuel efficient locomotives.

Over the next few years we are going to see a greater degree of competition 
for rail freight , as operators like freightcorp and vline freight start 
expanding out of their states, and fighting for the diminishing amounts of 
freight available to rail.
I suspect also that a privatised Westrail will be doing the same.
This means that the share of the cake for each operator falls , and with it 
revenues.
The winner will be the operator that has the least ongoing liabilities.
At this stage , my monies on ASR.

cheers
MD