Re: How about some facts about the NR class?

[krel4203@netconnect.com.au (Krel )]

On Sun, 1 Nov 1998 09:42:16 GMT, mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)
wrote:

>
>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.

Are they putting enough money away for when the time comes to
replace/rebuild the loco fleet? If not then it is a false profit (or
their accountant is a false prophet ;-)).

>WCR is a classic example of another Company doing very well with incredibly 
>old locos, same goes for NRR.
>
WCRs profit is directly related to government policy on passenger
trains. If they make a healthy profit - fine but do not confuse this
with stand alone operations. Any train is better than any bus. 

>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.
They also scrap locos much earlier, on average, than gov't lines. 

>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.
>
ALF, CLF and A class were not overly successful rebuilds. 

>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.
>
NR was looking for some standardisation. From a fleet of varied, old
low powered buckets of bolts to a relatively homogeneous fleet of new,
more powerful, more fuel efficient locos sounds reasonable. Sure some
NR locos are underutilised but, given the turmoil that interstate
freight is in at the moment, it is an insurance. What if NR lands a
large hook and pull contract tomorrow? I'm sure that whoever is
currently supplying locos would not hand them over to NR. 
Whether we like it or not some of NR competitors are rail operators
and some are road operators (and at least one is a sea operator).

SCT, TNT and Patricks do not own any mainline locos. They have a "hook
and pull" supply agreement with ASR &/or VLF. If a loco fails they get
paid a penalty.  The risk is with the power supplier. 

>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.

AFAIK the ammount of frieght on rail is increasing slightly, it is the
market share that is slipping. Hopefully imrovements on the East Coast
will imrpove this including crossing loop extentions paid for by NR
but used by all rail operators will help. The various track owning
authorities could not or would not lengthen loops unless someone else
paid for it.

>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.
>
ASR have some very Draconian industrial arrangements. They save a lot
of money by paying less for more. For example crews traveling as
passengers to/from a job do not get paid. The only reason that this is
tolerated is the fact that there is not much call for unemployed,
middle-aged train drivers in SA - it is either put up with this or go
on the dole. I would guess that ASR would have the lowest staff morale
in Aust.

Cheers

Krel


>cheers
>MD
>

All's well that ends.