Re: Latest from the NSW rumour mill

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

In article <7khonq$mbv$1@the-fly.zip.com.au> "Andrew Honan" <ahonan@wr.com.au> writes:
>From: "Andrew Honan" <ahonan@wr.com.au>
>Subject: Re: Latest from the NSW rumour mill
>Date: Sun, 20 Jun 1999 13:56:09 +1000


>Ben Staples <98711576@student.hawkesbury.uws.edu.au> wrote in message
>7kh64g$sgr@ob1.uws.EDU.AU">news:7kh64g$sgr@ob1.uws.EDU.AU...
>>
>> David Bromage <dbromage@omni.com.au> wrote in message
>>
>> > Latest rumour: Countrylink is to be privatised after the Olympic.
>> > 49% of FreightCorp will be sold and listed on the stock exchange.
>> >
>> > I now open the floor to wild and uninformed conjecture and speculation.
>>
>> What about Rail Services Australia. Are they to be flogged oof, or are
>they
>> to wither and die.
>>
>> Ben Staples
>>
>>
>>
>The RSA is a difficult decision.
>The organization has a lot of expertise (Overhead wiring & signaling) and
>capital equipment. Unfortunately it has suffered from mismanagement from
>successive state governments. It needs a commercial focus but this can only
>happen in a reformed rail transport system.

>It gets down to the argument that M Daly raised about vertical integration.
>The urban rail task is predominantly state run and therefore a state based
>maintenance group maybe viable, say working through SRA. Trying to fit
>freight and interurban tasks into the metropolitan system is very difficult
>especially during peak periods.

>However there is a compelling case to be made that private maintainers can
>also be contracted to the SRA.

>On the freight lines (vertically integrated), the freight operators will
>contract out the maintenance and capital works to whoever. The RSA will be
>dealt out of this picture.

>The RSA also own a lot of spares and specialized equipment. This
>unfortunately is not costed properly to work jobs or depreciated in any
>commercial sense. Much of the spares is to cover antiquated in-service
>equipment.

>Maybe there is a role for RSA  to be a stores and plant & equipment
>operator??

>Unfortunately I just don't believe that rail is high on the state
>governments agenda, and as such the RSA is a victim to this. Sure, the
>governments take note of unemployment, in regional NSW, and respond
>accordingly, but ultimately it is only a matter of time for the RSA to go
>under (or consumed by someone else) or rail to go under (by State govt
>neglect.
>The best thing that could happen for RSA workers is for Freight Corp to be
>sold quickly and workers to come on board the this new group. The government
>should offer huge voluntary redundancies as a result of the sale.
>Likewise CityRail should organize their own capital works and maintenance
>rather than through RAC.

>AH


There is a possible solution to the above problem.
Do what Kennet did in Victoria.
We privatise Freightcorp in a vertically integrated structure with the 
execption of what can be loosely described as the National Rail Network and we 
lease this to ARTC,same as the SG lines in Victoria.
ARTC contract RSA to maintain the National Network in NSW as does the new 
buyer of Freightcorp for say 5 years (this could be part of the sale 
condition.)
In return for NSW handing over the National lines to ARTC, the feds agree to 
build and fund a goods only access line from Cambeltown to Enfield or wherever.
This is likely as the Feds have indicated that more funding will flow when 
there is some sign of cooperation from NSW.
This gets rid of the secret RAC  access regime on the National Network 
and the new buyer of Freightcorp would have the same deal as does FV in 
Victoria.
An impartial arbitrator could be appointed to resolve access disputes between 
the new owner of Freightcorp and any other operators.
Coal companies in the Hunter would be free to run and crew their own trains if 
they wished.

The suburban Network would be handed in totality to Cityrail with a 
requirement to maintain lines over which freight trains belonging to anyone 
ran to a minimum standard determined by Standards Australia or a more 
representative Railway organization .
The same requirement would be imposed on ARTC and who ever bought Freightcorp
to maintain their lines to the same standard if Cityrail trains ran over them.

Its not a perfect solution , but possible and implementable.

MD