Re: NRC & Douglas Park

[<glillic@msn.com.au>]

>
>Without making any comment about the particular incident , until a full
report
>is available, it does however raise one interesting issue in relation to
>horizontal integration of railways in that who are the rail police.?
>In the road scenerio , road users can be ordered off the roads for having
>unroadworthy vehicles .
>Who performs this function in the rail scene , ie how do we know that there
>arnt un- railworthy vehicles, either locos or rolling stock travelling
round.
> Given the recent de-railment at Lara in Vic and this one , it would seem
that
>there is a requirement for some sort of inspection mechanism for rolling
stock
>undertaken by someone other than the rail operator.
>It would also seem prudent along the same lines to have rail weighbridges
or
>random rail weighings carried out , to make sure that vehicles arnt being
>overloaded.
>Since most rail operators pay a access fee , based on a GTK basis , if
there
>arnt weighbridges in use , how does the track owner know exactly how much a
>train weighs , for fee purposes.?
>
>Thorny issues ??
>
>MD
>

In NSW the Rail Safety Act is administered by NSW Dept of Transport. This
covers most of the above aspects of surveillance. Furthermore Rail Access
Corp has various powers in regard to the trains permitted to operate on its
tracks.


Geoff