The
Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA) will urge the Productivity
Commission to seize the opportunity to improve interstate rail access, when it
appears before the Commission’s National Access Regime inquiry hearing in
Sydney (Medina on Crown, Fitzroy Room, 359 Crown St, Surry Hills), this
Wednesday.
The
RTSA’s Government Affairs spokesperson, Dr Philip Laird said today that the
Productivity Commission’s Inquiry while not totally neglecting rail, had
largely ignored the issue of access to the interstate rail network.
Dr
Laird said, “The issues of interstate rail freight operators gaining
adequate access to NSW mainline track, and the substandard state of the NSW
interstate track have dragged on for too long. These issues deserve more
attention than was given in the March 2001 Position Paper of the Productivity
Commission in its Review of the National Access Regime.”
“The
RTSA will submit to the Productivity Commission on Wednesday that it should
agree to address the above issues relating to interstate rail access within
the scope of the current inquiry. The Trade Practices Act would seem to
require nothing less.”
The
RTSA submission will also outline the poor state of the Albury-Sydney-Brisbane
mainline track, with suggestions as to how the access issue may be resolved,
and the track upgraded.
“New
South Wales appears to be the recalcitrant child when it comes to the issue of
rail freight reform. The establishment of seamless access to the interstate
rail network is seen as a cornerstone of the reform process, yet NSW has
doggedly resisted attempts to see this established,” said Dr Laird.
“The
focus of the NSW Government on rail issues is quite clearly on the urban
CityRail network, often to the detriment of interstate operators. There
appears to be little logic in this continuing resistance to giving up a degree
of control over parts of its non-urban network.”
Dr
Laird concluded, “It is clear that a national rail access regime is not
working effectively. Minister Anderson said last year that if a national rail
access regime was not working effectively by mid-2001, the Government would
consider further options, including Commonwealth legislation.”
“The time for words has passed and it is now time
for the Minister to take action and adopt a bigger carrot and stick approach
to break this deadlock between the Commonwealth and New South Wales. Australia
can no longer afford the ongoing failure to resolve the issue of interstate
access whilst delaying much needed investment into the NSW rail network.”
An
Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) in November 1997, in theory paved the way for
a ‘one-stop shop’ for open access for inter-city freight trains to the
Nation’s interstate rail network. The States were to work cooperatively to
ensure that train operators could gain seamless access to the interstate
standard gauge rail network between Brisbane and Perth.
In
July 1998, the Commonwealth established the Australian Rail Track Corporation
(ARTC) to own and manage former South Australian and Commonwealth owned
interstate tracks. The Victorian Government has since leased its interstate
track to ARTC, which now controls the interstate network from Albury to
Kalgoorlie.
Since
1998, the ARTC has progressively upgraded the Albury - Melbourne - Adelaide -
Perth track. However, the NSW interstate track via Albury, Sydney and Brisbane
remains in substandard condition. Examples
include the condition of the 1880-built bridge over the Murrumbidgee slowing
trains down to 20 km per hour and antiquated safe-working systems, along with
steep ruling grades and excessive curvature.
Negotiations
with New South Wales to establish a Wholesale Access Agreement whereby ARTC
would purchase train paths from the Rail Infrastructure Corporation and provide
a ‘one-stop shop’ for operators have been stalled for well over a year.
The
recent National Track Audit outlined that the East – West corridor linking
Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, is working well, but the North – South
Melbourne-Sydney-and Brisbane rail axis is un-competitive because of lack of
investment.
Investment
on the rail track linking Australia's three largest cities has been very
limited, partly as a result of the ongoing inability to resolve the track access
issue. Federal Transport Minister John Anderson announced on May 22 that he
would withhold $110 million in Commonwealth funding earmarked for the NSW part
of the interstate network until some resolution is found.
However,
three Federal Government inquiries have found that the Commonwealth should
increase its investment in interstate track, with the House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Transport calling again, in May 2001, for the Commonwealth
to show more leadership in this issue. The RTSA suggests that this should extend
to the Productivity Commission.
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