Grangeh,Here's another one for you :)All aboard this train NIGEL...

Grangeh,

Here's another one for you :)

All aboard this train

NIGEL ADLAM

August 26th, 2009


The Darwin-Adelaide freight service needs to be made into a profitable business, the National Transport Commission says

THE Darwin to Adelaide railway needs to be made profitable as a crucial step towards rejuvenating Australia's neglected freight train industry, the National Transport Commission says.

And a leading consultant says a link should be built between Mt Isa and the AustralAsia railway.

Freightlink, the company that runs the freight service, went into administration in November last year after senior lenders refused to allow a private sale. But chief executive John Fullerton has always insisted that the operation is profitable. Freightlink hopes to find a buyer this year.

"The business has alwaysbeen profitable," Mr Fullertonsaid yesterday.

"It inherited significant debt from the construction phase. Debt was the issue, not profitability.

"Once the business is sold, it will be profitable from day one."

The transport commission warned that Australia's rail freight industry had to be restructured.

It said train freight would double by 2030.

Adelaide-based rail consultant Francis Dwornik said that the five "most pressing issues" facing rail freight were:

TO make the Darwin-Adelaide route profitable by focusing on increasing rail tonnage and improving access to ports.

TO create a rail link from Brisbane to the Adelaide-Darwin line - this would mean building a track 600km from Mt Isa to Tennant Creek.

TO upgrade the freight links between Melbourne and Adelaide.

TO develop the inland rail between Melbourne and Brisbane with a major interchange at Parkes.

TO continue to improve the line between Melbourne and Sydney.

"Without these additional lines the rail freight industry will not be competing in its most productive sectors and will lose ground," Mr Dwornik said.

"At issue are not just productivity problems but a lack of investment that has seen the Australian rail industry grow in line with its population distribution of 100 years ago.

"The five critical investment areas I have outlined will go a long way toward redressing the balance toward the new demand centres."


http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/08/26/79131_nt-business.html