RailCorp to be split in New South Wales passenger shake up
16 May 2012,
11:23:00
AUSTRALIA: 'The biggest shake up to the
state's railways in a generation' was announced by New South Wales Transport
Minister Gladys Berejiklian on May 15. The 'Fixing the Trains' initiative will
see RailCorp replaced by two new organisations over the next 12 to 18 months.
Sydney Trains is to be created to take over suburban services, while NSW Trains
would operate long-distance inter-city and regional trains. The government hopes
the new organisations will be better placed to tailor services to meet different
customer needs. 'RailCorp has tried to be everything to everyone and failed',
said Berejiklian. A new Customer Service Division is to be created from July 1,
while responsibility for construction and major projects will be transferred to
Transport for NSW, which was created last year with responsibility for policy
and planning. Around 750 RailCorp middle-management jobs are to go through
voluntary redundancies. Train cleaning procedures will be revised to eliminate
legacy working practices, with 870 staff transferring to a specialist unit and
'commercial' benchmarks introduced. The government is predicting that patronage
on its rail services will grow by 50% over the next 25 years, and says meeting
this demand would be 'unsustainable without reform'. It claims RailCorp's
operating costs are 50% higher per passenger-km than comparable international
systems, with rolling stock maintenance costs 30% higher per vehicle-km.
'RailCorp is currently financially unsustainable', said Berejiklian. 'It costs
A$10m a day to run, with costs rising three times as fast as the number of
passenger journeys.' Restructuring aims 'to give the people of NSW the
world-class rail system they deserve', said Berejiklian. 'This is all about
making customers the focus of the railways, not the bureaucracy. These changes
will align rail services to customers' needs and make it easier for rail
employees to do their job. Unless we take drastic action, things will continue
to get worse'. Berejiklian said more changes are planned, but privatisation 'is
not our policy.'
Pakistan's private rail freight plan awarded US funding
15 May 2012,
16:22:00
PAKISTAN: Private-sector logistics firm
Premier Mercantile Services has been awarded a grant to study the feasibility of
acquiring its own locomotive fleet. The US Trade & Development Agency signed
the US$628 000 agreement on May 15. A US contractor is to be selected to
undertake a feasibility study which would provide PMS with an assessment of
future freight volumes, security and communications needs and financing
requirements. Trains would initially operate between the port of Karachi and
Lahore, one of Pakistan's most important freight corridors. According to USTDA,
the project 'also contemplates the eventual expansion of the project northbound
from Lahore into Afghanistan'. National operator Pakistan Railways is suffering
from a critical shortage of operational locomotives, with plans to acquire up to
150 from US or Chinese suppliers mired in political debate for many years. As a
result, PR has agreed to allow PMS to use its own locomotives to haul PR wagons.
'Assisting PMS with its planning for locomotive acquisitions will help improve
trade flows and access to the international market for northern Pakistan and
potentially Afghanistan', said USTDA Regional Director Henry Steingass. 'This
project also represents significant opportunities for US companies in Pakistan's
growing transportation sector.'
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