The Loco Division is pleased to see funding in the State Budget for the purchase of land for the North West Rail link. This is a positive move towards the development and implementation of a much-needed large-scale rail transport plan that will address the needs of the major growth areas of Sydney. Transport planning in this state has been held back for a number of years by a significant lack of funding.

However, the RTBU is gravely concerned about the loss of 5,000 jobs from the public sector as no great detail has been supplied as to where these losses will occur and the previous history of Liberal Governments’ “slash and burn” mentality when it comes to the public sector is still fresh in our minds.

The State Budget contained funding for a number of important rail infrastructure projects, but this investment will be wasted if there are not enough workers to run services.

350 jobs are being cut to ‘back office’ staff in transport agencies, but the State Government had not announced any new front-line service positions.

The State Budget delivers on new rail infrastructure and provides essential funding for new trains and buses.

But to deliver high-quality services you need to have enough staff to drive the trains and buses, to sell tickets and protect passengers.

There also needs to be enough people behind the scenes running operations, making sure the public transport system works smoothly and effectively.

Budget announcements for rail included:

• $262 million to develop the 23-kilomtere North West Rail Link, including $172 for land purchases;
• $292 million to continue the $2.1 billion South West Rail Link;
• $159 million for the Country Regional Network, including $57.5 million to re-sleeper tracks, $10.3 million to renew bridges, and $3.7 million to convert jopinted rail to continuous welded track;
• $198 million for the Rail Clearways program to continue construction works for the Liverpool turnback, the Kingsgrove to Revesby quadruplicaton, the Richmond line duplicaton and a new line for Macarthur;
• $15.8 to improve infrastructure to meet the needs of new Waratah trains;
• $15 million to continue a new stabling facility at Emu Plains and $10.5 million to continue Wollongong stabling works;
• $152 million to buy and upgrade rolling stock, including $130 million toward 99 new carriages for outer suburban services;
• $102 million over four years to provide more express rail services; and
• $2 million for a study into re-opening services on the Casino to Murwillumbah line.

In early August Steve Wright, NSW Loco Division Freight Organiser, and Pacific National Branch councillor Peter Mundey, attended a workshop on the ATMS (Advanced Train Management System) project.

This project commenced in July 2008 with the announcement of $90 million investment by ARTC who entered into a $73.2 million contract with Lockheed Martin to design, develop, construct and test ATMS on 105km of interstate railway track between Crystal Brook and Port Augusta.

In September 2009, Risk workshops took place and Stage 1 consultation with Pacific National, Interail, Genesee Wyoming occurred in December 2009. However the RTBU was not involved.

During 2010 Proof of Concept trials using a specially modified high rail over the trial area were started, with the tests finally completed by January 2011.

Stage 2 testing is currently being done mainly on computer software. Stage 2 Proof of concept will take place in mid 2012 at a cost of $90 million and total network rollout is estimated at a cost of $480 million.

It is estimated that around 700 locomotives will require a fit-out prior to rollout.

Engineers who are working on the project have expressed interest in meeting with delegates to get feedback on the project from drivers. It’s hoped that the engineers will be able to fly out from the US to attend the Locomotive Divisional Council in December.

For more information please see www.atms.artc.com.au.

The ABC’s PM with Mark Colvin aired a report on the announcement of the inquiry into the southern rail line last Friday (Aug 26).

It featured interviews with the RTBU National Secretary Bob Nanva and a prominent railway engineering consultant, Jim Matijasevich, who confirms that he advised the ARTC in 2007 not to use the side-sleeper insertion method and that if it did, the result would be “within a short period major work will be required on the new concrete sleepers and the introduction of new ballast will be needed”.

He also alleges that the ARTC had instructed the resleepering consortium that “the object was to get the sleepers in at the cheapest price without consideration of the ramifications.”

For those of you who missed the show, you can download the transcript here: ABC Radio pdf

Divisional Secretary Robert Hayden has written to the Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese calling on him to instigate a genuinely independent enquiry to investigate the current resleepering practices before a tragedy happens.

Despite the more than $500 million spent by the government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) the Sydney – Melbourne rail corridor is still in a dangerously neglected state

Self-regulation by the ARTC has failed and the RTBU warns that without direct immediate intervention, drivers may be forced to refuse to operate the rail corridor due to health and safety concerns.

The continued denial of the problem by ARTC has forced the union to demand that the minister intervene directly.

The union has been campaigning for more than 12 months for Federal Government action to fix the southern track and ensure that future resleepering projects on the national network are carried out to the highest possible standard.

The lack of action has far-reaching consequences not just for safety, but also in productivity losses for businesses that rely on the rail link and the taxpayer funds that are wasted on continuously patching problem spots rather than fixing them for the long term.

The money-saving ‘side-insertion’ method of resleepering has left the track riddled with mudholes as the poor-quality ballast is crushed by the weight of the concrete sleepers and washed away by rain. At some times, more than 70% of the track has speed restrictions imposed – causing costly delays for commuters and freight.

The bouncing and swaying of the train over the mudholes, combined with temperature variations that expand and contract the metal, are causing the rails to split – and drivers warn it’s only a matter of time before a train meets a break in the track at speed and a serious derailment occurs.

Letter to Albanese

The recent chaos caused by ash clouds, plus the Tiger Airways grounding and possible withdrawal from the Australian market, has highlighted the need for Australia to invest in high-speed rail linking mainland capitals.

Heavily dependent on air travel, Australia is ready for fast rail that would offset future price hikes due to aviation fuel costs, weather patterns and natural disasters.

The economic cost of the recent disruptions to air travel have been massive. A high-speed network would offer people and goods a viable transport alternative to flying and reduce our dangerous reliance on long-haul road transport.

It’s time to kick-start this major nation-building infrastructure investment. We are falling dangerously behind in international competitiveness with countries such as China investing heavily if high speed rail. The recently opened Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway is the first of eight high-speed railway corridors that China plans to build by 2015.

The Federal Government has announced funding for a feasibility study into a high-speed rail link between Newcastle and Sydney, which would be the first stage in a bigger network.

The idea of a high-speed rail network has been talked about for decades, but the time for talk is over and the RTBU calls on the Federal Government to move quickly on this essential issue.

It is great to see a response from the ARTC to the serious safety concerns raised by the Rail, Tram and Bus union back in October of 2010. Unfortunately though, it is typically too little, too late from an ARTC officialdom that is very good at spinning their way out of trouble.

The ARTC condition report identifies a number of contributing factors, over two decades, which may have contributed to the formation of mud holes and unacceptable track conditions between Sydney and Melbourne. However, it seems to be everybody else’s fault but theirs. The NSW Government did this, the Victorian Government did that, it rained then, there was a drought etc. etc. The ARTC needs to admit that the technique they used to re-sleeper the line has contributed to the problem just as much as anything else.

The ARTC were granted billions of dollars by the federal government to repair sections of track under THEIR control, sections of track that are amongst the most vital to Australia’s transport network. They had at their disposal some of the most advanced technologies for track design and engineering in the world. Despite this, the technique they used to re-sleeper the track between Sydney and Melbourne is still not safe.

The repeated excuse of heavy rainfall and questionable soil quality is disingenuous at best. They have re-laid sleepers since, and the same mud holes continue to emerge. The only plausible explanation is that the side insertion technique is ineffective at best. This method of sleeper replacement results in undue sinkage of what are substantially heavier sleepers and as a consequence, we are left with unstable tracks.

The ARTC themselves admit in this report that money is a reason a track laying machine, or ‘pony’, was not used south of Sydney to re-sleeper the track – as it was on the North coast.  A higher number of trains which resulted in less track access time is their claim. If safety is a priority, then excuses are not good enough. A project such as this, which is so essential to track stability and driver and passenger safety, should not be compromised because it costs operators too much to stop trains for a little while. You simply cannot put a price on the safety of the travelling public.

The internal ARTC report crows loudly about the workshopping and consultation that was undertaken to determine the appropriate technique to lay sleepers. However, at no stage of this process did the ARTC think it wise to consult with the representatives of drivers and infrastructure workers whose every working hour is spent up and down this track. The disregard with which the ARTC has treated the safety of our members is mind-boggling.

If the ARTC are serious about rectifying these problems, then their engineers need to sit down with the RTBU, drivers and infrastructure workers and identify exactly where the problems are. We need to build a consensus around solutions for these problems. Our members work on these lines every day of the week. We know what works and what doesn’t. The good railway men and women of the RTBU care first and foremost about safety on our rail lines and we stand ready to ensure that safety.

The ARTC seem to believe that the problems were caused by others but there should be no disagreement that we all need to be part of the solution.

Bob Nanva

National Secretary RTBU

RailCorp recently received notification that the first Waratah Set is ready for inspection and handover before the they start “in service” running.

RailCorp technicians will begin inspecting Set A03 from 19 April. A range of testing and validation work will then be done over a 20 day period to ensure the set is operational before it is given final approval.

The RTBU’s project representatives have been invited to participate in procedural validations of the train’s many new systems as well as “on track” operational testing during this period.

These procedural validations include the Internal Emergency Door Release [IEDR], Fire Detection System, Guards CCTV operations and the proposed Train Preparation to name a few.

Members will be kept informed as this process progresses.

As any loco driver using the Sydney to Melbourne track will know, extensive parts of it are in a disgraceful condition with extensive parts of the line affected by mudholes and buckled tracks.

Train drivers have told the 7.30 Report about their experiences and safety fears driving on the track.

CountryLink has warned urgent attention was required around certain track defects over nearly a third of the inter-capital line.

An 80kmh blanket speed has been posted along the entire track between Junee and Goulburn, due to poor track conditions.

The RTBU has continually raised the issue with the Australian Rail Track Corporation, who have responsibility for maintaining the track.

View part 1 of the report here and part 2 here.

The duplication of the Richmond track is nearing completion and the Loco Division has been involved in ensuring that driver needs are addressed around issues of signal sighting, safety concerns, amenities and the Draft Risk Based Training Needs Analysis. The final RBTNA will determine the training needs for drivers on the new infrastructure.

The new track is to be commissioned in July and will be in use from this time for emergency purposes only – no trains will be timetabled on it. New platforms and amenities at Schofields station and other infrastructure associated with the duplication will be commissioned in October 2011 and will hopefully be open for full operational use at that time.