Regional Development Australia Hume Region Passenger & Freight Rail Review Final Report
26 August 2011 This Hume Region Passenger & Freight Rail Review Final Report (“Report”): 1. has been prepared by GHD Pty Ltd for Regional Development Australia - Hume; 2. may only be used and relied on by Regional Development Australia - Hume; 3. must not be copied to, used by, or relied on by any person other than Regional Development Australia - Hume without the prior written consent of GHD; 4. may only be used for the purpose of addressing the RDA Hume Brief (and must not be used for any other purpose). GHD and its servants, employees and officers otherwise expressly disclaim responsibility to any person other than Regional Development Australia - Hume arising from or in connection with this Report. To the maximum extent permitted by law, all implied warranties and conditions in relation to the services provided by GHD and the Report are excluded unless they are expressly stated to apply in this Report. The services undertaken by GHD in connection with preparing this Report were limited to those specifically detailed in the Brief. The opinions, conclusions and any recommendations in this Report are based on assumptions made by GHD when undertaking services and preparing the Report in accordance with the Brief. Subject to the paragraphs in this section of the Report, the opinions, conclusions and any recommendations in this Report are based on conditions encountered and information reviewed at the time of preparation.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Executive Summary
GHD has been engaged by the Regional Development Australia - Hume (RDA Hume) to undertake a pre-feasibility study to identify the optimal outcomes for both passenger and freight rail in the Hume Region of Victoria. The Hume Region is located in north east Victoria and contains a total of twelve local government areas. It is geographically diverse and includes the major regional centres of Wodonga, Wangaratta, Shepparton and Seymour. Passenger Rail Service
Passenger rail services are a particular focus of this study and are fully discussed in Section 2. Passenger rail in the Hume region consists of two rail lines which extend as a single corridor from Melbourne to Mangalore where the corridor splits to continue to Shepparton on one line (the Goulburn Valley line) and to Wangaratta and Wodonga on the North East line. A comparative analysis of population, employment, the current passenger rail service characteristics and trends in train patronage have been completed for the Hume region along with a comparison with similar regional centres in Victoria, Traralgon, Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat. The analysis shows that the number and scheduling of passenger rail services along the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga lines are currently inadequate to meet community needs for a link to Melbourne. The number of services provided to townships along the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga lines is disproportionately low when similarities in population and the distance from Melbourne are taken into account. Freight Rail Service
Freight rail services were also a particular focus of this study and are fully discussed in Section 3. Rail freight in the Hume region travels on the same lines as the passenger services to Shepparton and to Albury/Wodonga along with three branch lines off the Goulburn Valley Line which terminate in southern NSW. The freight network within Australia is a complex system due to the rail track gauge variations. Until very recently Victoria has had a predominantly broad gauge rail “network” which created inefficiencies for interstate and intrastate rail freight movements and also reduced the number of operators. Prices have therefore been unnecessarily high for rail freight. The ongoing presence of broad gauge tracks in the Goulburn Valley continues to propagate those inefficiencies and barriers to entry for the rail industry. The freight services within the Hume region are limited. For example, the number of services along the Shepparton Line has decreased from two services a day to three services a week over the last few decades. The decline of freight rail services in the Hume region has also resulted in rail becoming inflexible and therefore not the preferred mode of freight transport. The Hume region is a key generator of freight and with most freight now transported by road there is a significant opportunity to increase the volume transported by rail.
GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report Benefits of Rail
The benefits of rail transport for passengers and freight are detailed in Section 6.1. Increasing the usage of rail within the Hume region has a number of benefits which include: y Safety - Rail is a safer transport mode compared to the road system due to driver fatigue resulting in increased chances of collisions; y Cost of Oil Increasing - Oil is a finite resource and will become more expensive; based on average vehicles usage rates it will become more economical to transport by rail instead of by road; y Environmental Impacts - Average vehicle occupancy for passengers and the volume of goods trucks can carry will cause road vehicles to emit increasingly greater amounts of greenhouse gases per person km or per tonne km; y Congestion - Traffic volumes on roads are increasing resulting in longer travel times. Passenger and freight rail provide greater certainty for the duration of the trip; y Productivity and Time Savings - Rail services offer passengers the opportunity to use their travel time productively. Also, trains can operate at higher speeds than cars therefore decreasing travel time; y Accessibility - The provision of public transport is fundamental to a coherent and socially inclusive society offering services to those people not equipped with a car; y Deferment or reduction of expenditure on the road network - Road upgrades and maintenance would be reduced by a mode shift of passengers and freight to rail; y Recent research by Deloittes Access Economics - “The True Value of Rail” quantifies externalities and the social benefits of rail transport. These are particularly applicable to the RDA Hume Region. Issues from a paucity of rail services
The issues from a paucity of rail services are detailed in Section 6.2 and summarised below. A paucity of passenger rail services While minimal freight rail services creates the following issues: create the following issues: y Constraints on regional growth; y More road maintenance due to an increased number of trucks; y Increased dependence on private cars; y Social and security issues in towns from large vehicles y Reduction of productivity; travelling through the town; y Decrease in the number/variety of y Road safety; specialist services provided in the town; y Traffic congestion in regional towns and in Melbourne; and y Education growth limitations; y Lack of choice for industry to y Fruit picking and multi-cultural choose a mode of transport. migration difficulties; and y Tourism limitations.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Investment Requirements/Recommendations
The key recommendations and investment requirements from this report are detailed in Section 7 and summarised below. The key recommendations are detailed in Section 7 and summarised in the table below.
Key Recommendations
Recommendations Justification of Recommendations
Gauge Standardisation of y There is a paucity of freight operators on broad the Shepparton (Goulburn gauge and therefore the cost competiveness of Valley) Line efficient rail transport cannot be tested against road transport. y The broad gauge line increases travel time for rail freight from Shepparton to Sydney/Brisbane due to the need to travel to Melbourne to change gauges. y The Hume region has two gauge types and therefore gauge standardising the Shepparton line would allow for efficiencies in the region.
y Gauge standardisation on the Goulburn Valley corridor would relieve congestion on the North East corridor with trains able to travel direct to Shepparton.
Increase passenger rail y There is a disparity between passenger rail services along the services in the Hume region and other major Shepparton and regional centres in Victoria. The analysis shows that Albury/Wodonga Lines the number of services to Shepparton and to Albury/Wodonga is disproportionately low compared to regional centres of similar population and proximity to Melbourne’s CBD. In particular, Shepparton shares similar demographics, population and commuter travel characteristics with Traralgon but receives less than one fifth of the number of services.
Track upgrades along the y Currently the tracks are maintained for lower Shepparton and levels of transport (particularly the track to Albury/Wodonga Lines to Shepparton). This results in lower train speeds and achieve parity with an uncomfortable journey. Regional Fast Rail (RFR) y Track upgrades would allow faster and newer standards (i.e. Class 1 trains to operate on these tracks. track)
Additional passenger rail y To increase the number of passenger services rolling stock more rolling stock is required. y More rolling stock provides greater flexibility for timetabling.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Recommendations Justification of Recommendations
Additional freight rail rolling y More rolling stock allows for an increase in the stock frequency of the services.
Investigate opportunities y A container terminal in the Goulburn Valley area for a container terminal in would reduce the complexities of the logistics chain, the Shepparton Region reduce the turnaround time for containers and provide flexibility.
Develop the GV Logistics y The Goulburn Valley Logistics Centre would Centre (incorporating a provide opportunities for efficiencies in freight container terminal) movements to/from the region as multiple industries would be located on the one site. y This centre would allow for the industry to grow and accommodate future forecasted growth volumes.
Develop Intermodal Rail y There is significant potential for efficient rail Terminals at the GV movements from the intermodal terminal. Logistics Centre and at y The logistics centres are the ideal and logical LOGIC Wodonga locations for intermodal terminals as the concentration of industries will provide efficiencies in rail movements and container handling.
Increase the freight y Reduces the need for trucks to complete the ‘last network to allow private km of the journey’ therefore reducing the number of sidings/spur lines to container lifts. connect to the main y Cargo Sprinter services could operate in this network. environment allowing for ‘short haul’ rail trips to be a viable alternative for freight movements.
Introduce a ‘business y Increases potential patronage by providing a carriage’ on all trains within means for passengers to effectively utilise travel the Hume region. These time for work or leisure. trains would provide the y Increases overall productivity of the region through required facilities for business people using time more productively. passengers to perform effective work - i.e. y Increases the potential for greater interaction with internet connection, tables businesses based in Melbourne. and comfortable seating y High interest and demand from the community during stakeholder consultation.
GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table of Contents
1. Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Project background ...... 1 1.2 Project Objectives...... 5 2. Passenger Rail ...... 6 2.1 Introduction ...... 6 2.2 About the data ...... 6 2.3 Population characteristics and demographic ...... 12 2.4 Rail service characteristics ...... 16 2.5 Regional Fast Rail (RFR) Services ...... 25 2.6 The case for passenger rail ...... 27 2.7 Future Passenger Rail ...... 30 3. Freight Rail ...... 32 3.1 Rail Freight Network ...... 32 3.2 Current Freight Terminals ...... 34 3.3 Logistics Chain ...... 36 3.4 Government policy, projections and recent studies...... 37 3.5 Current Freight Services ...... 45 3.6 Future Freight Rail ...... 46 3.7 The Case for Freight Rail ...... 47 4. Hume Passenger and Freight Rail Infrastructure Issues ...... 49 4.1 Rail Track Conditions...... 49 4.2 Train Paths ...... 50 4.3 Locomotives, Carriages and Wagons...... 52 5. Stakeholder Consultation...... 53 5.1 Stakeholder Consultation Process ...... 53 5.2 Passenger Services ...... 57 5.3 Freight Services ...... 62 6. Service Improvements for People and Business ...... 65 6.1 Benefits of rail...... 65 6.2 Issues due to poor Rail services ...... 67 6.3 Investment requirements to increase the demand for rail and number of services ...... 71 7. Recommendations ...... 76
8. References...... 78
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table Index
Table 1 Road distance & travel time between regional centres and Melbourne ...... 7 Table 2: SSDs used to assess characteristics of key regional centres ...... 8 Table 3: Past population growth (ABS 2009) and projected population growth (DPCD 2008; DoP NSW 2010) ...... 13 Table 4: Estimate of unemployment (%) in 2009 (ABS 2009) ...... 15 Table 5: Projected percentage population growth between 2006 – 2026 for LGAs in the Hume region (DPCD 2008, DoP NSW 2010) ...... 31 Table 6: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Shepparton (Goulburn Valley) Line Passenger Service ...... 54 Table 7: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Shepparton (Goulburn Valley) Line Freight Service ...... 55 Table 8: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Albury/Wodonga (North East) line Passenger Service ...... 56 Table 9: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Albury/Wodonga (North East) Line Freight Service...... 57 Table 10: Key Recommendations ...... 76
Figure Index
Figure 1: The Hume Region ...... 1 Figure 2: The Hume Region and the existing Rail Network ...... 3 Figure 3: Statistical Subdivisions for Comparative Analysis ...... 10 Figure 4 : Estimated resident population in 2009 (ABS 2009)...... 12 Figure 5: Estimated Resident Population in 2026 (DPCD 2008; DoP NSW 2010) ...... 13 Figure 6: Age profiles in 2009 (ABS 2009) ...... 14 Figure 7: Distribution of motor vehicle ownership in 2006 (ABS 2006)...... 14 Figure 8: Net business entries between 2004 and 2007 (ABS 2009) ...... 15 Figure 9: Total trips to & from Melbourne on Weekdays (V/Line 2010a; Country Link 2010) ...... 17 Figure 10: Number of peak hour rail services to and from Melbourne (V/Line 2010; Country Link 2010)...... 18 Figure 11: Number of peak hour rail services to and from the Regions (V/Line 2010; Country Link 2010)...... 19 Figure 12: Average seat capacity and use (per train) for morning services (V/Line 2011a; V/Line 2011b) ...... 20
GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report Figure 13: Average seat capacity and use (per train) for evening services (V/Line 2011a; V/Line 2011b) ...... 20 Figure 14: Population size by town map (DoT 2009) overlayed on V/Line passenger rail network map (V/Line 2010a) ...... 22 Figure 15: Estimated travel time between Melbourne CBD and key regional centres by rail (V/Line 2010a; Country Link 2010) ...... 23 Figure 16: Annual train patronage for 2009 - 2010 (V/Line 2010b; V/Line 2009; V/Line 2006; V/Line 2011a) ...... 24 Figure 17: Trend in train patronage between 2004 and 2010 (V/Line 2010a; V/Line 2011a) ...... 26 Figure 18: Projected population growth in the Hume region (DPCD 2008, DoP NSW 2010) ...... 30 Figure 19: Hume Freight Rail Network and Intermodal Terminals ...... 33 Figure 20 : Port of Melbourne Logistics Chain Movements (Source: Port of Melbourne and Dynon Rail Terminals – 2009 Container Logistics Chain Study) ...... 37
Appendices
Appendix A Comparative Analysis Appendix B Detailed Logistics Chain Appendix C Stakeholder Consultation Questionnaires Appendix D Stakeholder List
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 1. Introduction
1.1 Project background
1.1.1 The Hume Region To assist in building the Region, GHD has been engaged by Regional Development Australia – Hume (RDA Hume) to undertake a pre-feasibility study to identify the optimal outcomes for both passenger and freight rail in the Hume Region of Victoria. RDA is a partnership between the Commonwealth, State and Territory and local governments to support the growth and development of Australia's regional areas. RDA consists of a national network of 55 communities who work with their communities to find ways to deal with the economic, social and environmental issues affecting them. There are five regional RDA communities in Victoria, one of which supports the Hume region, the focus of this study. The Hume Region (illustrated in Figure 1) is located in north east Victoria and extends over 40,000 square kilometres from the northern boundary of greater Melbourne in the south to the Victorian border in the north. To the west of the Hume region is the Loddon Mallee region which includes Bendigo, and to the east is the Gippsland region.
Figure 1: The Hume Region The Hume region contains a total of twelve local government areas. It is geographically diverse as it includes Victoria’s alpine areas, farming communities and the major regional centres of Wodonga, Wangaratta, Shepparton and Seymour.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 1 1.1.2 Rail in the Hume Region
1.1.2.1 Passenger Rail Rail services in the Hume Region include both passenger and freight rail. Passenger rail consists of two rail lines which extend as a single corridor from Melbourne to Mangalore (north of Seymour) where the corridor splits and continues north to Shepparton and north east through Wangaratta to Wodonga. Figure 2 shows the location of passenger and freight rail lines in the Hume region. The Shepparton passenger line is a broad gauge track between Melbourne and Shepparton. The line is a double track to Seymour and then a single track with crossing loops to Shepparton. There are currently three return passenger rail services operating daily between Melbourne and Shepparton. This service is operated by V/Line. The Seymour to Albury/Wodonga (via Wangaratta) broad gauge line has recently been converted from broad gauge to standard gauge, and, with the existing Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) standard gauge track, now comprises a double track standard gauge line between Seymour and Albury. This line now includes a rail bypass of Wodonga. The gauge conversion allows the towns along the Seymour to Albury/Wodonga (via Wangaratta) line to access both V/Line intrastate services and the interstate Country Link services (which have always operated on the ARTC standard gauge line) and provides the potential for an increased number of passenger services to this region of Victoria. Since the gauge conversion works commenced in 2008 buses have replaced the three return daily services between Seymour and Wodonga that were available prior to the commencement of the track upgrade. The gauge conversion works were completed in June 2011 with the intrastate V/Line passenger rail service being partially reintroduced on 26 June 2011. At the time this report was completed (August 2011), one daily return V/Line service was running with an additional two daily return V/Line services to be introduced by November 2011. In addition to the intrastate service, The Country Link XPT interstate service operates with an additional two return services a day between Melbourne and Sydney. Further discussion on passenger rail in the Hume Region is in Section 2 of this report.
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Regional Development Victoria Job Number 31-27462 Paper Size A3 LEGEND RDA Hume Region Revision 0 0 15 30 60 90 120 V P & Broad Gauge (Freight Only) (! Major Train Stations in the Hume Region Date 26 Aug 2011 Broad Gauge Standard Gauge (Freight Only) %, Minor Train Stations in the Hume Region Kilometers Standard Gauge LGA ! Key Regional Centres Map Projection: Lambert Conformal Conic The Hume Region and existing Horizontal Datum: GDA 1994 !!!!!! Broad and Standard Gauge Hume region boundary Grid: GDA 1994 VICGRID94 rail network Figure 2 G:\31\27462\GIS\Maps\Working\3127462_001_Passenger_Freight_Plan.mxd 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia T 61 3 8687 8000 F 61 3 8687 8111 E [email protected] W www.ghd.com 2011. Whilst every care has been taken to prepare this map, GHD (and DATA CUSTODIAN) make no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and cannot accept liability and responsibility of any kind (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) for any expenses, losses, damages and/or costs (including indirect or consequential damage) which are or may be incurred by any party as a result of the map being inaccurate, incomplete or unsuitable in any way and for any reason. Data source: DSE, VicMap, 2011; Vline, 2011; ABS, 2011. Created by:splaird 1.1.2.2 Freight Rail Rail freight in the Hume region travels on the same lines as the passenger services to Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga. There are three branch lines off the main tracks which terminate at Tocumwal, Deniliquin and Oaklands all of which are located in NSW. The lines to Albury/Wodonga and the branch line from Benalla to Oaklands in NSW are now all standard gauge lines. This enhances the freight carrying ability of these lines due to improved connectivity to the National Rail Network and more readily available access to rolling stock and Rail Freight Operators. The Melbourne to Albury/Wodonga standard gauge lines - now under ARTC control - continue into NSW as the main freight path to Sydney and Brisbane. On the Seymour to Shepparton broad gauge line there are two branch lines off the main tracks which terminate at Tocumwal and Deniliquin, both located in NSW. A branch line to Dookie (near Shepparton) remains part of the regional network for grain traffic but is not currently in use. Historically there were additional broad gauge branch lines - the Rushworth line, Picola line and Cobram line which were used for freight movements. These lines are no longer in use. Figure 2 shows the location of freight and passenger rail lines in the Hume Region. The broad gauge freight line to Tocumwal NSW is an extension of the Melbourne to Shepparton line which terminates at the Tocumwal freight terminal. The broad gauge freight line terminating in Deniliquin NSW branches off from the Shepparton line at Toolamba, travels west outside of the Hume region to Echuca, then runs north to Deniliquin. The Oaklands standard gauge freight line branches off the Wodonga line at Benalla and extends in a northerly direction to Oaklands in NSW. Further discussion on freight rail in the Hume Region is in Section 3 of this report
1.1.3 Project Drivers Within the Hume Region neither passenger nor freight rail services are being utilised to their full capacity to meet the demands of both passengers and businesses in the region. The Melbourne to Shepparton and the Melbourne to Wodonga passenger rail services are viewed by both businesses and residents as being inadequate in terms of frequency to meet the requirements of the current population in the Hume Region. Additionally, both rail corridors have shown population growth trends during the past decade and demands for public transport have increased as a result. Given the distance from Melbourne, increased demands for public transport are believed to be best served by rail as the safest and most environmentally sustainable mode of transport. Over the past decade, other major regional centres in Victoria which include Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon have received significant rail upgrades (track, signals, level crossings) that have resulted in a greater number of services, faster travel times and a more reliable service. Based on current populations, rail services on both passenger lines in the Hume Region can be shown to be significantly under-serviced on a per capita basis. While the Albury/Wodonga track has now been upgraded and fully converted to standard gauge, the Shepparton rail line as well as the associated signals and level crossings across the Hume Region have not undergone the necessary upgrades to maintain a more efficient and higher frequency of rail usage. Historically, a significant proportion of freight out of the Hume Region was transported by rail. However, over the past few decades, the rail freight task has progressively been transferred to road due to the cost and convenience of point to point delivery. As a result, the number and
4 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report capacity of scheduled freight rail services in the Hume Region have decreased considerably. This represents an opportunity for growth on rail and a reason to encourage the trips to transfer back to rail once the rail service starts to improve.
1.2 Project Objectives
The project objectives are: y To obtain a demographic comparison of the Hume Region in comparison to other major regional centres in Victoria in order to understand the demands for passenger rail on both Hume rail corridors; y To obtain information on whether the Hume region, and in particular its major centres, receives equitable rail services on a per capita basis compared with other Victorian regions and their major centres; y To develop an understanding of the factors behind the decreasing rail share of the overall freight task in the Hume region; and y To demonstrate a social and business case rather than a technical case for increased investment in, and use of, rail for both passenger and freight tasks in the Hume region. These project objectives will be achieved by: y A comparative study on demographics and rail service characteristics between the Hume region and other major regional centres in Victoria (Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon) to assess levels of passenger rail demands and services; y A study of freight rail to identify the existing demands and current inadequacies of the current freight rail setup in the Hume region; y Stakeholder consultation for both passenger and freight rail to identify community and business demands for both passenger and freight rail services; and y A high level review of future improvements required for rail in the Hume region. Note that this study is focused only on rail transport. While we do recognise that other modes of transport (i.e. road and aviation) will assist in meeting both passenger and freight transport demands for the Hume region, GHD was engaged by RDA to investigate only rail services.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 5 2. Passenger Rail
2.1 Introduction This section presents a comparative analysis of population, employment, the current passenger rail service characteristics and trends in train patronage for key regional centres serviced by passenger rail within the Hume Region and a number of comparable regional centres across Victoria. The geographies selected for the comparative analysis and data sources consulted are explained further in Section 2.2.
2.2 About the data
2.2.1 The key regional centres for comparison The regional centres chosen for this comparative analysis are as follows: y Key regional centres within the Hume region: - Seymour (rail service characteristics only)1; - Wangaratta (rail service characteristics only)2; - Shepparton; and - Wodonga. y Regional centres for comparison: - Geelong; - Ballarat; - Bendigo; and - Traralgon. These regional centres have been selected as each represents the location of a key regional railway station and are of comparable accessibility and remoteness (see Table 1).
1 The rail service characteristics of Seymour have been included in this analysis in the absence of relevant data beyond Seymour station and, where data was available, to understand the difference in service provision beyond Seymour. 2 Population and business characteristics have been assessed only for key regional centres within the Hume region with a terminating railway station (i.e. Shepparton and Albury-Wodonga). The population and business characteristics of Wangaratta have not been assessed since the statistical geographies used for this analysis (Statistical Subdivisions) do not provide a comparable geography for the purpose of assessing the areas serviced by the railway station at this location. The Wangaratta Statistical Subdivision covers significant land area, of which some areas would be serviced by other railway stations along the Albury-Wodonga railway line.
6 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table 1 Road distance & travel time between regional centres and Melbourne3
Regional centre Distance (km) Estimated car travel time (hours) Geelong 75 1 Seymour 112 1 Ballarat 115 1.5 Bendigo 153 2 Traralgon 164 2 Shepparton 190 2.5 Wangaratta 252 3 Wodonga 321 3.5 Albury 327 3.5 With the exception of Geelong, each of these regional centres is defined as being an inner regional area on the basis of the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia4. The centre of Shepparton in particular, can be compared to the towns of Bendigo and Traralgon which are all located 2 to 2.5 hours driving time from Melbourne’s CBD.
2.2.2 About the analysis geographies For each regional centre selected, population and employment characteristics within Australia have been compared on the basis of Statistical Subdivisions (SSDs). SSDs provide a consistent geographical unit to compare population and employment characteristics between the regional centres under consideration, and allow the corresponding geographies serviced by passenger rail to be considered. An SSD is a standard geographical unit defined under the Australian Standard Geographical Classification. SSDs consist of one or more Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) and are defined as socially and economically homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable links between inhabitants5. The SSDs used for this comparative analysis are detailed in Table 2 and illustrated in Figure 3. Note that all statistics within this report refer to the analysis regions (refer to Table 2) rather than the names of the corresponding SSDs analysed.
3 These figures have been sourced through Google maps estimates. The travel times have been approximated to the nearest half hour. 4 ABS 2010, Australian Standard Geographical Classification 1261.0, Chapter 8, pp 37 5 ABS 2010, Australian Standard Geographical Classification 1261.0, Chapter 2, pp 12
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 7 Table 2: SSDs used to assess characteristics of key regional centres
Regional centre Corresponding SSD(s) analysed Analysis region name
Shepparton Greater Shepparton City Part A Shepparton Overall catchment of Shepparton (*see note below)
Wodonga Wodonga Wodonga (population characteristics)
Albury (*see note below) Albury-Wodonga (rail service characteristics)
Geelong Greater Geelong City Geelong
Ballarat Ballarat City Ballarat
Bendigo Greater Bendigo City Part A Bendigo
Traralgon La Trobe Valley Traralgon
*In addition to the SSDs listed above, the overall catchment of Shepparton (comprising the SLAs of Moira West, Moira East and Greater Shepparton Part B) and the SSD of Albury (NSW) have been considered in this analysis. These additional geographies have been included in recognition of the service provided to these areas by the Shepparton and Albury railway stations as a means of access to regional townships and Melbourne. Both the Shepparton and Albury railway stations represent the termination of the V/Line passenger rail network (Albury is also a station on the CountryLink network) and are linked to adjacent geographies via coach connections. The geographies immediately adjacent and north of the Shepparton SSD (i.e. overall catchment of Shepparton) and both the Wodonga and Albury SSDs are therefore served by the Shepparton and Albury railway stations. It is noted that a number of townships in NSW (e.g. Berrigan, Griffith, Tocumwal, Barooga, Mulwala) are also served by the Shepparton and Albury and/or Wodonga railway stations (via coach connections). However, they have not been considered in this data analysis in order to make sure that consistent and comparable statistical geographies of similar accessibility, remoteness and statistical composition are selected for comparison. As a result, this analysis can be considered to represent a conservative estimate of the population served by the Shepparton and Albury and/or Wodonga railway stations. That is, extending the analysis regions for Shepparton to include the relevant NSW SSDs or SLAs would not allow for an equivalent comparison with the comparison analysis regions. The extended geographies would not be equivalent because: y The population of the Shepparton analysis region would be spread across a vastly greater land area, more than three times the area of the comparison analysis regions; y The additional NSW townships are located at a far greater distance from the relevant regional railway stations compared with townships considered as part of the comparison analysis regions; and y A few similar townships that have not been included as part of this analysis are served by key regional railway stations relevant to the comparison analysis regions(e.g. Ballarat station serves residents of Wedderburn and Tarnagulla via coach connections). Geographies adjacent to SSDs for the regional centres of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon have not been included as part of this analysis since passenger rail services extend beyond these centres to Warrnambool, Ararat, Swan Hill and Echuca, and Bairnsdale
8 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report respectively. Geographies immediately adjacent to these key regional centres along the railway line are considered to be served by other railway stations beyond the stations of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon.
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Regional Development Victoria Job Number 31-27462 Paper Size A3 LEGEND RDA Hume Region Revision 0 010 20 40 60 80 Vline Passenger and freight services Shepparton rail catchment area Greater Geelong City Part A ! Major Regional Rail Stations ( Date 26 Aug 2011 Vline Freight services Albury Greater Shepparton City Part A %, Minor Regional Rail Stations Kilometers State boundary Ballarat City La Trobe Valley Map Projection: Lambert Conformal Conic Statistical Subdivisions for Horizontal Datum: GDA 1994 o Hume region boundary Greater Bendigo City Part A Wodonga Grid: GDA 1994 VICGRID94 SSD Comparative Analysis Figure 3 G:\31\27462\GIS\Maps\Working\3127462_002_SSDs.mxd 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia T 61 3 8687 8000 F 61 3 8687 8111 E [email protected] W www.ghd.com © 2011. Whilst every care has been taken to prepare this map, GHD (and DATA CUSTODIAN) make no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and cannot accept liability and responsibility of any kind (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) for any expenses, losses, damages and/or costs (including indirect or consequential damage) which are or may be incurred by any party as a result of the map being inaccurate, incomplete or unsuitable in any way and for any reason. Data source: DSE, VicMap, 2011; Vline, 2011; ABS, 2011. Created by:splaird 2.2.3 Key assumptions and considerations Some areas within the overall Shepparton catchment considered as part of this analysis may be closer to other railway stations (e.g. Moira West to Echuca Station and Moira East to stations along the Wodonga/Albury line). It is assumed that Shepparton is the key station for all of these areas for the purposes of this analysis because: y There are only 2 passenger rail services which run between Melbourne and Echuca on weekdays compared to 6 services between Melbourne and Shepparton; and y There is a number of interconnecting bus services from Shepparton Station to towns in these areas. As shown in Figure 2, the Shepparton, Traralgon, Ballarat and Geelong analysis regions are each served by a number of additional railway stations (n, number = 2) at which all services make a stop and some terminate. For Shepparton and Traralgon, it is noted that: y The majority (85%) of the combined population of the Shepparton analysis region reside within two northern SLAs (Statistical Local Areas) of the overall Shepparton catchment (Moira West and Moira East) and the Shepparton SSD which are all served by the Shepparton railway station; and y The majority (60%) of the Traralgon analysis region’s population resides within the Latrobe - Traralgon SLA where the Traralgon railway station is located. The implications of these additional railway stations are discussed further within the analysis.
2.2.4 Data sources consulted The main data sources consulted as part of this analysis are: y Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Census 2006 (ABS 2006); y ABS, National Regional Profiles (NRP) 2005 – 2009 (ABS 2009); y Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD), Population Projections (DPCD 2008); y Department of Planning NSW (DoP NSW), NSW SLA Population Projections (DoP NSW 2010); y Country Link timetables (Country Link 2010); y V/Line annual reports (V/Line 2010b, V/Line 2009, V/Line 2006), timetables (V/Line 2010a), performance data (V/Line 2011b) and data provided by V/Line staff (V/Line 2011a); and y Victoria Department of Transport (DoT) Regional Transport Atlas (DoT 2009). Details of the data sources and the data used from each source can be found in Appendix A.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 11 2.3 Population characteristics and demographic
This section presents an analysis of the current population, past population growth, projected population, age profiles, motor vehicle ownership and employment trends for the chosen analysis geographies.
2.3.1 Current and projected population Figure 4 presents the estimated resident population of each analysis region and the number of major railway stations (at which some services terminate and all services stop) and minor railway stations (at which all services stop) within each analysis region (refer to Figure 3 for station locations with respect to the analysis geographies).
200,000
180,000 Number minor 160,000 railway stations in region 140,000 Number major 120,000 railway sations in region 100,000 Albury 80,000 175,803 54,337 Population persons) of (number Population
60,000 42,569 Overall Shepparton 40,000 catchment 94,088 89,995
79,964 SSD 20,000 50,272 48,926
0 Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Traralgon Wodonga Shepparton Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions
Figure 4 : Estimated resident population in 2009 (ABS 2009) As shown in Figure 4, the resident populations served by the Shepparton station (including the overall Shepparton catchment) and Albury Station (including both Albury and Wodonga SSDs) are comparable to the populations served by Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon. The Traralgon and Shepparton analysis regions are particularly alike with similar resident populations served by the same number of major (n=1) and minor (n=2) railway stations. Bendigo and Albury/Wodonga are also alike with similar resident populations served by 1 major railway station (and 1 minor station in the case of Wodonga). While Geelong’s population is significantly larger, it is noted that the analysis region is served by 2 major railway stations (Geelong and Marshall), 1 minor railway station (North Geelong) and an additional station (not shown in the above Figure) where some services terminate but not all services make a stop (South Geelong). As a result, this resident population is served by four railway stations; the implications of this are discussed further in the analysis of rail service characteristics.
12 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table 3: Past population growth (ABS 2009) and projected population growth (DPCD 2008; DoP NSW 2010)
Analysis region Past population Projected population growth (% between grown (% between 2004 and 2009) 2006 and 2026) Comparison Geelong 7% 29% analysis Ballarat 10% 34% regions Bendigo 9% 40% Traralgon 7% 9% Hume Shepparton 7% 25% analysis Overall Shepparton catchment 6% 13% regions Wodonga 5% 24% Albury 7% 12% As shown in Table 3, the population growth between 2004 and 2009 has also been similar across the different analysis regions. Shepparton has shown the same percentage growth as Traralgon, an analysis region of similar distance from the Melbourne CBD (as noted previously in Table 1). Albury and Wodonga have also shown similar levels of growth to Traralgon and Shepparton despite being located further from the Melbourne CBD. Table 3 also shows that the projected population growth varies significantly from past trends. Ballarat and Bendigo are projected to experience a higher percentage growth when compared to other analysis regions (34% and 40% respectively). Although past trends show that the Traralgon and Shepparton SSDs have experienced similar levels of growth, future growth predictions suggest that the Shepparton SSD will experience 2.5 times the percentage growth of Traralgon. As shown in Figure 5 below, railway services to the Shepparton analysis region will therefore be required to cater for a proportionately larger population in 2026 (1.25 times that of Traralgon) than in the past (1.14 times that of Traralgon).
250,000
200,000
150,000 Albury
100,000 Overall Shepparton 216,971 catchment 58,400 46,752 SSD 50,000 119,027 118,752 83,399 60,122 57,677
Projected population (number of persons) population Projected 0 Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Traralgon Wodonga Shepparton Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions
Figure 5: Estimated Resident Population in 2026 (DPCD 2008; DoP NSW 2010)
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 13 2.3.2 Demographic comparison Age and motor vehicle ownership data shows that the analysis regions can be considered to be of comparable demographic: y The distribution of persons by age is similar across all analysis regions (Figure 6); and y The distribution of dwellings by the number of motor vehicles owned is similar across all analysis regions compared (Figure 7).
Geelong 12% 13% 14% 13% 13% 22% 11%
Ballarat 13% 14% 16% 13% 13% 21% 10%
Bendigo 13% 14% 15% 13% 13% 21% 11%
0 - 9 Comparison analysis Comparison regions Traralgon 12% 15% 14% 12% 14% 23% 10% 10 - 19 20 - 29 Shepparton 14% 15% 13% 13% 13% 21% 10% 30 - 39 Overall Shepparton 13% 15% 13% 13% 14% 23% 9% 40 - 49 catchment 50 - 69
Wodonga 12% 15% 15% 13% 14% 22% 10% 70 +
Hume analysis regions Hume Albury 12% 14% 10% 11% 14% 25% 13%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% % of persons in age group
Figure 6: Age profiles in 2009 (ABS 2009)
Geelong 4% 9% 36% 37% 10% 4%
Ballarat 4% 9% 35% 36% 11% 5%
Bendigo 3% 9% 35% 37% 11% 5%
Comparison analysis analysis regions Comparison Traralgon 4% 9% 36% 35% 11% 5% Not stated None Shepparton 4% 8% 34% 37% 11% 5% 1 vehicle
Overall Shepparton 2 vehicles 40% 13% 6% catchment 3% 6% 32% 3 vehicles
Wodonga 4% 9% 36% 36% 10% 4% 4 or more vehicles Hume analysis egions analysis Hume Albury 4% 5% 31% 38% 14% 9%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% % of dwellings
Figure 7: Distribution of motor vehicle ownership in 2006 (ABS 2006)
14 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report 2.3.3 Trends in employment As shown in Table 4, the percentage estimate of unemployment is similar across the majority of analysis regions compared. Note that the percentage estimates of unemployment for the overall Shepparton catchment and Albury are lower than for the other areas. Table 4: Estimate of unemployment (%) in 2009 (ABS 2009)
Analysis region Estimate of Unemployment (%) Comparison Geelong 6% analysis Ballarat 8% regions Bendigo 6% Traralgon 6% Hume Shepparton 6% analysis Overall Shepparton catchment 4% regions Wodonga 6% Albury 4% Figure 8 also shows that the net change in the number of businesses between 2004 and 2007 within the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga analysis regions has been higher than that of Bendigo and Traralgon and comparable to that of Geelong Ballarat. The net business entry rate is an indication of the comparable level of employment opportunity between the Geelong, Ballarat, and Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga geographies.6
1,000
900
800 42 700
600 Albury
500 444
948 Overall Shepparton 400 879 catchment 726 300 SSD 501 200 Number of net business entries 318 100 294
0 Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Traralgon Wodonga Shepparton
Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions
Figure 8: Net business entries between 2004 and 2007 (ABS 2009)
6 Net business entry rates are generally used as a proxy for employment opportunity trends. Positive employment effects of net business entry rates has been found by a number of studies related to business dynamics including: Van Stel, A & Diephuis, B 2004
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 15 2.3.4 A comparable demographic and population The analysis regions assessed have been found to be of comparable demographic with similar age profiles, motor vehicle ownership per dwelling and unemployment rates (refer to Figure 6, Figure 7 and Table 4). The analysis also suggests that employment opportunity in Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga is likely to be similar to that of Geelong and Ballarat (refer to Figure 8). The Hume analysis regions of Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga were found to have comparable populations to Bendigo, Ballarat and Traralgon, both now (refer to Figure 4) and into the future (refer to Figure 5). In particular, the Shepparton analysis region was found to be similar to Traralgon; both analysis regions service similar populations with 1 major railway station (i.e. Shepparton station and Traralgon station respectively) and 2 minor railway stations (i.e. Mooroopna and Murchison stations in the Shepparton analysis region, and Morwell and Moe stations in the Traralgon analysis region). The Albury/Wodonga analysis region was also found to be similar to Bendigo with similar populations serviced by one major railway station and one minor station (refer to Figure 4). Future growth predictions (refer to Table 3 and Figure 5) suggest that the Shepparton analysis region will experience a significant percentage growth in the next 20 years (2006 – 2026) resulting in the Shepparton railway station servicing a larger population in comparison to Traralgon (approximately 1.25 the population of Traralgon).
2.4 Rail service characteristics
This section presents an analysis of the number of rail services, train travel time, punctuality, reliability, capacity and train patronage for key regional railway stations in each analysis region as well as in the key regional centres of Seymour and Wangaratta. This section also considers the connecting coach services that operate between: x Melbourne and Ballarat; and x Seymour and Shepparton, Wangaratta or Albury/Wodonga (including services operating in place of V/Line services that were terminated to undertake the North East Revitalisation Project).
2.4.1 Availability of train services and usage At the time this report was completed, V/Line services to Albury/Wodonga beyond Seymour had been partially re-introduced following their termination in 2008 due to continuing works (gauge conversion etc.) on the North East Rail Revitalisation Project7. In addition to the Country Link rail services, 2 daily V/Line services recommenced on Sunday the 26th of June. An additional 4 daily V/Line services will be introduced by November 20118.This analysis considers the Country Link rail services that currently service Albury-Wodonga and makes comment on the additional services that recommenced and will be introduced once V/Line services resume. The analysis of V/Line train services is on the basis of V/Line timetables effective in October 2011 and considers each leg of a journey (i.e. a return service is counted as 2 services).
7 The project commenced in late 2008 and includes the replacement of wooden sleepers with concrete sleepers, construction of a new rail bypass around Wodonga CBD, building new platforms and converting the rail line from broad gauge to standard gauge. 8Victorian Government 2011
16 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report 60
50
40 3
30 57
20 40 36 37 35
10 12 14 5
Number of train servicesper day 6 4 4 0 Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Seymour Traralgon Shepparton Wangaratta Albury-Wodonga Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions
Number of connecting coach services per day on Weekdays Number of rail services per day on Weekdays
Figure 9: Total trips to & from Melbourne on Weekdays (V/Line 2010a; Country Link 2010) As shown in Figure 9, the number of rail services to and from the Shepparton, Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga stations are significantly lower than the number of services to and from all other regional stations analysed. Despite Shepparton’s comparable population, number of railway stations and demographic to Traralgon, Traralgon receives approximately 5 times the number of services. Similarly, Bendigo receives approximately 9 times the number of services received by Albury/Wodonga despite a comparable population and demographic. In addition there are more than 6 times the number of services to Seymour than to Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga. This is still the case when connecting coach services are taken into consideration9 and when additional services to Albury/Wodonga are considered once V/Line fully resumes operations. The Albury/Wodonga line will receive six additional services (a total of 5 return services) and will lose an equivalent number of coach services once the V/Line trains come back online10. Despite Geelong’s larger population, the analysis region is served by a disproportionately greater number of services. As previously discussed, the Geelong services stop at 4 railway stations (Marshall, South Geelong and North Geelong) within the Geelong analysis region. Of the 57 services to Geelong, all stop at North Geelong railway station, 52 continue to South Geelong railway station and 28 continue to Marshall railway station. As well as dispersing the resident population across at least 3 railway stations for the majority of services, the region also receives a much larger number of services to cater for these dispersed passengers.
In addition to a disparity in weekday services, there is also significantly less opportunity for weekend travel to Melbourne from Shepparton, Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga (n=2), and
9 This includes coach services that connect from Seymour to Shepparton/ Wangaratta/ Albury/Wodonga but does not include coach services running directly from Melbourne to any of these destinations. 10 DoT 2011a
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 17 less opportunity for tourists to visit these key regional centres (n=2) compared to the railway stations in the comparison analysis regions (between 20 and 34 services in each direction). Figure 10 presents the number of train services to the key regional centres during the morning peak and from the regional centres during the evening peak.
12
10 10
8 7
6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 Number of trains of Number 2 1 1 0 0 Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Seymour Traralgon Shepparton Wangaratta Albury-Wodonga Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions Region & Line
Weekdays to Melbourne - Morning peak (arriving before 9 am) Weekdays from Melbourne - Evening peak (leaving between 4 and 6.30 pm)
Figure 10: Number of peak hour rail services to and from Melbourne (V/Line 2010; Country Link 2010) As shown in Figure 10, there are a greater number of peak hour services on the Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon and Seymour lines in comparison to the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga lines. Shepparton receives no services during the morning peak or evening peak and the Albury/Wodonga line receives only one Country Link service during the morning peak (this is the same service that stops at Wangaratta station). Note that it is not known whether the number of peak hour services to Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga will change once the V/Line trains become operational again.
18 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report Figure 11 presents the number of train services to the key regional centres during the morning peak and from the regional centres during the evening peak. These services have been analysed in recognition of the potential for business journeys, travel to work in the area, journeys by tourists and day trips on weekdays from Melbourne or regional towns to the key regional centres.
12
10
8
6 4 4 3 3
Number of trains 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Seymour Traralgon Shepparton Wangaratta Albury-Wodonga Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions Region & Line Weekdays from Regions - Evening peak (leaving between 4 and 6.30 pm) Weekdays to Regions - Morning peak (arriving before 9 am)
Figure 11: Number of peak hour rail services to and from the Regions (V/Line 2010; Country Link 2010) As shown in Figure 11, there is a small number of services during the morning and evening peaks to and from railway stations in the comparison analysis regions. However, there are no services to and from railway stations in the Hume analysis region beyond Seymour, with the exception of one service which leaves Wangaratta between 4 and 6.30 pm. While weekday journeys to key regional centres in the Hume region do not necessitate arrival during the morning peak or departure during the evening peak travel times, day trips to these locations are almost impossible given the timetabling of services. The earliest service to Shepparton arrives past midday at 12.22 pm and the only option for leaving on the same day is the 15.55 pm service which leaves only a 3 hour gap for activities in the Shepparton region. Similarly timetabled services are provided for both Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga. As a result, there is no potential for day trips to these regions on weekdays. Figure 12 and Figure 13 (overleaf) show the average seat capacity and seats filled for morning and evening passenger rail services along each line (i.e. average across all stations on the line). Morning services are those arriving in Melbourne before 9 am (Figure 12) and evening services are those departing Melbourne between 4 and 6.30 pm (Figure 13). There is no comparable data for Shepparton since there are no Shepparton services arriving in Melbourne before 9 am or leaving Melbourne between 4 and 6.30 pm. The earliest service from Shepparton to Melbourne in the morning (arriving in Melbourne at 9.28 am) has a seat capacity of 296 seats and 56% of seats are occupied on average. The earliest train from Shepparton to Melbourne in the evening (leaving Shepparton at 18.33 pm) has a seat capacity of 296 seats and 44% seats are occupied on average.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 19 Note that services to Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga cannot be compared as this line has not been in operation since 2009 and relevant data was not available at the time of writing this report.
Shepparton Not applicable regions Seymour 75% Hume analysis
Traralgon 70%
Bendigo 97% Region & Line
Ballarat 79% Comparison analysis regions Geelong 80%
0 100 200 300 400 Number of seats Average seats filled per train Total seats available per train
Figure 12: Average seat capacity and use (per train) for morning services (V/Line 2011a; V/Line 2011b)
Shepparton Not applicable regions Seymour 69% Hume analysis
Traralgon 80%
Bendigo 86% Region & Line
Ballarat 90% Comparison analysis regions Geelong 80%
0 100 200 300 400 Number of seats
Average seats filled per train Total seats available per train
Figure 13: Average seat capacity and use (per train) for evening services (V/Line 2011a; V/Line 2011b)
20 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report As shown in Figure 12 and Figure 13, a smaller proportion of seats are filled for the Seymour and Traralgon services in comparison to the other railway lines. In comparing the available data for seat capacity and usage for services to Shepparton with the other railway lines, Shepparton has the lowest average percentage of seats filled for journeys in both directions. This may be a reflection of the timing of the analysed service. As previously noted, no Shepparton service arrives in Melbourne before 9 am or departs Melbourne between 4 and 6.30 pm (all other railway lines receive these morning and evening peak hour services), therefore not providing the same flexibility for travel or allowing people to arrive in Melbourne and attend a meeting by 9 am. Consequently the train may not be the currently preferred mode of travel between Melbourne and Shepparton. However, it is acknowledged that the lower proportion of seats filled to the Traralgon, Seymour and Shepparton regions may also be a reflection of the following factors: y The lower number of commuter journeys to Melbourne from these regions. Based on 2006 census data, a higher number of work journeys are conducted by rail for the Geelong (n=1,857), Ballarat (n=290) and Bendigo (n=101) analysis regions than for Traralgon (n=70) or Shepparton (n=11); y The more remote location of Traralgon and Shepparton in comparison to other comparison analysis regions (within 2.5 hours driving time of Melbourne compared to within 1 or 1.5 hours driving time for most other regional centres relevant to each railway line); y The passenger rail services to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo serve populations that are concentrated at key regional townships whilst the population served by Shepparton railway station is dispersed across a larger region (i.e. across the overall Shepparton catchment) as is the population served by Traralgon railway station); and y The smaller number of significant townships serviced by the Seymour line (between Melbourne and Seymour) in comparison to other lines (see Figure 14 overleaf). The similarities between Traralgon and Shepparton in terms of travel time (by car), population and demographic may suggest that similar figures for seat usage could be expected for Shepparton if more frequent services during peak times were introduced (i.e. increases of approximately 12% in the morning and 25% in the afternoon). However, it is noted that increases in seats filled are likely to be lower in Shepparton when considering the lower number of significant townships between Melbourne and Seymour and between Seymour and Shepparton (see Figure 14 overleaf); this is already evident when the lower proportion of seats filled for Seymour services compared to Traralgon services is considered. Note that the seat capacity and seats filled have not been assessed for the Country Link services that operate between Melbourne and Albury/Wodonga due to the absence of comparable data.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 21 Figure 14: Population size by town map (DoT 2009) overlayed on V/Line passenger rail network map (V/Line 2010a)
22 | GHD | Regional Development Australia - Final Report 2.4.2 Train travel time and performance Figure 15 presents the estimated travel time by rail between the Melbourne CBD and the regional centres in each analysis region.
witihn 3.5 hours
Albury-Wodonga within 3.5 hours
Wangaratta within 3 hours
Shepparton within 2.5 hours
Hume analysis regions Seymour within 1.5 hours
Traralgon within 2.5 hours
Bendigo within 2 hours
Ballarat within 1.5 hours
Geelong within 1.5 hours Comparison analysis regions
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 Estimated travel time (hours within which journey can be made)
Figure 15: Estimated travel time between Melbourne CBD and key regional centres by rail (V/Line 2010a; Country Link 2010) Figure 15 shows that the approximate travel time by rail to Shepparton is comparable to the travel time to Traralgon and Bendigo (particularly Traralgon). The travel times to Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga are longer due to their distance from Melbourne. The average estimated travel time by rail is similar to the average driving time for all the analysis regions. The travel time by rail is approximately 0.5 hours less than the travel time by car to Wodonga on the Country Link services. The travel time by rail is approximately 0.5 hours more than the travel time by car for Geelong and Traralgon while the travel time by car is similar to the travel time by train for all other regional centres (i.e. Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour, Shepparton and Wangaratta). Refer to Appendix A for details. The current performance of the compared rail services11, in terms of train reliability and punctuality, is also similar across all the regions analysed on the basis of data for the month of April 201112. Train reliability, measured as the percentage of services that run, is between 97 - 100% for all lines. Train punctuality, measured as the percentage of services that run on time13, is strongest for services to Shepparton (93%) with other lines generally fairing between 80 and 90%14. Details of train performance for the April 2011 month can be found in Appendix A.
11 There is no current data for Wangaratta or Albury/Wodonga as services haven’t operated since 2009. 12 V/Line 2011b 13 Running on time is defined as running within 5 minutes and 59 seconds for services to Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon and Seymour (defined as short distance) and within 10 minutes and 59 seconds for services to Shepparton (defined as long distance). 14 Traralgon is an exception to this with train punctuality at approximately 65% in April 2011.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 23 2.4.3 Annual train patronage Figure 16 presents the annual train patronage for the 2009 – 2010 financial year15 and the annual train patronage normalised by the number of services per day on weekdays (based on October 2010 timetables). Note that patronage data for Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga are not available as V/Line services have not been in operation since 2009; Country Link (XPT) services have not been analysed in the absence of comparable data.
4 9.0%
3.5 8.0% 7.0% 3 6.0% 2.5 5.0% 2 4.0% 1.5 3.0%
1 2.0%
Patronage (millions) 0.5 1.0% N/A 0 0.0% Ballarat Bendigo Geelong Seymour Traralgon Shepparton Wangaratta Patronage normalised by number of per weekday (%) services by number normalised Patronage Albury-Wodonga Comparison analysis regions Hume analysis regions Region & Line
Train Patronage (millions) between 2009 - 2010 Patronage normalised by number of services per weekday (%)
Figure 16: Annual train patronage for 2009 - 2010 (V/Line 2010b; V/Line 2009; V/Line 2006; V/Line 2011a) The above figure shows that annual patronage is significantly higher for the comparison analysis regions compared to the analysis regions within Hume. Even when the patronage is normalised by the number of services per day on weekdays, figures are between 3 to 8 times higher for railway lines in comparison analysis regions. The patronage for Shepparton is particularly low. Train patronage figures are discussed in further detail in the following section with reference to track conditions and upgrades as part of the Regional Fast Rail (RFR) project.
15 Patronage figures for the Shepparton, Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga services were provided on the basis of calendar years by V/Line and have been converted to financial year figures on the assumption that combining half the patronage for the first year and half the patronage of the second year provides a reasonable representation of the patronage for that financial year (i.e. combining figures for July – December 2009 with figures for January 2010 – June 2005 provides the total patronage for the 2009-2010 financial year time period)
24 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 2.5 Regional Fast Rail (RFR) Services
This section contains an analysis of the pre and post positions of the regional centres that have received the RFR services in comparison to those which have not. The analysis considers the impact of RFR services on rail patronage and other characteristics of the analysis geographies. The analysis also considers the impact of the inferior track conditions along railway lines that did not receive RFR services.
2.5.1 About RFR16 The RFR project involved one of the biggest upgrades of the Victorian regional network. Track and civil works were completed on the Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Traralgon lines to allow more frequent and modern services to be provided along these lines. The upgrade included the delivery of 38 new V’Locity trains capable of travelling 30 km/h faster than previous trains on the same lines, an upgrade of 500 km of track, upgrade of 170 level crossings and the introduction of a fully computer controlled signalling system to improve train control and reliability. The project resulted in the introduction of a new V/Line timetable across Victoria which provided more than 400 additional services every week into regional centres (including additional peak hour and night time services). The track and signalling works were completed between September 2000 and August 2006 and new services were introduced on the following dates: y Ballarat line – 22 December 2005; y Geelong line – 31 January 2006; y Bendigo line – 22 February 2006; and y Traralgon line – 25 August 2006.
2.5.2 About the track conditions of railway lines without RFR services The Seymour, Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga lines were the only V/Line railway lines considered as part of this analysis that did not receive upgrades as part of the RFR project. The condition of these lines was significantly inferior to the upgraded RFR lines. However, on completion of ARTC track works, the upgraded Melbourne to Albury/Wodonga line will be operating as a virtually new line with a track condition equal to or better than that of the RFR lines. It will have the added advantage of being a standard gauge line and an integral component of the National Interstate Rail Network with all the connectivity attributes and increased maintenance funding that this implies. The condition of the track, signalling network and level crossings are classified into classes. The line class classification provides an indication of the comfort of the journey and the speed that trains are able to travel along the line. Discussions with V/Line indicated that the V’Locity trains can only be operated to their potential on Class 1 track due to speed at which they are capable of travelling (160 km/hr). The rail line between Melbourne and Seymour is classified as Class 2, while the line from Seymour to Shepparton is classified as Class 3. This classification indicates that significant investment is required to upgrade the track, signalling and level crossings
16 DoT 2011b
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 25 to provide the rail line between Melbourne and Shepparton to be the same standard as other rail lines with RFR.
2.5.3 The impact of RFR The pre and post RFR positions of the analysis regions for the following characteristics were considered: y Population characteristics - population and population growth rate; y Demographic characteristics - estimate of unemployment, number of registered motor vehicles and net business entries; and y Rail characteristics – annual train patronage. No clear changes in population and demographic characteristics between pre and post RFR were found for any of the analysis regions17. Figure 17 presents annual train patronage figures for V/Line services in each analysis region. Patronage figures represent the number of total alights for services along each railway line. All annual figures are on the basis of patronage for each financial year18. Note that the scale of the graph changes between 0 – 0.3 million persons and 0.5 – 4 million persons to allow patronage figures for Shepparton, Albury/Wodonga and Wangaratta to be visualised. Patronage data is not available past the 2007- 2008 financial years for Albury/Wodonga and Wangaratta as V/Line ceased operation due to the North East Rail Revitalisation Project.
4 Year RFR was introduced
3.5
3 Geelong
Ballarat 2.5 Bendigo
2 Traralgon
Seymour 1.5 Albury-Wodonga Patronage (millions) 1 Shepparton
Wangaratta 0.5 Note: Break in scale 0.3 0 2004 - 2005 2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007 2007 - 2008 2008 - 2009 2009 - 2010
0.2
0.1
0 2004 - 2005 2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007 2007 - 2008 2008 - 2009 2009 - 2010
Time period Figure 17: Trend in train patronage between 2004 and 2010 (V/Line 2010a; V/Line 2011a)
17It is noted that a detailed analysis of these characteristics with consideration to all of the factors that impact population and demographic changes would need to be conducted to fully understand any impacts of RFR. Additional characteristics such as tourism and place of employment would also need to be considered. 18 Patronage figures for the Shepparton, Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga services were provided on the basis of calendar years by V/Line and have been converted to financial year figures on the assumption that combining half the patronage for the first year and half the patronage of the second year provides a reasonable representation of the patronage for that financial year (e.g. combining figures for July – December 2004 with figures for January 2005 – June 2005 provides the total patronage for the 2004-2005 financial year time period)
26 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Train patronage data indicates that railway lines which received additional and faster services as a result of the RFR project attracted significant increases in patronage. As shown in Figure 17 annual train patronage has increased by between 1.06 million passengers (Traralgon) and 1.83 million passengers (Bendigo) between pre RFR and post RFR for all railway lines that were part of the RFR project. A steep increase can be seen immediately post RFR for all these railway lines. Figure 17 shows that Seymour, Shepparton, Albury/Wodonga and Wangaratta which did not receive upgrades as part of RFR have seen modest increases of between 0.23 million passengers (Seymour) and 0.03 million passengers (Shepparton) during the same time period. It is possible that similar increases to those experienced by railway lines receiving RFR could be experienced for the Seymour, Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga railway lines if similar improvements to service frequency and speed were made.
2.6 The case for passenger rail
2.6.1 A disparity in the number of rail services Despite their comparable populations, distance from Melbourne’s CBD and demographic (refer to Section 2.3), the number of services to Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Traralgon significantly outweigh the number of services to Shepparton. As shown in Figure 10, the comparison analysis regions are serviced by up to 6 times the number of weekday rail services (n=35 to 40) compared with the number of weekday services to Shepparton (n=6). While it is acknowledged that a number of other factors influence the need for additional services to the comparison analysis regions, the number of services to Shepparton appears to be disproportionately low even when these factors are considered. The greater number of passenger rail services to the comparison analysis regions is considered to be a result of the following factors: y Both Geelong and Ballarat attract a significant proportion of daily commuter journeys19; y The key regional centres for Geelong and Ballarat are located within closer proximity (within 1.5 hours) to the Melbourne CBD than Shepparton (within 2.5 hours); y The passenger rail services to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo service populations that are concentrated at key regional townships (as shown in Figure 14) whilst the population served by Shepparton is dispersed across a larger region (i.e. across the overall Shepparton catchment); and y The passenger rail services to Traralgon also service a number of significant townships20 (Warragul and Drouin) along the railway line while the Shepparton line does not service any townships of comparable population past Seymour21 (see Figure 14).
19 Based on 2006 Census data, the mode share for rail for the journey to work is approximately 3% (n=1,857) for Geelong and 1% (n=290) for Ballarat (not including those who do not go to work, do not report how they travel to work and those who work from home). 20 Note that the populations of Morwell and Moe are already considered as part of the resident population serviced by rail in the Traralgon analysis region. 21 Note that the township of Mooroopna is already considered as part of the resident population serviced by rail in the Shepparton analysis region and the larger townships of Tallarook and Kilmore East are between Melbourne and Seymour and therefore serviced by the additional passenger rail services to Seymour.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 27 However, both the Traralgon and Shepparton analysis regions are serviced by the same number of stations (1 major railway station and 2 minor railway stations), which are located within similar proximity to the Melbourne CBD and are the origin of a similar proportion of commuter journeys22. Despite the 2 additional key townships served by the Traralgon line, the disparity in the number of services to Shepparton compared to Traralgon significantly disadvantages the population of Shepparton in terms of access to the Melbourne CBD. In addition, analysis of seat capacity and seats filled figures (refer to Figure 12 and Figure 13) suggests that train use for the Shepparton line would increase if additional services were introduced, particularly during peak travel times (arriving in Melbourne before 9 am and leaving Melbourne between 4 and 6.30 pm). Shepparton has the lowest proportion of average seats filled (56% in the morning and 44% in the evening) compared to other railway lines (70% - 97% in the morning and 69% - 80% in the evening) which is considered to be a reflection of the lack of services during peak travel times. As shown in Figure 10, Shepparton receives no services during peak travel times whilst Traralgon receives the same number of peak hour services as Ballarat (n=7), despite being the origin of a comparable proportion of journey to work trips23, of similar population and demographic, and comparable distance from Melbourne’s CBD to Shepparton. Given the similarities between Traralgon and Shepparton, it is possible that additional services to Shepparton during peak travel times may act as a catalyst for increased train usage along the Shepparton line (i.e. comparable to the figures for Traralgon). The comparison analysis regions are also serviced by up to 5 times the number of rail services to Albury/Wodonga (n=4), even when the additional rail services (n=6) introduced when V/Line resumes operation along this line are considered (see Figure 9). While the lower number of services is partially a reflection of Albury/Wodonga’s more remote location (approximately 2 hours further driving time from Melbourne’s CBD), the number of services to this region appears to be disproportionately low when considering that only one major railway station (Albury) plus one minor station (Wodonga) services a similar number of residents to Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Traralgon. The Albury/Wodonga line also services a significant population at Benalla and Wangaratta both of which are located within comparable driving distances from Melbourne as Traralgon and Bendigo (see Table 1). There is also little opportunity for day trips on weekdays to Shepparton, Wangaratta and Albury/Wodonga and little opportunity for weekend trips to and from these key regional centres. None of these centres receive weekday services that allow for more than a 3 hour stay on one weekday. On weekends, each of these centres receives 2 return services per day (see Figure 11) compared to between 10 and 16 return services to and from key regional centres in the comparison analysis regions.
2.6.2 The demand for additional services Annual patronage data for railway lines indicates that the provision of better quality and more frequent services would be a strong catalyst for increased patronage (see Figure 16). All railway lines which received track upgrades, faster and more frequent services as a result of the RFR project were found to experience increases of between 1.06 and 1.83 million passengers post RFR. In comparison, railway lines not receiving
22 Based on 2006 Census data, the mode share for rail for the journey to work is approximately 0% (n=11) for Shepparton (not including the overall Shepparton catchment) and 0% (n=70) for Traralgon. 23 Based on 2006 Census data, the mode share for the rail journey to work is approximately 0% for Bendigo (n=101), Traralgon (n=70) and Shepparton (n=11), and approximately 1% for Ballarat (n=290).
28 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report the same upgrades experienced much smaller increases of between 0.23 and 0.03 million passengers post RFR.
2.6.3 Additional benefits of increased rail services A number of factors that have not been considered as part of this analysis could enable the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga regions to capitalise on a range of opportunities and achieve parity with the comparison analysis regions in a range of areas if additional passenger rail services were introduced. These factors have not been considered as part of this study as impacts cannot be accurately quantified and understood without complex economic modelling to determine the impact of individual factors. For example, the Moving People report (Bicycle Industry Confederation et al. 2010) notes that ‘public transport also plays an important role in tourism, especially in regional Australia’. Townships in the Hume region would benefit from additional tourism opportunities as a result of greater access to its regional centres. Car dependency for journeys between Melbourne regional centres may also be reduced as a result of improved access to public transport services: ‘In both urban fringe and regional areas the high level of car dependency means people have little choice but to incur high fuel costs if they wish to maintain lifestyles.’
It is also noted that this analysis has not considered the rail services to intermediate stations between Seymour and the analysis geographies of Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga in detail. The resident populations served by the minor railway stations (where all services make a stop) of Benalla, Wangaratta and Nagambie also receive fewer services than minor railway stations along other rail corridors (i.e. to Traralgon, Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo). Nagambie and Benalla in particular are located at comparable distances to Melbourne’s CBD as some of the railway stations in the comparison analysis regions and would benefit significantly if a comparable number of services were provided along these rail corridors. The analysis has not considered the services to stations along each railway in the absence of consistent analysis geographies (as noted in Section 2.2) and since a detailed demand analysis considering the potential demand for rail services along each railway line is outside the scope of this study.
2.6.4 Conclusions This analysis shows that the number and scheduling of passenger rail services to Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga (via Wangaratta) are currently inadequate to meet the community needs for a link to Melbourne with scheduling to allow reasonable options for daily travel. Services to major regional railway stations in comparison analysis regions (outside Hume) far outweigh the number of services to Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga (via Wangaratta). While a number of factors such as increased commuter journeys and populations serviced along the railway line justify the need for additional services to the comparison analysis regions, the number of services to Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga (via Wangaratta) remain disproportionately low when similarities in population and the distance from Melbourne’s CBD are considered. The Shepparton analysis in particular is comparable to the Traralgon analysis region, but is served by a significantly smaller number of passenger rail services, both overall and during peak periods.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 29 The analysis of RFR impacts also suggests that more frequent and appropriately scheduled passenger rail services beyond Seymour would result in increased patronage along these lines. All railway lines that received upgrades as part of the RFR project experienced significantly higher increases in patronage following upgrades in comparison to increases in patronage for the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga (via Wangaratta) lines. Improvements in service provision to areas beyond Seymour may be a catalyst for increased journeys by rail. In addition, improvements to passenger rail services in the Hume region would also result in additional benefits such as greater opportunity for tourism, reduced reliance on car based travel and greater access to public transport for regional centres along these railway lines.
2.7 Future Passenger Rail As discussed in the previous section, this analysis suggests that the current passenger rail services to the Hume region townships beyond Seymour are inadequate when compared to other centres’ rail service levels and frequency. This section briefly considers the impact of future population growth on passenger rail services. Figure 18 presents the projected population between 2006 and 2040 for Local Government Areas (LGAs) that represent key regional centres within the Hume region. The population growth between 2026 and 2040 has been extrapolated on the basis of the projected growth rate between 2006 and 2026 (persons/year).
90,000 Population growth beyond 2026 has been extrapolated Shepparton 80,000
70,000 Mitchell (Seymour)
60,000 Albury
50,000 Wodonga
40,000
Wangaratta 30,000 Population (Number of persons) of (Number Population
Benalla 20,000
10,000 Linear (Albury)
0 Linear (Benalla) 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2038 2040
Figure 18: Projected population growth in the Hume region (DPCD 2008, DoP NSW 2010) 24
24 Note that the population at 2040 has been estimated based on the projected growth rate between 2006 and 2026 (persons/year) for each Local Government Area
30 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table 5 details the percentage projected growth for each LGA in Figure 18.
Table 5: Projected percentage population growth between 2006 – 2026 for LGAs in the Hume region (DPCD 2008, DoP NSW 2010)
LGA Percentage projected population growth (%) Shepparton 21% Albury 13% Mitchell (Seymour) 73% Wodonga 28% Wangaratta 11% Benalla 11% Figure 18 and Table 5 show that key regional centres within the Hume region are likely to experience significant growth in the next 30 years. The highest growth rates are seen in the LGAs of Shepparton (21%), Wodonga (28%) and Seymour (73%) where major regional railway stations are located. The continued increases to population growth across the Hume region and the comparative inadequacy of current service provision to areas beyond Seymour suggests that passenger rail services would need to increase significantly in the future to support projected growth. As discussed previously (refer to Table 3), the growth of areas served by key regional railway stations within the Hume region are also comparable to the growth being experienced in areas outside the Hume region. A continued disparity in rail services despite this growth would result in ongoing and heightened disadvantages to localities beyond Seymour. These disadvantages would include increased reliance on car based travel and potentially negative economic impacts of barriers to rail based travel and related tourism opportunities.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 31 3. Freight Rail
Freight transport is the movement of goods from one destination to another. Typically the key modes of transport are road, rail, sea and aviation. The mode of freight transport is often dependent upon the weight of the goods and the distance to be transported. Rail is typically viable for medium and long distance cross land transport and for heavy bulk items. Historically rail cannot complete with road freight for short distance land transport due to the diversity of origins/destinations and rail is constrained to a set route and usually does not meet the required destination points. This section presents government policy regarding the freight transport in regional areas, as well as recommendations for infrastructure upgrades to improve the efficiency of freight movements in the Hume region from recently completed studies.
3.1 Rail Freight Network
The freight rail network within the Hume region is diminishing due to a lack of investment in infrastructure and a trend over the past few decades for freight to be transported by road rather than rail. Victoria’s predominant use of broad gauge track rather than standard gauge track is a significant limitation for the transportation of freight via rail within Victoria as the broad gauge track limits the rail connections to interstate regions. Standard gauge track also allows for the ease of access to rolling stock and to rail freight operators. The Victorian State Government has been progressively investing in the upgrade and conversion of rail tracks to standard gauge but progress has been slow. The key rail lines for freight within the Hume region are the following: y Broad gauge track between Melbourne and Tocumwal; y Broad gauge track between Melbourne and Deniliquin with a connection at Toolamba and Echuca; y Standard gauge track between Melbourne and Wodonga; and y Standard gauge track between Melbourne and Oaklands via Benalla. Refer to Figure 19 which shows the alignments of the four lines and the intermodal terminals operating and proposed (GV Freight and Logistics Centre) along the lines.
32 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Figure 19: Hume Freight Rail Network and Intermodal Terminals
3.1.1 The problem of gauge There are three principal rail gauges within Australia namely broad gauge, standard gauge and narrow gauge. Broad gauge tracks are mainly located in the Victorian system with a small amount of track in South Australia. The broad gauge tracks in the three states have no connectivity and rail freight operators generally need to provide rolling stock largely captured to this network. Accordingly, rail operators provide limited resources to the broad gauge network particularly regions with variable freight volumes (e.g. grain). For example, in Victoria, Pacific National has relocated most of its broad gauge rolling stock and taken it to NSW for regauging to standard gauge. Standard gauge track is used for the interstate rail network and as the only gauge that exists in every state, provides flexibility for rail operators. Similar to Victoria, other states are gradually converting many sections of broad and narrow gauge track to standard gauge. Different gauges require items to be transported to a transfer/interchange point that has both gauges. Due to the limitations of the broad gauge track, the freight transported in the Shepparton/Tocumwal region via rail is limited to travel to Melbourne before any other location within Australia. This adds time and costs to distribution of goods via rail (i.e. additional handling and additional kilometres travelled).
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 33 The other major issue regarding the limited use of broad gauge track outside Victoria is rail’s competiveness within Victoria due to the paucity of broad gauge operators. Pacific National is the key broad gauge operator within Victoria and therefore has the market power to set the prices. Significant capital investment would be required if other operators wished to enter the market, which would typically include locos and wagons needing to be gauge converted. In addition, the majority of Victoria’s rail freight is seasonal produce. This results in significant peaks of produce and a resultant inconsistent demand for freight transport throughout the year. Consequently, a proportion of the rolling stock required to accommodate the peak produce demands is not utilised for the remainder of the year. If the rail gauges in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales were consistent there would be a greater opportunity for a larger number of operators which could create a competitive market. The operators could utilise rolling stock for a greater percentage of the year due to the varied production times based on produce from the three states. This could reduce the cost of rail operations for each individual trip. The benefits of converting broad gauge track to standard gauge track will be seen in the north east of the Hume region as rail services are restored to the upgraded and gauge converted Albury/Wodonga line. The Albury/Wodonga line forms part of the key interstate route along the east coast which connects Melbourne to Sydney and Brisbane via rail. The project to convert the Albury/Wodonga line to standard gauge has also included the conversion of the Benalla to Oaklands line, as this connects to the Albury/Wodonga line to access Melbourne. The gauge conversion will provide greater efficiency for the transportation of freight and is likely to grow the rail mode share for freight movements along this corridor.
3.2 Current Freight Terminals
Freight terminals are key features within the supply chain for efficient transportation of goods. The terminals are essential elements that provide economies of scale to enable rail to be a competitive mode of transport. There are currently a number of terminals that exist, or are in the planning stages within the Hume region. The facilities and locations of the terminals are discussed in the following sections.
3.2.1 LOGIC Wodonga The ultimate designs for the LOGIC intermodal terminal will cater for 2 km trains with a 2.5 km arrivals road and a 900 m receival siding. The terminal has been designed for 100,000 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) per annum. The 600 hectare Barnawartha LOGIC Freight and Logistics centre is located at the intersection of the Hume Freeway and the Murray Valley Highway (290 km to Melbourne, 580 km to Sydney), within the City of Wodonga (refer to Figure 19 for the location of the terminal in relation to the rail lines). The centre has been strategically located to be linked with the national road and rail corridors allowing for easy transportation along the east coast of Australia and to Adelaide. According to the LOGIC Wodonga website, the current tenants include: y Woolworths distribution centre; y Border Express (Logistics distribution docking facility); y Cope Sensitive Freight; y TAFE NISTC;
34 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report y PacLib Industrial (developer of industrial land); and y Roadmaster (refrigerated transport operator).25 There are currently no rail sidings at the LOGIC site but the site has been designed to have the capacity to accommodate a rail terminal which would link into the Albury/Wodonga rail line. A $4 million grant has been provided to Wodonga Council towards a rail intermodal terminal or infrastructure supporting freight based activities at LOGIC. Its location at the intersection of major highways supports an intermodal approach with line haul to major cities. The proposed Intermodal Rail Terminal at the LOGIC site could become an important inland port for road/rail freight transfer and replace the terminals lost as a result of the Wodonga rail bypass. To maintain the vision of the LOGIC terminal, a Strategic Reference Group (SRG) has been established for the continued development of LOGIC as a Freight Activity Centre for north east Victoria. The group includes representatives from Department of Transport, VicRoads, Regional Development Victoria, Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure and Transport and Wodonga Council.
3.2.2 Shepparton Terminal (Mooroopna) Shepparton is currently serviced by a freight terminal located on the Tocumwal– Seymour line, adjacent to the SPC Ardmona factory at Mooroopna (refer to Figure 19 for the location of the terminal in relation to the rail lines). The facility is operated by Patrick Portlink (Asciano), with container shipments being added to the daily train that runs from Tocumwal to the Port of Melbourne (Po M) and 90 per cent of the container freight is bound for the export market. Due to site constraints it is not expected that the volumes could be significantly increased above the current levels. The site was originally developed as the container loading area for the Ardmona factory, but over time, with changed ownership, developed into the regional freight terminal. The facility operations are restricted due to location, bordered on one side by the Goulburn River and on the other side by the SPC Ardmona factory. The rail spur is limited in length, making it difficult to pre-position containers for loading. Storage of empty containers is restricted and dwell time for full containers (in or out) is held at a minimum. Effectively there is no scope for expansion on the current site.
3.2.3 Tocumwal Terminal Tocumwal is located north of Shepparton on the New South Wales border (refer to Figure 19 for the location of the terminal in relation to the rail lines). The rail terminal at Tocumwal links with the Shepparton rail terminal with the same trains servicing both terminals.
3.2.4 Ettamogah The Ettamogah Intermodal Hub abuts the Hume study region, and is located approximately 17 km north of Albury (refer to Figure 19 for the location of the terminal in relation to the rail lines). The hub offers direct access to the Melbourne - Sydney rail freight line and the Hume Freeway. The Ettamogah Intermodal hub provides an interchange between modes as well as container handling and storage facilities. The rail sidings on the site can accommodate trains up to a length of 1200 m. The rail hub
25 www.logicwodonga.com.au
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 35 has a current capacity of approximately 15-20,000 TEUs with current throughput of 5,000 – 8,000 TEU. There are also future plans to expand the site.
3.2.5 Goulburn Valley Freight Logistics Centre The Goulburn Valley Freight Logistics Centre (GVFLC) site (331 hectares) was acquired by the Greater City of Shepparton in 2008 and is proposed for development. The site is located on Toolamba Road; 2 km south of the Midland Highway in Mooroopna (refer to Figure 19 for the location of the terminal in relation to the rail lines). The site is traversed by the alignment of the proposed Shepparton Bypass (i.e. Goulburn Valley Freeway Bypass) and the existing railway line linking Shepparton and Tocumwal to Melbourne via Seymour. Funding to support the development of the site has been provided by the Federal and State governments ($3 million and $2 million respectively). The funding commitments and support by all levels of government indicate that there is a common drive to increase efficiency of freight movements and to provide opportunities for the mode share of rail to increase in the future. The development brief for the site indicates the expectation that a range of businesses are interested in the site, covering: y Rail freight handling – operation of the container terminal, container storage; y Outbound warehousing and distribution; y Inbound distribution; y Freight related businesses; and y Transport related businesses.
3.3 Logistics Chain The logistics chain for freight transportation by rail can be significantly more time consuming and complicated due to the large volumes handled by rail at the one time compared to road. In addition, rail movements usually require road pick-up and delivery legs at one or both ends of the transportation task. Road is usually also required as rail is constrained to the one alignment and usually the start/final destinations is not at the rail head. These movements by road add time and costs due to the number of movements needed to tranship freight between the road and rail modes. Current freight operation is required by industry to have an ‘on-time delivery service’. This usually requires freight operators to pick-up products when ordered rather than at the freight operator’s timetable. Often this results in rail operators seen to be not meeting the timing required and not providing the flexibility required by industry. These timing issues are related to the complexity of the logistics chain of the rail and also due to the train having a number of pickup/drop off locations. The supply and turn-around time for containers is a critical issue in industry and a key to the development of further mode share for rail. Industry expectations for pick-up and delivery would be supported by further development of the inland ports concept and intermodal terminal services in the Hume region providing: y Greater capacity for empty and full containers; y Options for direct delivery or staging; and y Consolidation of loads for line haul transport by rail to and from the main port.
36 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Port of Melbourne Corporation has recently completed a container logistics study. As part of this study a logistics chain for containers to be exported was identified for road and rail movements. The logistics chain within the PoM is presented as a summary in Figure 20. For the detailed logistics chain, refer to Appendix B.
Figure 20 : Port of Melbourne Logistics Chain Movements (Source: Port of Melbourne and Dynon Rail Terminals – 2009 Container Logistics Chain Study)
Note: To interpret this diagram it is necessary to appreciate:
1. The coloured boxes represent the key land transport/logistics business types.
2. The arrows signify the road and rail transport movements (with different colours for full and empty containers and dotted lines for rail movements, as identified within the key).
3. The numbers denote the quantity of TEUs (in thousands) that moved between each business function in 2009.
4. The diagram is divided into two halves – the left half being export containers and the right half import containers.
3.4 Government policy, projections and recent studies
The recent state government changes as a result of the November 2010 election will result in a number of the existing state government policies being re-visited and assessed to ensure they are in line with new directions. Public transport is a key government focus at the moment (mid 2011). In addition, public transport is also receiving a significant amount of attention from the media and is a well conversed topic within the public domain. The freight component of the overall transport task does not receive the same level of attention from the public or the media but is nevertheless a key government priority. It is understood that the policies regarding
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 37 freight transport and regional areas will remain at a high level although the detailed projects may vary. There is a number of existing government policy documents that outline the State Government’s policy relating to freight. While it is acknowledged these documents are currently being reviewed and are likely to be slightly altered, the key policy directions are expected to remain consistent and therefore applicable to this study.
3.4.1 Data Sources The main data sources consulted as part of this analysis are as follows: y Victorian Transport Plan; y Freight Futures; y State Government Victoria Media Releases - $550,000 grant keeps Goulburn Valley freight on the rails; y Victorian Rail Freight Network Review - Switchpoint: The template for rail freight to revive and thrive; y The Hume Strategy for sustainable communities; y Northern Victorian Regional Transport Strategy; y Port of Melbourne and Dynon Rail Terminals – 2009 Container Logistics Chain Study; y Hume Region, Victoria, Australia – An ideal Investment Destination; y Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission in Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List; y Hume Corridor Regional Transport Strategy; and y GV Link - Goulburn Valley Freight and Logistics Centre. For full details of the documents, refer to Section 8.
3.4.2 Government Policy and Projections Government policies relating to regional freight targets, particularly in the Hume region, have been reviewed. Victoria is currently experiencing significant growth in population which results in increasing freight requirements. Freight volumes through regional Victoria are forecast to double by 2030.26 There has been significant debate regarding how Victoria plans for this freight growth without significantly impacting on Victorians’ way of life. “It is a State of Victoria goal to increase the proportion of freight arriving at the Port of Melbourne by rail to 30% by 2010.”27 This policy has since been reviewed within the Eddington Report and a government response is provided in the Victorian Transport Plan, 2008 (VTP). The Eddington Report and the VTP both indicated that this target was not achievable. Therefore the directions within the VTP were qualitative rather than quantitative, with the freight related direction being to “establish a Metropolitan Freight Terminal Network (MFTN) as a key plank in its strategy for moving increasing volumes of freight by rail between the Port of Melbourne and freight terminals.”28 In
26 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List 27 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List 28 Victorian Transport Plan, 2008, page 136
38 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report addition, a key direction for rail freight growth in regional areas is given in Freight Futures. The direction is to “Revitalise the Principal Freight Network – Rail”29 with the following required actions: y Fund essential rehabilitation and maintenance of the Victorian regional rail freight network; y Rehabilitate nominated prioritised sections of the regional rail freight network to maintain operating speeds where a sustainable commercial or economic benefit will result; y Work in partnership with the Commonwealth Government and Local Government to enhance Victoria’s regional rail freight network, including: - Facilitating the development of new intermodal terminals at Greater Shepparton and Dooen (Horsham); Construction of the Dooen Terminal is now (August 2011) under way; and - Undertaking upgrade works at the West Warrnambool and Gippsland intermodal terminals. y Where a sound business case exists for a new rail freight service, consider targeted investment to expand capacity in the regional rail freight network; y Work with the Commonwealth Government, neighbouring states and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to secure a significantly increased level of investment in the interstate main line corridors; and y Work with the Commonwealth Government and the ARTC to enhance:
- Improvement works in the inner west corridor (Tottenham, ‘W’ track and ‘missing link’); and - Works essential to improving rail access to Metropolitan Freight Terminals at Altona/Laverton, Somerton and Dandenong. These policies acknowledge that the current roads will not be able to accommodate the forecasted growth and that there is to be a significant emphasis on rail and the Victorian Government’s desire for an increased rail mode share. A March 2011 media release from the Minister for Transport, Terry Mulder, announced that the State Government would be providing a “$550,000 Coalition Government grant to temporarily reopen the Toolamba (near Shepparton) to Kyabram and Echuca line”30 to minimise increases in truck traffic while the usual route is closed for maintenance. This grant has been provided as the current government “want to re- open country freight lines where demand existed.”31 This media release indicates that if the line wasn’t re-opened then containers from the Tocumwal and Mooroopna terminals (within the Greater Shepparton Council area) would have had to be transported by truck which would have cost up to $400 more per container. In addition, the grant also demonstrates that the current government is focussing on maintaining and potentially increasing the use of rail for freight transport. “Victoria’s key regional freight corridors of Hume, South West, North West, Western and Gippsland currently transport 91 million tonnes of freight. It is forecasted that by 2020 this will grow by over 70% to reach nearly 160 million tonnes”.32 The Hume
29 Freight Futures, 2008, page 54 30 State Government Victoria Media Release 31 State Government Victoria Media Release 32 Freight Futures: Victorian Freight Network Strategy – Appendix 3: Freight facts and projections.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 39 region is a key generator of freight due to the large number of manufacturing industries and raw material production within the region. It therefore will be significantly impacted by the forecasted freight growth. Planning to accommodate this growth is essential. The Goulburn Valley (a sub region of the Hume region) generates a “greater volume of freight going out of the region compared to that entering the region. Majority of the outbound freight is destined to the Port of Melbourne for export.”33 The major movement of freight is therefore along the same corridor to reach a common destination and could benefit from consolidation of goods onto a rail system.
3.4.3 Recommendations from Recent Studies To enable the government policy targets to be achieved a number of studies have recently been completed. These studies outline the infrastructure requirements for the Hume region. The following studies have been reviewed as part of this study:: y Switchpoint: The Rail Freight Network Review (2007)
A taskforce chaired by Tim Fischer was assembled for the rail freight network review. This taskforce submitted its findings to the Victorian Government in December 2007. The findings comprised 29 recommendations which included: - Reduced rail access fees for grain transport; - A targeted investment program in the freight only rail network; - Standardisation of rail lines as opportunities arise and where justified; - Establishment of a Rail Freight Facilitation Unit; - Continued development of regional and metropolitan intermodal hubs; and - Rail regulatory reform. According to Switchpoint, the regional Victorian rail freight task is over 5 million tonnes per annum and is made up of: - Export grain (average 2 million tonnes); - Export containers (1.8 million tonnes); - Industrial freight – crushed rock and cement (0.893 million tonnes); - Domestic grain (0.3 million tonnes); - Paper products (0.27 million tonnes); and - Logs (0.16 million tonnes). This document was published a number of years ago and consequently these figures may have changed. However, the volumes provided are averages and it is therefore likely that the figures will not have varied too significantly between 2007 and 2011. An important point made in the Switchpoint report was that “the Victorian intrastate rail freight task has fallen by an estimated 20% since the late 1990s (before privatisation) despite strong state economic growth. This is attributable to increased road competition (particularly B-Doubles), continued government investment in the
33 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List
40 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report road network, lack of investment in the rail network, poor service levels, drought and non-rail contestable markets such as feedlots. The only businesses that have increased are export containers and logs. However, this has been offset by declines in grain, petroleum, cement, paper and some dairy products. Gypsum, sand, fertiliser and small lots of freight are no longer carried on rail because of their marginal returns to the operator.”34 y Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List (2008) The Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities document prepared by Greater Shepparton City Council outlines the advantages and scope of three key projects submitted for funding from Infrastructure Australia in October 2008. One of the three projects included the Goulburn Valley Freight and Logistics Centre (GVFLC). The council has planned the GVFLC to be an “inland port and centre for distribution for one of Australia’s primary foodbowls.”35 The concept plans for the GVFLC include a rail terminal and road connections to allow rail to be a major mode between the site and PoM. The new site would allow for “improved transport connections which will result in efficient logistics and improved competiveness for the food processors of the region.”36 Based on figures from the submission to Infrastructure Australia “The Goulburn Valley produces nearly $2 billion worth of goods and services each year and much of this is trucked or rail freighted to the ports of Melbourne and Geelong for export. Shepparton is arguably the freight capital of Australia with the following attributes: - Roughly 25% of all trucks registered in Victoria are from the Goulburn Valley; - 25% of the value of Victoria’s agricultural production is generated in the region; and - Commercial vehicles, mostly semi-trailers or B-doubles, make up 25-30% of all traffic on the Goulburn Valley Highway, almost double the State average (source RACV).” 37 y GHD Hume Corridor Regional Transport Strategy (2009) In 2009, GHD developed a regional transport strategy for the Hume Corridor. The study provided overarching inputs into the Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities under the governance of the Department of Planning and Community Development. The study area was primarily the North East Region of Hume with a focus on the Hume corridor. Based on this, the Hume Freeway was considered the ‘spine of the study’ although other major road and rail transport connections in the region were also important to the strategy. Through stakeholder consultation a number of key issues affecting transport infrastructure and transport service provision in the region were identified. These were categorised into the following groups:
34 Switchpoint: The Rail Freight Network Review (2007) 35 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List 36 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List 37 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for National Infrastructure Priority List
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 41 - The capacity of the local road network to meet current and future transport needs; - The capacity of the State’s road network in the region to meet current and future transport needs; - The capacity of rail freight network connections to meet an increasing rail freight task; - The capacity of public transport services to meet current and future demand; - The approach to passenger rail service and infrastructure provision; - The approach to transport infrastructure and service provision in the tourism market; and - The capacity of aviation facilities. Based on these findings, a number of strategic priorities for the region were identified which included: - Upgrading the Murray Valley Highway; - Upgrading the Goulburn Valley Highway to Shepparton to M road standard; - Future proofing the Hume Freeway to serve a growing transport task; - Ensuring the Great Alpine Road meets future freight and tourism demand; - Development of LOGIC through commercial facilitation; - Road linkages between Canberra and Gippsland; - Strategic planning for bicycle trails; - Improving tourism road loops in the region; - Developing the role of public transport; and - Improving the main timber transport links in the region. The above list provides upgrades for a range of modes of transport but there is a clear emphasis on roads due to the weakness in demand on rail networks within the region. This weakness is caused by under investment resulting in a downward spiral for rail. Although there are no specific priorities for rail improvements there are a number of the priorities for multi-modes which would include rail. These improvements would include developing the role of public transport and improving the main time transport links in the region. At the time of the corridor study “10 – 13 million tonnes per annum of freight move along the Melbourne – Sydney Au slink road and rail corridor between Seymour and Albury-Wodonga. The current level moved by rail is minimal (estimated 9%).”38 The study expected the majority of the freight and passenger transport to remain on road although the “improved efficiency and ecological value of movement of goods and people by rail must be noted.”39 In addition the National Transport Commission (NC) is also encouraging efficient and sustainable development of the rail mode share by initiating regulatory reform and creating one national rail regulator.
38 Hume Corridor Regional Transport Strategy, GHD, page 28 39 Hume Corridor Regional Transport Strategy, GHD, page 28
42 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report y Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy (2009)
The Northern Victorian Regional Transport Strategy is an input document into the Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities. The document has been developed in collaboration with the councils in the study area and VicRoads. The key aim of the Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy is to “provide comprehensive transport planning for the defined region.”40 The strategy considers “the drivers of current and future transport demands, understanding the region’s current transport infrastructure and services and developing a coherent series of strategies and actions.”41 The study area includes the Shires of Campaspe, Moira, Goonawarra, Loddon, Strathbogie and the City of Greater Shepparton. These shires are often referred to as the Goulburn Valley (or the Food Bowl of Australia) due to the region producing “25 per cent of the value of Victoria’s agricultural produce.”42 The study has developed a number of strategies for the transport network, the strategies that relate to freight movement via rail include: – Strategy 6 - Develop and standardise the rail network This study indicates that there is a paucity of competition on broad gauge and that there are more operators and equipment available for standard gauge. Therefore if the rail network in the region was gauge standardised it would provide more competition in the market and consequently allow rail to compete with road for the transportation of freight. A key conclusion from the study in regards to this strategy is “The rail network in the region suffers from lack of standardisation, which limits the potential for connectivity interstate and limits the potential for a competitive commercial environment.”43
The specific elements of this strategy should include:
o “Upgrade rail infrastructure to meet demands of freight movement; and
o Continue to promote gauge standardisation across the rail network.”44 – Strategy 7 - Develop rail freight infrastructure The rail network requires maintenance and upgrades to allow it to be operational. In addition, to allow rail to be competitive with road, intermodal terminals are required to be developed. These centres provide efficient transfer of goods and allow rail to be economically viable due to the concentration of industry. The specific elements of this strategy should include:
o “Upgrade the rail line between Seymour and Tocumwal to increase the capacity and speed of trains to allow more efficient movement of freight; and
o Continue development of intermodal freight terminals.”45
40 Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy, page ii 41 Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy, page ii 42 Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy, page ii 43 Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy, page 41 44 Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy, page 64 45 Northern Victoria Regional Transport Strategy, page 64
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 43 y The Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities Regional Plan (2010)
The Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities is an integrated strategic plan that a number of documents have provided integral inputs. The key aim of the strategy is to “provide a framework for long-term cooperation and investment within the region.”46 The Hume region study area is in north eastern Victoria. The region is typically broken into four sub-regions based on the functions and roles of the towns. A key characteristic of the Hume region is there is “no single dominant major regional city” 47 rather it is made up of a number of towns that support the region. Due to this key characteristic, the region requires “different approaches to infrastructure development, service provision and settlement growth”48 to allow the region to develop sustainably. Within the Hume region there are a number of towns that have been identified as being strategically important to the development of Victoria. It is forecast that each of the four sub regions will “grow by 100,000 people from 300,000 to 400,000 people”49 while the freight task is expected to “increase to a projected 58 million tonnes annually, with the Hume Freeway freight task projected to grow by 50% over the next 20 years.”50 To be able to accommodate this growth, the transport network (among a number of infrastructure requirements) will need to be upgraded and efficiencies applied to reduce any negative impacts. The two key transport routes within the Hume Region are the Hume and Goulburn Valley transport corridors. Within these corridors there are rail lines and key highways providing access to the towns within these areas. The plan recommends a number of integrated transport system upgrades which include a mixture of road and rail for both public transport, private transport and freight transport. A key aim for the growth of the transport network is to “provide for choice of travel modes and at the same time seek to reduce the impact of the transport system on the natural environment.”51 The recommendations include: - “Public transport underpinning networked communities; - Major infrastructure upgrades and improvements to the regions rail links; - Expansion of east-west public and freight transport links; - Greater freight transport capacity; - Innovation for energy efficiency and low carbon emission; and - Encouraging further construction and use of cycle and walking paths.”52 The transport key directions to achieve the recommendations specifically are: - “Enhanced integrated planning for mobility; - Developing a proficient land transportation network; - Linking communities through improved public transport and transport linkages; and - Strengthen the sustainability of the transport system.”53
46 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 6 47 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 6 48 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 6 49 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 6 50 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 52 51 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 52 52 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 8
44 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 3.5 Current Freight Services
The freight services within the Hume region are limited. The number of services has decreased within the last couple of decades due to the trend for industry to use trucks as the preferred mode of transport. The demand for rail therefore does not warrant as many services as previously. As outlined in a number of previous studies in Section 3.4 the Hume region is a major generator of freight but with most freight being transported by road. There are currently three freight rail services per week operating between Melbourne and Shepparton. Patrick/Pacific National operates the broad gauge freight within Victoria, including Melbourne to Shepparton, where the train operations are on a set timetable. These services also continue to the Tocumwal terminal to unload and then reload before returning to Shepparton. The limited number of services adds to the complexity of planning for freight to be transported by rail and potentially adds time within the logistics chain. Historically this service was operated twice a day for five days a week with services departing Shepparton around midday and 5 pm. The frequency of these services allowed for a relatively short turnaround time resulting in a reliable and sustainable service. The improvements in road quality resulted in many organisations choosing to use trucks as the preferred mode of travel due to the flexibility of arrival at various origins and destinations. As such “the Victorian intrastate rail freight task has fallen by an estimated 20% since the late 1990s.”54 Rail freight services through Wodonga have decreased while the North East Rail revitalisation was being carried out. Final track upgrade works - rerailing and mudhole removal/drainage improvements - are now being completed. As previously mentioned, this upgrade commenced in 2008 and is due to be completed during 2011. As the efficiency of the new double track standard gauge line becomes apparent, it is likely that the number of freight services along the line will increase significantly. This line is the key interstate rail connection along the east coast of Australia and therefore has the potential to attract significant volumes. There were regular daily rail freight services into the Hume region in the late 1990s including: y Container traffic to and from Bandiana; y Logs and fertiliser from the Wodonga coal sidings; y Less than container load palletised freight (LCL) to Benalla, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Shepparton; and y Twice daily container trains to Mooroopna, Shepparton and Tocumwal. These services have diminished due to manufacturing changes in the region, importation of some products and the viability of LCL services on rail. Volume changes have resulted in a decrease in the regularity of services which in turn reduces the usage of the rail mode share.
53 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 54 54 Switchpoint: The Rail Freight Network Review (2007)
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 45 3.6 Future Freight Rail
There are two types of freight rail within the Hume region - through traffic (freight travelling between Brisbane/Sydney and Melbourne) and freight with an origin/destination in the Hume region. Being part of the national network, the through freight volumes are expected to increase as the economy continues to grow and the demand increases. The maintenance of the network will be high due to the national importance of the movement of freight. The availability of capacity with road vehicles on the Hume and Newell Highways provides significant competition for rail in this region. As a result, the number of local rail services along the Shepparton and Wodonga lines has been progressively declining over the past few decades and the volume of freight transported on rail has also been decreasing in a downward spiral. Although there have been recent upgrades along the Albury/Wodonga Line, there is no freight rail terminal in Wodonga to allow easy and efficient access to the network to transport goods to Melbourne. Trucks are therefore the currently preferred mode choice for transportation of goods from the Albury/Wodonga region. In order to allow improved freight access to rail in the Hume Region it will be necessary to have strategically placed intermodal terminals to accept and distribute freight. The LOGIC and Goulburn Valley Intermodal terminals have been proposed to fulfil this need but the business cases have yet to be completed. Rail infrastructure in the form of intermodal terminals will provide for a mode change, but price comparisons with the road mode will remain the key driver to a change in behaviour. A freight infrastructure charge for road access to the port area had been proposed by the previous Victorian government. The access charge would not have been applied to rail movements. This type of intervention could provide a key driver to create a behavioural change towards rail in the Hume region. There are a number of recent studies and government policies which forecast the growth of freight within the Hume region, with the Hume Freeway freight task projected to grow by 50% over the next 20 years.”55 Similar growth is also projected for the Goulburn Valley region which currently produces “nearly $2 billion worth of goods and services each year, [where] Shepparton is arguably the freight capital of Australia.”56 The forecasted growth of freight is commonly approximated to be double that of the economic activity growth of the region. Both Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga are expected to continue to grow over the next 30 years to accommodate some of the population growth within Victoria. Government forecasts anticipate regional Victoria’s population to grow by approximately 500,000 by 2036 with Victoria growing to be approximately 7 million.57 This is significant growth and therefore the freight growth in regional Victoria would be of the order of 30% for a regional population increase of 15%.
55 Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities – Regional Plan, page 52 56 Greater Shepparton Infrastructure Priorities – Submission to Infrastructure Australia for the National Infrastructure Priority List 57 Victorian Transport Plan, page 47
46 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 3.7 The Case for Freight Rail
The freight network within Australia is a complex system due to rail track gauge variations used. As previously discussed, until very recently Victoria has had a predominantly broad gauge “network” which created inefficiencies for interstate and intrastate rail freight movements and also reduced the number of operators. Prices for rail freight have therefore been unnecessarily high. With the North East Rail upgrade and gauge standardisation the balance has swung in favour of standard gauge freight. Western Victoria and north eastern Victoria are now fully standard gauged with ARTC being the track administrator. As gauge standardisation proceeds on the remaining sections of the network there should be a reduction in unit costs for rail freight and a greater degree of competition. The development of a broader intermodal terminal network will allow the transportation of freight by rail to be a more cost effective form of transport due to economies of scale, potentially, with a number of distributors located on the one site. There have been a number of studies addressing the growth issues the Hume Region will face if no advance planning is implemented, particularly for the transport network. State Government policy has also addressed the growth of the region and identified key directions for the development of the transport network. The completed studies have a number of key recommendations for the region, many of which relate to the infrastructure improvements required for rail to increase the mode share of freight movements. This is a key direction of the state government and for this reason the improvement to rail infrastructure within the Hume Region should be a state government priority. There are a number of benefits to the development of communities by increasing the mode share of rail compared to road for the transportation of freight. These benefits are particularly evident in a region like Hume which generates such a significant volume of freight. The benefits include: x A reduction in emissions. More freight on rail than on road results in a reduction of greenhouse gases. This is a significant issue for the world and receives large amounts of media attention due to the number of studies indicating these emissions are contributing to global warming; x Safety on roads. The number of trucks on roads is directly related to the number of fatal accidents and the possibility of collisions. Rail is segregated from the local road network and therefore the potential for collisions is minimised; x Distribution of freight transport across modes. The freight task within the Hume region is expected to increase significantly and this will put further pressure on road funding options. An alternative to the road network is a crucial element to enable choice with an ability to compare investment benefits across alternative infrastructure developments; x Rail will consolidate the number of movements. A train has a significantly greater capacity than a truck therefore the use of trains reduces the number of movements and points of congestion along the corridor and at the terminal end points. As the freight task grows, congestion will become an increasingly prominent issue; and x Road congestion within capital cities will grow. The future growth of Melbourne will increase traffic congestion, consequently increasing travel time and decreasing the reliability of road vehicles. The peak periods are expected to
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 47 be spread across a significant portion of the day, therefore reducing the window of opportunity for efficient movement by road. While the discussions throughout Section 3 have identified the need to upgrade rail infrastructure to improve the rail mode share it is also acknowledged that there is a number of other issues that need to be dealt with to improve the mode share. These issues include: x Freight network gauge disparities. There are significant advantages in using a consistent gauge - standard gauge - which will assist the rail industry to successfully compete with road freight transport; x Logistics Chain Timing. The logistics chain for container movements for rail is complicated by the storage locations of containers and the requirement to transport the containers from the empty container parks to PoM then to the regional terminal. This process adds a significant amount of time the logistics chain; x On-time delivery perceptions. Industry requires/expects the goods to be picked up when they are required and the majority of companies do not have systems to easily accommodate train timetables. It is therefore often considered that rail does not provide the same level of service as road transport for many products. However, when compared to the waiting times at the end terminal the two modes can be considered comparable; and x Pick Up and Delivery costs. Rail often cannot provide end to end service due to the limitations of the rail alignment and various origins/destinations. Therefore trucks are often required for the ‘last km of travel’, which results in additional lifts/transfers of the container. The number of container lifts is an expensive component of the freight task and often adds a considerable amount to the cost of rail when compared to road. A greater rail network with a larger number of smaller sidings on major logistics sites in combination with intermodal terminals would reduce the need for multiple handling of containers to/from trucks and trains.
48 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 4. Hume Passenger and Freight Rail Infrastructure Issues
4.1 Rail Track Conditions
The condition of the rail track has been identified as a critical issue for both passenger and freight services. The rail track condition impacts the speed and types of vehicles permitted to travel along the line which in turn impact the frequency of services and the comfort of the service. V/Line typically classifies track into five classes plus a “siding” class based on the condition of the track and subsequent speed permitted along the track. The five classes as defined by ARTC for NSW are probably better indications of track quality. They are: y Class 1 track will take a 25 t axle load and is reasonably new track in good condition. The track is designed to permit speeds of approximately 160 km/hr for passenger trains and 80 km/hr for freight. Therefore the signalling and level crossings will also to be to a standard to allow trains to travel safely at these speeds. The V’Locity passenger trains introduced along the Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon lines require track to be Class 1 for effective use; y Class 2 track is limited to a 21 t axle load and speeds of 120 km/hr for passenger trains and 80 km/hr for freight; y Class 3 track has a 19 t axle load and a top speed of 70 km/hr for freight; and y Class 4 and 5 track have a 19 t axle load and speeds of 50 km/hr and 40 km/hr respectively. In the previous sections of this report it has been mentioned that the Albury/Wodonga line is currently undergoing rerailing and mud hole remediation following earlier work to resleeper the tracks and to convert the broad gauge track to standard gauge. These works will provide a high quality line with effectively two new tracks, an upgraded signalling system and improved level crossings. When the ARTC works are complete the track will be in good condition and will have an ARTC 1 ranking. This line is the rail freight route along the east coast of Australia and consequently regular maintenance will be guaranteed to ensure that the line is kept to an acceptable standard. The Benalla – Oaklands freight line has also been upgraded and converted to standard gauge as part of the north east line upgrades and therefore the track will also be in good condition. The condition of the Shepparton line is managed at a lower level compared to the Albury/Wodonga line. The broad gauge section of track to Seymour is classified as a Class 2 track while the track north of Seymour is classified as a Class 3 track. The impacts of the lower condition track along this line include: y The condition of the track limits the speed at which trains can travel, therefore not providing the travel time savings that rail can achieve compared to road. This impacts both freight and passenger rail travel; y The comfort of the journey is impacted. A lower class track will result in a trip with a reasonable amount of movement of the carriage therefore creating discomfort to passengers and making it difficult to write, drink and walk around the carriage;
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 49 y Only older style trains are permitted to be used along the line. V/Line permits the new V’Locity trains to be used only on Class 1 track; and y There are more breakages for freight due to the movement of the wagons on Class 3 (or lower) track. In comparison, much of the passenger networks to Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Traralgon within Victoria have been upgraded to Class 1 track as part of the Regional Fast Rail program (discussed in Section 2.5). This indicates that the standard of the Shepparton line and the resulting impacts of the track condition are not in line with the other major centres in the state and therefore works should be initiated to upgrade the Shepparton line. The gauge of the Shepparton track is also an important issue given the significant volume of freight that could potentially be transported via rail. The issues of broad gauge track have been previously discussed in Section 3.1, where it was noted that the current gauge of the Shepparton line hinders the usage of the line for freight. While it is acknowledged that converting the Shepparton line to standard gauge will require the passenger carriages to be gauge converted thereby adding costs to the process the overall long term economic benefits for both passenger and freight services will outweigh these costs.
4.2 Train Paths
Accessibility of train paths is a critical issue to be able to provide the number of services required for each line at purposeful times. The train paths are often critical at the ‘squeeze’ points where there are junctions or a convergence of a number of lines. For regional passenger trains and freight trains this is usually when they enter the Metropolitan Melbourne passenger rail network. The timetabling of the rail network provides the Metropolitan Melbourne passenger trains with first priority, regional passenger trains with second priority and freight trains are required to fit around the passenger services. This therefore restricts the timing of the freight trains and to a lesser extent the regional passenger trains. Train path availability is limited during the peak periods due to the high demand and large number of train services utilising the network at this time. Train paths within a network are impacted by trains operating at different speeds, stopping at different stations and being different lengths. In a congested network (often during peak periods) this is an additional complication that at times prevents regional and freight trains from obtaining a train path. The key issues regarding train paths for regional passenger services include: y Access into Southern Cross station The platform availability at Southern Cross station is limited during peak periods. There are currently dedicated platforms for regional services but these need to be shared for all regional services. This situation is likely to be improved following the completion of Regional Rail Link (RRL), as two new platforms (one dedicated for regional services and the other to be shared with metropolitan services) will be constructed at Southern Cross Station. y Costs associated with access to Southern Cross before 9 am
Metro Trains control access to the metropolitan tracks which also includes the pricing for access. Due to the high demand of usage during the peak periods, access costs are at a premium until 9 am. Based on this, to help reduce costs,
50 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report V/Line timetables services to minimise the number of services before 9 am, particularly on the longer routes. Both the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga lines are considered longer routes and therefore do not have services arriving into Southern Cross Station before 9 am. This results in passengers not being able to arrive for a 9 am meeting in Melbourne and therefore a greater number of people from this region are required to drive or travel the night before. Both options reduce productivity for the travellers and therefore are considered inferior travel options. The key issues regarding train paths for freight services include: y Access into PoM Within the PoM the arrival of freight trains is often required to be timetabled so that there are sufficient rail sidings to accommodate the trains and available resources (personnel and equipment) to unload and then load the train. Access into the PoM is also often limited to provide efficiencies within the port operation and to reduce additional container movements and storage requirements. This situation is likely to be improved in the future due to infrastructure efficiency improvements and improvements in the operation of the terminals. Currently the Department of Transport is investigating the feasibility of relocating interstate trains that are not related to the port to another Interstate Terminal. y Freight Utilising Broad Gauge Tracks
The movement of freight on broad gauge tracks is restricted by both regional and metropolitan passenger rail services. This is an issue in peak times as freight trains travel at different speeds to passenger services due to the length and weight of the trains. Therefore, during peak times, the number of opportunities for freight is significantly reduced. Passenger services always have priority for train paths due to the need to move people as a priority to goods. The number of train paths is getting harder to find as the number of passenger services is continually increasing due to demand. In addition, the commuter peaks are also increasing. The paucity of freight train paths during the peaks can affect businesses. A comparison is the traffic congestion on the roads where trucks are competing with cars. Therefore costs for freight due to congestion are increasing, particularly in regard to the unreliability of travel time. It is therefore essential to improve the rail network for freight to provide a viable transport option. The cleanest option would be to move all rail freight to standard gauge lines. Standard gauge rail tracks are quarantined from the broad gauge metropolitan passenger rail network and do not suffer the same degree of passenger service interface issues.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 51 4.3 Locomotives, Carriages and Wagons
The other limiting factor in providing additional rail services is the availability of rolling stock. There is currently limited rolling stock available and additional services would require rolling stock to be purchased. It is understood that the government has recently purchased a number of new V’Locity trains to accommodate the demand on the regional rail network. However the last order will arrive in late 2011 and it is understood there are no immediate plans to order more rolling stock. Based on this, the option of gauge conversion of the Shepparton line should be investigated before other rolling stock is purchased. The benefits of standardising the Shepparton Rail Line include: y The two passenger services within Hume would no longer be on different gauges which currently eliminates any potential efficiency. If the Shepparton line was converted to standard gauge then efficiencies of rolling stock could be gained. The two lines would be able to utilise the same back-up rolling stock for routine maintenance or repairs; and y The rolling stock available for freight would significantly increase due to the number of freight rail operators with rolling stock on standard gauge. This would not only increase the availability of rolling stock but it would also increase the competitiveness of rail freight within the Shepparton region thereby potentially reducing the cost of providing additional and more flexible services. Standard gauge would allow freight from the Shepparton region to be transported directly into NSW rather than to Melbourne for transfer to standard gauge and subsequent transport to NSW. This not only reduces the travel distance, time and cost but also reduces rail movements within the PoM precinct.
52 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 5. Stakeholder Consultation
5.1 Stakeholder Consultation Process GHD found that a period of stakeholder consultation would be beneficial to ascertain not only the current perceptions of the existing passenger and freight rail services in the Hume region, but also the passenger and business demands for improved passenger rail and freight rail services respectively. Stakeholders were consulted only to the north of Seymour. Due to the frequency of rail services to Seymour, stakeholder consultation in Seymour itself was not a priority for this study. Identification and collation of the main rail stakeholders in the Hume region was conducted in close coordination with Hume RDA. Key stakeholders were identified from a number of sectors including: y Government; y Industry; y Education; y Health; and y Passenger Rail User Groups. In order to keep the stakeholder process focussed, a questionnaire for passenger and/or freight rail was provided to all stakeholders for discussion and completion. These questionnaires targeted stakeholder satisfaction with current services and the types of future services that would satisfy the community. Both the passenger and freight questionnaires are provided in Appendix C. Due to the timeframe of this project it was not possible to meet with all stakeholders individually. As a result, key stakeholders were identified in conjunction with Hume RDA to organise meetings within the region. The remainder of stakeholders were spoken to over the phone or consulted via email. Stakeholder meetings were undertaken in three locations on the following dates: y Shepparton – 5 May 2011; y Wodonga – 11 and 12 May 2011; and y Wangaratta – 12 May 2011. GHD chose to travel to Shepparton, Wodonga and Wangaratta to conduct stakeholder meetings due to their size, the frequency of rail services and the number of key stakeholders located in those towns. Despite its size, due to the frequency of rail services, it was not necessary to meet with stakeholders in Seymour. Table 6 to Table 9 present the stakeholders that completed the passenger and/or freight rail questionnaires for the Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga lines respectively. Appendix D contains a list of all stakeholders contacted, there are some in this list that did not complete the questionnaire. The tables have been segregated by the stakeholder group and whether the consultation was predominately around passenger or freight services. The level of consultation with each stakeholder has been shown in the tables 6 to 9.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 53 Table 6: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Shepparton (Goulburn Valley) Line Passenger Service
Consultation Level
Industry Meeting Phone Discussion Email
Councils Greater Moira Shire Strathbogie Shire Shepparton Council Council Council
Murrindindi Shire Berrigan Shire Council Council
Industry Goulburn Valley Goulburn Valley Health Water
Goulburn Ovens TAFE
Government Department of V/Line Transport – Bus and Regional Services
RDA Department of Planning and Community Development
Education LaTrobe University – Shepparton Campus
Melbourne University Business School
Rail Action Shepparton RAILS Nicholas and Cyril Group White
Shepparton News
54 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table 7: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Shepparton (Goulburn Valley) Line Freight Service
Consultation Level
Industry Meeting Phone Discussion Email
Council Greater Shepparton Council
Industry Campbell’s Soups Shepparton Chamber of Commerce
Bega Cheese VISY Limited
Tatura Milk HW Greenham
Geoff Hartley
Government Department of V/Line Transport – Freight Logistics and Marine
RDA
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 55 Table 8: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Albury/Wodonga (North East) line Passenger Service
Consultation Level
Industry Meeting Phone Discussion Email
Councils Wangaratta City Wodonga City Indigo Shire Council Council
Alpine Shire Mansfield Shire
Benalla Rural City Mitchell Shire Council
Strathbogie Shire Murrindindi Shire
Towong Shire
Industry Wangaratta Unlimited
Wangaratta Hospital (North East Health)
Government Department of V/Line Murray RDA Transport – Bus and Regional Services
Department of VECCI’s North Planning and East Office Community Development
Education LaTrobe University Wodonga TAFE – Albury/Wodonga Campus
56 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Table 9: Stakeholders Consulted Regarding Albury/Wodonga (North East) Line Freight Service
Consultation Level
Industry Meeting Phone Discussion Email
Councils Wangaratta City Wodonga City Council Council
Industry VISY
Government Department of V/Line Transport – Freight Logistics and Marine
RDA
5.1.1 Shepparton RAILS Group community survey In addition to the stakeholder questionnaires and interviews, this section also considers the key findings of the Shepparton RAILS Group community survey conducted in May 2011. GHD received a snapshot of the survey responses from the first week of the survey where approximately 450 surveys were completed. The Shepparton RAILS Group developed an online survey to establish residents’ use and perceptions of the available passenger rail services to and from Shepparton. Residents were asked to respond to the survey through a range of community websites and newspaper advertisements. The survey focused only on passenger rail services to Shepparton with a target audience of residents in the Greater Shepparton region. The survey focused on understanding: y Time and frequency of travel between Melbourne and Shepparton; y The chosen mode of transport for travel; y Satisfaction of the current rail service to and from Shepparton for weekday and weekend services (including the number and scheduling of services); and y Satisfaction with the cost of the service. Survey respondents were drawn from across a range of areas within the Greater Shepparton region and respondents ranged from those who often use the existing rail services (43%), to those who sometimes used the services (24%) and those who occasionally or rarely used the services (56%).
5.2 Passenger Services
The approach GHD adopted for this project was to look at the service from a supply side to then equate the demand – i.e. if better services were provided what would be the demand. This is in contrast to the alternative approach which involves investigating and calculating the demand and identifying the number of additional services the demand warrants. The approach adopted has resulted in the stakeholder consultation being focused on the key issues of the current services and what the level of service would be needed to encourage more customers to use the service.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 57 5.2.1 Shepparton Line There is a strong community push for increased rail services to Shepparton and a better quality of service. Consultation with stakeholders in Shepparton was very positive with the majority of key stakeholders responding to the questionnaire in a timely fashion.
5.2.1.1 Views on current services A number of common themes regarding the users of the passenger rail service and issues with the current service were raised during the stakeholder consultation process. Stakeholders reported that the typical trips completed using the passenger rail service were: y Commuting to Melbourne for business meetings, training and conferences; y Leisure; and y Specialist medical appointments in Melbourne. The key issues with the current passenger rail service are summarised below. y Limited number of services (frequency) Many businesses have indicated the preference to use rail as the dominant mode of transport as car travel is a significant OH&S issue. After a long day of working/meetings, fatigue becomes a significant issue. Rail often cannot be utilised due to the limited frequency of services and the timing of services not meeting the business requirements. In fact, most respondents from the Shepparton community survey were very unhappy (34%) or unhappy (41%) with the number of daily services to and from Shepparton on weekdays. Many stakeholders have also indicated that currently if people from the Greater Shepparton region wish to travel to Melbourne via rail they will often drive to Seymour to catch the train due to the significant increase in frequency of services from Seymour compared to Shepparton. This view is supported by findings of the Shepparton community survey that 25% of respondents sometimes drive to Seymour and 13% often drive to Seymour to use the more frequent services. y Timetabling of services While rail service timetabling relates to the issue of service frequency, a number of specific issues in relation to train times were highlighted by stakeholders. During the stakeholder consultation process a number of comments were received relating to the timetabling of the services not meeting demand. This has been noted for trips to Melbourne and for trips to Shepparton. Generally the feedback indicated that: – The service does not sufficiently accommodate business travel. The first service arrives in Melbourne at approximately 9.30 am and therefore 9 am meetings cannot be attended. – The service does not accommodate a day trip to Shepparton for business or leisure as the first service arrives into Shepparton at approximately 12.30 pm and then leaves at 3.30 pm. Many Shepparton community survey respondents also highlighted that the inability to arrive in Melbourne in time for business commitments such as meetings, events and training was a significant barrier to train use on weekdays. As a result, respondents were either forced to make inconvenient (and potentially more costly) arrangements to
58 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report stay “overnight to enable [them] to attend the conference on time” or had little choice but to travel by car. As one respondent noted: “A day trip to Melbourne means you arrive late and leave Melbourne late for your return.” y Reliability of services
For a rail service to be used reliability is a key factor to be considered. Currently trains can be cancelled with limited notice and replaced with a bus service. This change of mode often leaves mobility impaired travellers stranded at the station and also results in a longer trip for other passengers. y Quality of the service Driving is viewed as a loss of productive time compared to rail where passengers are able to complete work and read/reply to emails. However the consultation indicated that some of the services were too crowded to allow for productive work to be completed. This is particularly the case for the morning service to Melbourne. Therefore many organisations did not promote the use of rail as a means of productive time. y Speed of the service
The speed of the rail service was mentioned by a number of stakeholders although it was not the first issue raised. Stakeholders commented that the service currently took too long compared to other rail services and it stopped at too many minor towns. The stakeholder opinion generally was that a few express services would allow rail to have an adequate travel time particularly for morning commuters and evening return trips. This would allow daily commuters greater time at home for family and leisure time rather than travelling. The majority of respondents to the Shepparton community survey also indicated that they were (21%) very unhappy or (36%) unhappy with the current speed (and therefore travel time) of services.
5.2.1.2 Suggestions for future service provision The results from the stakeholder consultation show that the following areas of the rail service to Shepparton need to be addressed to improve the demand for the rail line: y A greater number of services. During a number of the discussions a question regarding the timing of the service was asked. The question was: ‘if only one additional service could be introduced where would this service be within the current timetable?’ Responses to the question varied slightly depending on the demographic of people represented by the stakeholder. However, the majority of the responses were for a service to be introduced that arrived at Southern Cross Station before 9 am, preferably around 8.30 am. This service was the preferred service as to enable attendance at 9 am meetings. Increasing the number of rail services was also the highest ranking response to what could encourage the respondents of the Shepparton community survey to use the train more often. y The timetabling of services.
The issues of timetabling and frequency of services are related as more services would enable the timetable to meet more passenger requirements. The consultation indicated that the current timetable provided trains at inconvenient times. To increase demand, trains would need to operate at times passengers wanted to travel. In particular, responses to the Shepparton community survey indicate that services that arriving in Melbourne at convenient times for business travellers (i.e. in time for
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 59 morning meetings and events) would be a key enabler for increased business related train travel. Improved timetabling of services was the second highest ranking response to what could encourage respondents to use the train more often. y Duration of the service.
The stakeholder consultation results indicate that the demand for the rail service would increase if the travel time was decreased; this was also supported by results from the Shepparton community survey. A decreased travel time would enable the rail service to be comparable to driving especially as traffic congestion in Melbourne’s peaks continues to increase. An express service was suggested as a potential solution to decrease travel time for some services.
5.2.1.3 Relay Service During the stakeholder consultation the potential to operate a relay or shuttle type service was raised. This service would involve a sprinter train to operate between Shepparton and Seymour and allow passengers to connect with the regular service operating between Seymour and Melbourne. This shuttle service would not require additional train paths within the metropolitan network whilst increasing the number of services to/from Shepparton. The service does however require there to be sufficient capacity on the existing train services from Seymour. In addition, the passengers would be required to change trains at Seymour which would add travel time particularly if the trains were not scheduled to align. This type of service was seen by some stakeholders to be a viable option to increase the number of services. However other stakeholders believed that this type of service was not sufficient and would add significant travel time for commuters and therefore patronage from Shepparton would not significantly increase.
5.2.2 Albury/Wodonga Line Community concern regarding rail services to and from Wodonga and Wangaratta was not as strongly vocalised and there was a noticeably lower community drive for passenger rail services voiced by stakeholders interviewed in this region compared to stakeholders in Shepparton. This may be related to rail services not operating due to the rail standardisation works as part of the North East Revitalisation Project. Comments indicated that people and businesses have found alternative modes of transport in the absence of a rail service along the line for the last couple of years; it is possible that residents have become accustomed to the use of other transport modes for journeys that could otherwise be made using the railway line. Although other modes of transport have been utilised, consultations confirm that the community would like the passenger rail services to be returned. The consultation with stakeholders in Wodonga and Wangaratta was positive with the majority of the key stakeholders responding to the questionnaire in a timely fashion.
5.2.2.1 Current services The key issue for the current service of the Albury/Wodonga Line is that there are currently only two XPT services operating. Consultation with stakeholders indicated that when the three V/Line services were reinstated, the total of five services return to Melbourne would be sufficient until demand increased again. The general consensus was that the demand for passenger
60 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report rail has decreased due to the lack of services over the past two to three years and therefore it will require some time to rebuild demand for the service. The other key issue that was identified throughout the consultation process with stakeholders in Wodonga and Wangaratta was the need for intra-regional services particularly between Wodonga and Wangaratta rather than services to Melbourne.
5.2.2.2 Future provision The key features of a rail service that would increase demand would include: y Reliability of services. Services which run on time and reach the destination at the scheduled time and also that services are not cancelled without notice. y Express services that do not require a change at Seymour. This would shorten the journey time and allow the trip by train to be a viable option compared to a car. y Timetabling of the service. It has been identified that services should provide ‘business friendly’ hours that allow people to complete a full day of work in Melbourne i.e. arrive by 9.00 am and leave about 5.30 pm.
5.2.3 Business Carriage The concept of a business carriage to be implemented on all trains in the Hume Region has been proposed by various stakeholders. This includes a ready to advance recommendation in the Hume Strategy for “Transit business centres – train carriages on Hume corridor daily service”. The business carriage would be similar to first class with greater room for passengers when seated and the layout would be designed to allow and encourage people to work while travelling. Therefore the business carriage would have: y Easily accessible power points for users to plug laptops into; y Layout conducive to business discussion; y Constant ICT coverage; y Emphasis on a working environment; y Free WiFi within the carriage; and y Lighting to a level which allows for reading at all times of the day. The general response to the business carriage idea was that ‘it is a great idea and would encourage more business workers to use the train and become the preferred method of transport to/from Melbourne’. Despite the positive response regarding the business carriage this concept would encourage users only if the times of service suited the purpose of travel. Costing of the carriage was raised during the consultation process. The majority of stakeholders accepted that the additional facilities would come at a cost. The exact cost that potential passengers would be prepared to pay cannot be determined through this process and will need to be identified in collaboration with V/Line and the Department of Transport. Costing points to compare against were discussed with the cost of a tank of petrol plus a full day car parking in Melbourne (i.e. not early bird) being the most common suggestion. However, due to occupational health and safety a
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 61 number of organisations require personnel to stay a night in Melbourne if they are completing a full day of work in Melbourne and then travel back the following day. Therefore for a number of organisations as long as the cost is lower than the cost of driving plus accommodation for a city hotel then the business carriage would be used. A small number of stakeholders also charter planes (from Shepparton) or use the airport in Albury to complete the trip within a day if meeting times cannot be accommodated any other way. The cost of a train ticket with these facilities and occupational health and safety benefits would be significantly cheaper than these alternatives. However, the timetabling would need to provide more frequent services which would allow passengers to plan for a full business day in Melbourne. During consultation with a representative from V/Line, the business carriage concept was raised and it was identified that V/Line is currently investigating many features included in this concept. A key component V/Line has already investigated is the viability of Wireless Internet on board all carriages throughout the network. This was done as part of a business case to upgrade the train to base radios to digital. This project and upgrade would need to be funded and undertaken before the concept could be fully explored. V/Line has submitted business cases to the Department of Transport to fund this project. Large costs are involved.
5.3 Freight Services
Similar to the passenger services, GHD has adopted a supply side service to equate the demand. This approach has also been adopted throughout the stakeholder consultation process.
5.3.2 Shepparton Line The number of freight rail services to the Shepparton region has diminished over the past few decades due to a lack of demand as road has developed to be the pre- eminent mode choice. The broad gauge rail line is also a disincentive for the use of rail for freight. Currently, there are three return freight rail services to the Shepparton region per week. As previously mentioned, these services also service the Tocumwal freight terminal and therefore the trains operate to a timetable rather than to demand. The current volume of freight transported by rail from the Shepparton region is limited. The majority of freight transported by rail (containerised freight) is destined for the Port of Melbourne for export. The consultation process was received positively from industry within the Shepparton region. The response rate was lower than the passenger responses, which is most likely to be due to these organisations currently not using rail for any transportation.
5.3.2.1 Current services The following key issues were identified regarding the current freight rail service within the Shepparton region: y Insufficient frequency of services. There are only three return rail services to Shepparton/Tocumwal each week. This does not provide sufficient flexibility for organisations to provide goods to customers in a timely fashion. Also, it does not provide margin for error if a train is missed. y Arrangements between the operator including cost.
Depending on the agreement between the operator and organisation the costs vary. Some organisations indicated that the costs for rail were greater than road and
62 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report therefore they would not use rail until costs were lowered. During the consultation process it was identified that the minimal competition from rail operators (one of the problems of running on broad gauge lines) resulted in higher pricing and no choice for rail. y Lack of flexibility and reliability. Stakeholders identified that it was not possible to have rail services to meet the varied demand throughout the year and the operators were not willing to accommodate these demands easily. In addition, there is a perceived lack of reliability for freight rail and therefore rail is not readily chosen to transport freight. y Double or triple handling of freight.
This can lead to an increased number of breakages/spoilage of product, although rail can be a gentler journey as there is often less movement between destinations compared to the road. y Inability to source empty containers in a timely fashion. This is a significant issue as it can often add a number of days to the process and does not always enable sufficient time to meet the shipping departure times. y Supply Chain Timing. This is also related to the sourcing of empty containers but is an issue in its own right. During the consultation many comments were made regarding the turn-around time for rail and this was a significant factor in why an organisation chose to use trucks rather than trains. Typically the turnaround time for rail will be up to four days from the time an order for empty containers is placed to the arrival of the goods in Melbourne. In comparison the turnaround for road is between 6 and 10 hours depending on the availability of the truck, although in most circumstances a truck can be easily accessed.
5.2.2.2 Future Provisions Based on stakeholder inputs from the consultation, the key areas of improvement to encourage a greater mode share for freight rail would be: y Cost effectiveness; y Frequency of services; and y Flexibility for seasonal produce. All of these areas of improvement would become possible if the line was converted to standard gauge - open to competition, access to short haul operators and connectivity to the National Interstate Network.
5.3.3 Albury/Wodonga Line The consultation process was received positively from industry within the Wodonga and Wangaratta regions. The response rate was lower than for the passenger responses. This is most likely to be due to these organisations currently not using rail for any transportation.
5.3.3.1 Current services There are currently limited freight rail options along the Albury/Wodonga line for both Wodonga and Wangaratta. This is due to the limited number of rail facilities i.e. intermodal terminals or freight sidings along this corridor. Most rail freight on this
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 63 corridor is interstate freight. The Ettamogah terminal, approximately 17 km, north of Albury, provides the only current local freight access to the corridor and this is limiting the access for freight products. Significant development and investment is being completed in Wodonga at the LOGIC site but even this site does not currently accommodate any freight rail services. The key issues for the use of rail along the Albury/Wodonga line are similar to the issues for the Shepparton line and include: y Insufficient frequency of services; y Arrangements between the operator including cost; y Lack of flexibility and reliability; y Double or triple handling of freight; y Inability to source empty containers in a timely fashion; and y Supply Chain Timing. For further discussion on these key issues refer to Section 5.3.2.1.
5.3.3.2 Future Provisions The future requirements for industry located in Wodonga and Wangaratta are slightly different as there is no intermodal terminal located in Wangaratta therefore affecting the cost effectiveness of rail within this region. Feedback from stakeholders indicated that an intermodal terminal would need to be developed in order for freight rail to be considered as a viable transportation mode choice. This future development of intermodal terminals in the region will be dependent on containerised freight volumes reaching a “critical mass” to ensure that terminals are viable. As a result the further investigation and justification of the LOGIC Intermodal Terminal is a greater priority for investment in the region at this stage. Based on stakeholder inputs from the consultation, the major future requirements for freight rail services in the Wodonga region would include: y Availability of an intermodal terminal with warehousing facilities y Cost effectiveness; y Frequency of services; and y Flexibility for seasonal produce.
64 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 6. Service Improvements for People and Business
6.1 Benefits of rail
This study has investigated the current levels of service, usage and facilities provided for passenger and freight rail within the Hume Region. Throughout the study a number of benefits for rail when compared to road have been identified. The benefits of rail include: y Safety
Rail is a guided transport mode in not only being physically guided but also very regulated with a focus on trained and accredited operators. It is therefore inherently very safe. This characteristic contrasts with the road system which is very open in its operation. Driving for significant lengths of time after a long day of work/training is considered by many organisations to be an Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) issue due to fatigue resulting in an increased chance of a collision. In addition, elderly citizens usually prefer to catch the train as they are not confident driving, however the limited number of rail services do not always allow them to reach their desired destination at a suitable time. The number of trucks on the road has increased significantly within the past decade. This has resulted in the increasing probability of collisions. Collisions with trucks often result in serious injury due to size and mass of a truck compared to a car. Although collisions with a train also result in serious injury, the level of interaction between trains and cars is minimised. The train is located within a dedicated corridor which has limited road crossing points (the majority of crossings are signalised with boom gates to prevent cars from crossing when a train is in the vicinity). y Cost of Oil Increasing
Oil is a finite resource and will continue to increase in price as it becomes difficult to source. Based on average occupancy rates road vehicles (cars and trucks) utilise more oil (petrol and diesel) than rail per person. This results in passenger and freight rail not being impacted by the increasing oil prices to the same extent as road travel (cars and trucks). Increases in freight costs are generally passed onto the consumer by increasing the price of goods and utilities. Therefore it will be become more economical to transport via rail instead of road. y Environmental Impacts Greenhouse gas emissions including vehicle emissions are a critical issue for the environment and currently there is a general focus on reducing all greenhouse gas emissions. Average vehicle occupancy for passengers and the volume of goods trucks can carry cause road vehicles to emit significantly greater amounts of greenhouse gases. Due to the size and loads trucks carry, they have a significantly greater impact on the road pavement than cars. This results in increased initial design requirements and maintenance of the pavement for roads with a high volume of trucks. The Hume region is forecast to grow significantly over the next 20 years. To enable this growth to be sustainable, a policy focus on increasing the use of rail should be
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 65 implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to lessen the impacts on roads. y Congestion Traffic volumes on roads within Melbourne and local towns are increasing, resulting in some roads reaching capacity during peak periods (this is particularly the case for major inner city arterial roads). Congestion on these roads is therefore resulting in longer travel times and greater variation of trips. According to forecasts for the Hume Region it is expected that the freight task will grow to 58 million tonnes per year over the next 25 years. This means a significant increase in the number of trucks along the highway networks within the Hume region if the current mode share continues. Traffic volume forecasts predict the level of congestion to increase and the peak periods to spread over a greater portion of the day. Consequently, the window of operation is narrowing for freight vehicles to travel avoiding the peak periods. This either restricts business operating hours or increases the time allowance due to longer and greater variability in travel time for the trip. The increasing congestion also affects passenger trips as people spend more time travelling than at home or in leisure or social activities. Passenger and freight rail provide greater certainty for the duration of the trip and the arrival time. This is due to rail having a dedicated corridor and not being affected by the road congestion. y Productivity and Time Savings Rail services offer passengers the opportunity to use their time productively by being able to read and respond to emails, read reports, study, read leisure material etc. Driving significantly limits the amount of work/study that can be completed due to the level of concentration required while driving. Travel on rail is significantly less tiring than driving and also provides the opportunity to rest. The operating speeds of trains will usually result in the travel time being quicker than driving. This is particularly noticeable for upgraded track that allows trains to operate at speeds up to 160 km/hr. y Financial Savings Driving to the Melbourne CBD for the day can be relatively costly compared to a rail trip to the same destination due to parking, petrol and car usage expenses. Parking in the CBD can be particularly expensive if early bird rates are not provided. In addition, due to safety requirements some travellers may need to travel the night before and pay for overnight accommodation. This usually is not required for rail passengers from a safety perspective and therefore could be a significant cost saving. y Social Inclusion
Social inclusion is a key issue to be considered for regional centres and isolation is often a cause for depression or people not staying within the region. Rail services provide a quick connection between the regional centres and the city thereby reducing the feeling of isolation for people who don’t drive (i.e. young people, elderly people, backpackers and those who can’t afford a car).
66 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 6.2 Issues due to poor Rail services
Issues associated with poor rail services relate to both passenger and freight services. However, the issues have some different aspects and therefore have been discussed separately in this section.
6.2.1 Passenger - Shepparton Line There is a clear disparity between the rail services along the Shepparton line and the other regional rail services, such as in the Regional Fast Rail areas. A paucity of passenger rail services creates the following social and economic issues for the region: y Constraints on regional growth Since the RFR project increased rail services to Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Traralgon the population of these towns has increased dramatically. y Increased dependence on private cars With minimal train services, households need multiple cars to allow people to travel to work and to leisure activities. y Reduction of productivity Staff and students can work on the train but cannot work while driving. Train travel also provides passengers with the options of relaxing and reading for leisure if desired. y Decrease in the number/variety of specialist services able to be provided within the town It is difficult to attract medical specialists to have a one or two day clinic in the region as they find the travel both time consuming and unproductive. y Education growth limitations The paucity of rail services does not encourage students from Melbourne to study within the Hume region due to the isolation and difficulty of travel back to Melbourne to visit friends and family. The existing rail services compare very unfavourably with Bendigo, Ballarat, and Geelong. This creates a disparity for the region and does not allow for potential growth. y Fruit picking and multi-cultural migration difficulties The paucity of services results in people being isolated from Melbourne and other areas as they are often reliant on the public transport network. This isolation reduces the desirability for workers to travel to the Shepparton region. y Tourism Minimal rail services create a barrier for tourism. The current services to Shepparton do not provide sufficient time for a day trip as there is only three hours between the train arriving in Shepparton and the last train leaving Shepparton. The timing of the trains is also not desirable for weekend tourism as the travel is in the middle of the day and does not allow for maximum time in Shepparton. The current services operating along the Albury/Wodonga line are also scheduled at similar times and are not suitable for day trips on weekdays or attractive for weekend tourism (only two return services per day compared to between 10 and 16 to other regional centres).
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 67 6.2.2 Passenger - Albury/Wodonga Line The V/Line passenger rail service to Albury/Wodonga partially recommenced on Sunday 26 June 201. There are expected to be some delays before services resume fully in November 2011. XPT trains have continued to operate during the upgrading works with two return services a day. The current level of service for this line is well below that of other railway lines services to destinations of a similar size and distance from Melbourne (detailed in Section 2). However, the level of service is considered to be reasonable once the three daily return V/Line services are reinstated. The Albury/Wodonga line will be serviced by a total of five daily return services (including the two Country Link services) when all V/Line services are reinstated. The issue with the reinstated services will be the timetabling. Services need to be provided at times that allow the majority of users to travel at their desired times. Another critical issue for the towns of Wodonga and Wangaratta is the links between the two towns, particularly for accessing educational facilities. A further issue for timing of services is the ability to encourage tourism to the town via rail. Wangaratta in particular is promoting and growing cycling tourism with the development of a number of cycle trails within the region. The rail is viewed as a sustainable option to travel to Wangaratta as bicycles are permitted to be carried on the trains. However, the timetabling has to be convenient for visitors. It is noted that improvements to services may not result in increases to patronage without effective communication and promotion. As previously discussed, residents may not be receptive to new and improved services because they may have become accustomed to using other transport modes in the absence of frequent and reliable passenger rail services.
6.2.3 Freight - Shepparton Line Minimal freight rail services have created the following issues: y More road maintenance due to an increased number of trucks on the roads; y Social issues in towns due to road divisions with large vehicles constantly travelling along roads through the town; y Road safety; y Congestion in towns and Melbourne; and y Lack of choice for industry to choose a mode of transport. The number of freight rail services to Shepparton has gradually decreased from two services per day to one per day or even less. As the number of services has been reduced, the number of industries transporting by rail has also decreased due to the convenience of road and the diminishing options for rail. The rail operators have reacted to the reduced demand by further reducing the number of services in a downward spiral. To increase the rail share for the Shepparton line the number of services provided to industry needs to increase to provide flexibility and the cost needs to remain competitive with road freight. This would be facilitated by converting the track to standard gauge which would allow for a greater amount of rolling stock to be available and provide greater flexibility during the peak seasons. Rail operators provide services
68 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report in other states of Australia which have different peak seasons. If the line was standard gauge, the rolling stock would be able to be transferred to where the demand exists for moving seasonal produce. Gauge standardising the Shepparton rail line would also allow for produce to be transported directly to NSW rather than to Melbourne and then back again. This trip currently is likely to be completed by road due to the additional distance the goods are required to travel on rail. Standardising the Shepparton line would also allow for freight to have greater priority on the line as it would be separated from the metropolitan passenger rail when accessing the PoM. This higher priority would permit greater flexibility in the timing of rail services. There is also the opportunity for rail to increase the mode share of land transportation of freight to/from the Shepparton region through the use of ‘fast freight’. However, this would only be viable (or even possible) if the line was converted to standard gauge. The concept of ‘fast freight’ is small freight trains that can pull up to 500 tonnes and be used for short haul trips. This would require a number of spur lines to be constructed allowing for direct access onto the line from a greater number of industries and large farms transporting goods within the region or to neighbouring regions. The costs of the spur lines could be covered by the industries requiring access to the main line provided that access to the main line was flexible and adaptive to meet the needs of these industries. If the ‘fast freight’ concept was implemented correctly it could allow rail to be more competitive with road for shorter distances due to the following: y The trains can operate at faster speeds therefore reducing the travel time; y The trains have a smaller load capacity and therefore do not need to have a number of loads combined to be cost effective. This also results in the trains being able to operate more often and at a time that better suits the customer; and y The rail heads are at the origin/destination due to the spur lines, therefore reducing the need for trucks to transport the ‘last km’. Currently there are two standard gauge Cargo Sprinter locomotives at the Ettamogah terminal. These are designed for short haul rail movements but are not being utilised due to lack of demand. These locomotives could potentially be utilised for the Shepparton region If the Shepparton line is not converted to standard gauge there is the danger of effectively ‘cutting off’ Shepparton from the freight network. This will be due to the lack of competition of freight rail operators pricing out the option of rail when compared to road. Also the lack of flexibility of rail both for pick-up/drop-off times and for the destinations available will limit the use of rail to transport freight if gauge conversion does not occur. The opportunity to provide an empty container storage facility in close vicinity to the rail terminal in Shepparton should be investigated. This will require agreement from the shipping lines and rail operators but would provide several advantages for rail. These would include: y Increased flexibility for containers; y Reduced delays when transporting goods to the PoM; and y Decreased travel time and distance for empty containers as they would not be required to be transported to an empty container park, then to the PoM and then to Shepparton.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 69 There is the potential for the container terminal to be located at the Goulburn Valley Freight Hub which would provide this terminal with the anchor tenant required to enable the project to proceed. The Greater Shepparton Council would need to invest money to provide the required facilities for this container park. However, the presence of a container park would be likely to attract other businesses to the precinct.
6.2.4 Freight - Albury/Wodonga Line The rail freight currently being transported along the Albury/Wodonga line is the long haul freight travelling to/from NSW and QLD. Therefore although the line has freight travelling along it the Albury/Wodonga region will have similar issues to Shepparton due to the lack of local freight transported on rail from the region. To increase the mode share of freight rail from the Albury/Wodonga region the key requirement is greater local access to the network.. This can be achieved through the development of an intermodal terminal at the Wodonga LOGIC site. This site is slightly south of Wodonga and has been developed as an industrial park and distribution centre for the region. An intermodal terminal has been planned but is still awaiting funding from State and Federal Governments. As seed funding, a $4 million grant has been provided to the City of Wodonga to put towards a rail intermodal terminal or other related facilities at LOGIC. The site has the potential to provide rail efficiencies as there is already a number of industries located in the one precinct and access to rail could provide services for all industries. For example, if the Woolworths Distribution Centre was to move goods on rail then the LOGIC Intermodal Terminal would become a necessity. Refer to Section 3.2.1 for further detail on the Wodonga LOGIC terminal. There is a small existing intermodal terminal at Ettamogah (approximately 17 km north of Albury). However, the location of the terminal limits the viability of transporting goods to be transported by rail for the relatively short distance to the PoM. For goods to be exported, this rail terminal requires industries within Wodonga to transport the goods north via road to Ettamogah and then transfer these goods to rail to travel south to the PoM. The time and cost associated with these additional movements result in industries choosing road to transport the goods for the full distance. However, if industry warehousing was located at the LOGIC site then goods could be transferred directly to rail if an Intermodal Terminal was built.
70 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 6.3 Investment requirements to increase the demand for rail and number of services The Shepparton and Wodonga populations are now growing at a rate comparable to the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat in the 1970-90’s and the growth in new business entries suggests acceleration of activity in the coming period (2011 – 2020). The stakeholder consultations undertaken in the region confirm an increasing need for additional services with consideration of timetable changes and improvements in speed and travel comfort. As the population and economic activity grows there is a need to cater for additional services and improved transport outcomes to support the ongoing growth of the region. The planning for additional services is now a priority which can address the social needs of this region and provide further growth in a similar way to that enjoyed in the major centres where Regional Fast Rail services have been implemented. There are two major rail investments that are required to provide the best future outcome for the Hume region: 1. Gauge Standardisation of the Shepparton line (including standardisation of relevant links to Seymour), and 2. The provision of improved passenger services similar to the Regional Fast Rail investments in other parts of the state. These two investments are required to provide the necessary service improvements and future scope to cater for the region’s economic growth and development. The two outcomes intersect across common infrastructure and require detailed planning and development both in the Region and in the Melbourne area where network capacity constraints are an important issue. The outcomes are in line with the policy/planning directions which provide for the extension of the V’Locity rolling stock and improved passenger services together with the need for a regional network with key links to the national network. It is recognised that these outcomes require major changes to the current network infrastructure but the resultant outcomes are essential to the future of the Hume region.
6.3.1 Key investment areas - Long term view The key areas of investment which need to be completed to allow for increased rail services are: y Standardisation of all rail lines in the Hume region, particularly the Shepparton line
The Albury/Wodonga line has now been converted to standard gauge with upgrading works including rerailing expected to be finished by November 2011. To allow freight distribution within the area, to avoid confusion and to allow for economic efficiencies it would be desirable and beneficial if all lines within the region were the same gauge - i.e. standard gauge. Train Paths into Melbourne could be an issue. However, if the track to Shepparton was converted to standard gauge then it would be less of an issue as it would no longer be competing with the metropolitan passenger services. It would also create easier access for rail freight to the PoM.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 71 y Additional rolling stock for both freight and passenger movements throughout the Hume region. Further investment is required to enable the number of passenger services to increase and to reduce the disparity between the Hume passenger rail services and the services on other regional lines in Victoria. There is also a rolling stock availability issue for freight which would disappear if the track was gauge standardised. There are a greater number of operators using standard gauge compared to broad gauge. There is also more standard gauge rolling stock available in seasonal times as rolling stock can be transferred from other states that do not have the same peak demands. While the Shepparton Line remains broad gauge it will always be difficult and costly to source additional rolling stock for additional services during the peak periods. y Regional Fast Rail Standard Rail Services.
The current services providing transport links to the Hume region do not provide the speed and efficiency of Regional Fast Rail (RFR) services which have dramatically improved the passenger rail services to the larger regional cities of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Traralgon. The Hume region has shown significant growth over recent years and expectations are that this growth will continue; particularly in the centres of Shepparton and Albury/Wodonga. The growing populations and economic requirements in these centres must lead to consideration of improved rail services similar to the Regional Fast Rail services provided to other major regional cities. Improvement of rail service times and conditions to the region can provide a catalyst to increase the use of Public Transport to Melbourne and reduce the traffic on roads in a similar way to what has now been achieved on RFR routes throughout the state. The improvements would attract additional people to the region in line with Government policies to decentralise the population and increase overall economic activity in the region. Tourism and visitors would be further attracted by ease of access and this would provide additional economic benefits for the region. It is understood that this proposal has a number of elements which would take time to implement and would need targeted investment to achieve. It also involves changes to the Seymour to Melbourne leg of the journey which would provide benefits by increasing public transport use and commuting in the growing area between Craigieburn and Seymour. Overall, its implementation would improve services and access to the north east of Victoria and help drive further investment and economic activity in the Hume region. Key components of these rail service improvements would include:-
x Network capacity planning; x Metropolitan network changes (i.e. all freight on standard gauge); x Signalling improvements to ensure faster speeds and easier access to the network; x Track quality upgrades (including resleepering and drainage); x Level crossing improvements and upgrades; and x Other station and facility upgrades.
72 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 6.3.2 Key Passenger Investment options - Short Term Short Term Passenger Solutions There is short- term and lower cost solutions that could be adopted for rail services in the Hume region (particularly for the Shepparton line). These solutions could be provided while funding is sourced and planning/design is undertaken. These solutions should not be adopted as ultimate solutions as they could not accommodate the forecast growth to the region or provide a level of service required for improvements to rail system within the Hume region. The short-term solutions require little if any extra train paths into Melbourne and existing infrastructure would be able to be used. There is, however, a possible need for some signalling improvements to cater for the proposed solutions. The short term solutions are aimed at increasing the frequency of the services while the longer term solutions provide increased frequency and also higher train speeds. The potential short-term solutions include: y Relay service between Shepparton and Seymour
This solution would include a sprinter service operating between Shepparton and Seymour, as previously discussed in Section 5.2. The service could be timed to arrive a few minutes prior to the Seymour service to allow passengers sufficient time to change services without waiting for an extended period of time. This solution would not require any additional train paths within the Metropolitan network but may require additional locomotives and carriages. This solution raises a few potential issues which include: – Increased travel time and inconvenience for passengers as they are required to change services; and – The current peak period services from Seymour to Melbourne are nearing capacity and therefore may not be able to accommodate the additional passengers from Shepparton. To avoid the above issues while increasing the number of services between Melbourne and Shepparton, the relay service could be provided only during off-peak periods. There is likely to be a lower demand for the rail service from Seymour compared to the peak periods and there would therefore be capacity for additional passengers from Shepparton. y Extension of a number of the Seymour services to Shepparton
This solution would involve a number of services being extended to Shepparton instead of terminating at Seymour. As presented in Section 2 there are currently more than 6 times the number of services at Seymour compared to Shepparton. The stakeholder consultation also indicated a large proportion of people from Shepparton who caught the train drove to Seymour due to the number of services provided. Extending some of the services to Shepparton would result in the same number of trains requiring access to the Metropolitan network but the times may need to be altered slightly to allow for the additional travel time. This solution provides additional services to the Shepparton region and does not require passengers to change trains. However, it may result in the trains reaching capacity and passengers who usually catch the train south of Seymour not being able to access the service. Also, there may be a requirement for additional rolling stock if the timetable cannot be modified to provide the same number of services within the
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 73 required timeframes due to the additional distances that some services would be required to cover. y Business Carriage The business carriage concept is another feature that could be implemented in the short-term to provide better facilities for passengers. The business carriage concept received positive feedback from stakeholders during consultation. The majority view was that these facilities would be beneficial to the business traveller. . The concept was not as popular for students due to the cost implications. Consultation with V/Line has confirmed that the provision of WiFi throughout V/Line carriages is currently being investigated and could be provided through the radio system of the train if the radio system was upgraded. If WiFi was able to be provided throughout the carriages then it would probably remove the need for carriage classes throughout the train. The ability to work while travelling is a key advantage of rail. Therefore the features of the business carriage (whether provided in one carriage or throughout the train) would significantly help passengers to achieve greater productivity. The provision for all passengers to access an internet connection allows for a more satisfying use of travelling time whether for work, study or personal interest. It also provides equality of opportunity for the general public. For a suitable fare premium, the business carriage would have the advantage of segregating business people in a quiet and comfortable environment, conducive to work.
6.3.3 Key Freight Infrastructure Investments Freight Infrastructure Longer Term y Intermodal Terminals at Shepparton and Wodonga (LOGIC Barnawartha).
The two proposed intermodal terminals at Shepparton and Wodonga (LOGIC Barnawartha) are key features of the future infrastructure requirements for the region, providing out of town freight consolidation with little or no amenity impacts on local communities. The two proposed facilities are planned to cater for both road and rail access in the future and both are adjacent to major interstate highway routes to Sydney and Brisbane. The development of both facilities will bring additional efficiencies to freight transport in the region and create opportunities in the supply chain with direct links to the PoM and other major distribution facilities. Inclusion of a major tenant in these facilities with interest in rail transport would also assist in the implementation of the rail options. Both facilities will create additional supply chain efficiency and will link direct transport options with potential industrial development and economic activity in the region. The current Infrastructure Australia submission for the LOGIC terminal includes an additional range of development options including major fatigue management and truck parking facilities which are seen as a further catalyst to support funding in the shorter term. Freight Infrastructure Short Term
In the short-term the number of freight services provided along the Shepparton line needs to be increased to a 5 or 7 day a week service. This would reduce some of the delays associated with the logistics chain using the rail service.
74 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report The additional services would also provide flexibility for industry. During consultation this was identified as a principal reason why rail was not used to transport goods - i.e. no flexibility. While the additional freight services would increase the flexibility they would not provide the same level of service, competition and connections to interstate networks that a standard gauge system would provide. Therefore such a solution can be seen only as a short term solution to start to grow the rail mode share for freight.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 75 7. Recommendations
The Hume Region Passenger and Freight Rail Review has identified the need for significant improvements due to a paucity of passenger rail services provided to the region and a continuing decline in the use of rail to transport freight. The key recommendations for rail improvements within the Hume region are outlined in Table 10.
Table 10: Key Recommendations
Recommendations Justification of Recommendations
Gauge Standardisation of y There is a paucity of freight operators on broad the Shepparton ( Goulburn gauge and therefore the cost competitiveness of Valley ) Line efficient rail transport cannot be tested against road transport. y The broad gauge line increases travel time for rail freight from Shepparton to Sydney/Brisbane due to the need to travel to Melbourne to change gauges. y The Hume region has two gauge types and therefore gauge standardising the Shepparton line would allow for efficiencies in the region. y Gauge standardisation on the Goulburn Valley corridor would relieve congestion on the North East corridor with trains able to travel direct to Shepparton..
Increase passenger rail y There is a disparity between passenger rail services services along the in the Hume region and other major regional centres in Shepparton and Victoria. The analysis shows that the number of Albury/Wodonga Lines services to Shepparton and to Albury/Wodonga are disproportionately low compared to regional centres of similar population and proximity to Melbourne’s CBD. In particular, Shepparton shares similar demographics, population and commuter travel characteristics with Traralgon but receives less than one fifth of the number of services.
Track upgrades along the y Currently the tracks are in poor condition Shepparton and (particularly the track to Shepparton). This results in Albury/Wodonga Lines to lower train speeds and an uncomfortable journey. achieve parity with y Track upgrades would allow faster and newer trains Regional Fast Rail (RFR) to operate on these tracks. standards (i.e. Class 1 track)
Additional passenger rail y To increase the number of passenger services more rolling stock rolling stock is required. y More rolling stock provides greater flexibility for timetabling.
76 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report Additional freight rail rolling y More rolling stock allows for an increase in the stock frequency of the services.
Investigate opportunities y A container terminal in the Goulburn Valley area for a container terminal in would reduce the complexities of the logistics chain, the Shepparton Region reduce the turnaround time for containers and provide flexibility.
Develop the GV Logistics y The Goulburn Valley Logistics Centre would Centre ( incorporating a provide opportunities for efficiencies in freight container terminal )e movements to/from the region as multiple industries would be located on the one site. y This centre would allow for the industry to grow and accommodate future forecasted growth volumes.
Develop Intermodal Rail y There is significant potential for efficient rail Terminals at the GV movements from the intermodal terminal. Logistics Centre and at y The logistics centres are the ideal and logical LOGIC Wodonga locations for intermodal terminals as the concentration of industries will provide efficiencies in rail movements and container handling.
Increase the freight y Reduces the need for trucks to complete the ‘last km network to allow private of the journey’ therefore reducing the number of sidings/spur lines to container lifts. connect to the main y Cargo Sprinter services could operate in this network. environment allowing for ‘short haul’ rail trips to be a viable alternative for freight movements.
Introduce a ‘business y Increases potential patronage by providing a means carriage’ on all trains within for passengers to effectively utilise travel time for the Hume region. These work or leisure; trains would provide the y Increases overall productivity of the region through required facilities for business people using time more productively; passengers to perform effective work - i.e. y Increases the potential for greater interaction with internet connection, tables businesses based in Melbourne. and comfortable seating. y High interest and demand from the community during stakeholder consultation.
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 77 8. References
1. ABS 2006, Census Data,
10. DoT 2011a, North East Revitalisation Project,
78 | GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report 19. Regional Development Victoria, Hume Region, Victoria, Australia – An ideal investment destination, Victoria 20. V/Line 2010a, Various V/Line timetables,
GHD |Regional Development Australia - Final Report | 79 Appendix A Comparative Analysis The following items are contained in this Appendix:
Item Appendix Content
1 Table describing the data used from various data sources for the comparative analysis of passenger rail services and demographic characteristics.
2 Travel time by car and travel time by rail data table.
3 Train reliability and punctuality data table.
Appendix Table 1: Description of data used by data source
Data Source Description & data used
ABS, Census 2006 Motor vehicle ownership per dwelling has been assessed on the basis of 2006 ABS Census data.
ABS, NRP 2005 - 2009 The NRP present a standard set of data from a variety of sources, both ABS and non-ABS. The data is provided in time series on an annual basis between 2004 and 2009. The ABS advises that time series data can be used to assess changes over time. This comparative analysis considers age profile, estimated resident population, unemployment rate, land area, business entries and business exits and the number of business by industry on the basis of NRP data.
DPCD, Population The Victoria in Future projections are based on analysis Projections from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. They include annual projections of population growth by a range of geographies between 2006 and 2026. This analysis has used these projections for the comparative analysis of SSD populations in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon, Shepparton, Wodonga and Albury. The same statistics for the corresponding LGA’s and the Wangaratta and Seymour LGA’s have also been used.
DoP NSW, Population The NSW projections provide population estimates for a Projections range of geographies between 2006 and 2036. The projections have been used to assess population growth in Albury SSD and Albury LGA.
Country Link timetables Country Link timetables have been used to assess the number of rail services running between Melbourne and Albury/Wodonga.
GHD | Proposal for Regional Development Australia - Final Report Data Source Description & data used
V/Line annual reports, Rail patronage data to Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, timetables and website Traralgon and Seymour have been sourced from the and data provided by V/Line Annual Report (2009 – 2010), services between V/Line staff Melbourne and key rail destinations have been calculated on the basis of V/Line timetables and rail service capacity, number of seats filled, train reliability and punctuality data has been sourced from the V/Line website. Annual train patronage, number of seats filled and available for the Shepparton line and Albury-Wodonga line have been assessed on the basis of data provided by V/Line staff for the purposes of this analysis.
DoT Regional Transport The map of town centre populations presented in this Atlas document has been used to illustrate the size of town centres served both along the railway lines considered as part of this analysis.
Appendix Table 2: Travel time to town centres by car and rail (DHS undated; V/Line 2010a)
Town centre Hours within which Hours within which journey to Melbourne journey to Melbourne can be made by car can be made by train (DHS undated) (V/Line 2010a)
Geelong 1 1.5
Ballarat 1.5 1.5
Bendigo 2 2
Traralgon 2 2.5
Seymour 1.5 1.5
Shepparton 2.5 2.5
Wangaratta 3 3
Albury-Wodonga 4 3.5
GHD | Proposal for Regional Development Australia - Final Report Appendix Table 3: Train reliability and punctuality to regional railway stations (V/Line 2011b)
Railway station Train reliability Train punctuality (% of services run) (% of services that run on time)58
Geelong 99% 82%
Ballarat 99% 81%
Bendigo 100% 80%
Traralgon 97% 65%
Seymour 99% 85%
Shepparton 100% 93%
Wangaratta Data not available
Albury- Wodonga
58 On short distance, commuter services punctuality is measured on time to 5 minutes 59 seconds. On long distance services it is measured on time to 10 minutes 59 seconds. The journey to Shepparton is considered to be long distance and others are considered to be short for the purposes of assessing punctuality.
GHD | Proposal for Regional Development Australia - Final Report Appendix B Detailed Logistics Chain
Appendix C Stakeholder Consultation Questionnaires Hume Region RDA Stakeholder Consultation Questions Passenger Rail
Instructions:
Where possible, please provide your answers to the questions presented below. Each question is accompanied by a short explanation in italics. For all questions, please provide details of any evidence you may have to support your answers. Evidence may include research outcomes, survey results and anecdotal evidence. When answering the questions please try and provide an general view for the group you are representing and not just an individual point of view.
Stakeholder Details
Organisation name: Please indicate the Council/s in which your organisation is located: Alpine Shire Benalla Rural City City of Wodonga Greater Shepparton Indigo Shire Mansfield Shire Mitchell Shire Moira Shire Murrindindi Shire Strathbogie Shire Towong Shire Wangaratta Rural City Please indicate the organisational role of all the individuals who contributed towards this questionnaire:
Role(s):
About Passenger Rail Travel in Your Region
1. What are your views on the current passenger rail services provided in your region? What is effective and what are the key issues/deficiencies? Where relevant, please comment on the types of journeys (e.g. commuting, leisure) for which passenger rail is used by members of your community/organisation/clients and the effectiveness of passenger rail services including frequency, departure times, transit times and quality of service. Do the services run often enough to serve the transport needs of the community? Are they at convenient times for most users? Are the services considered to be comfortable and is the current travel time considered reasonable by your community? How do you know?
31/27462/194577 1 About Future Passenger Rail Services
2. What impact do you think a more frequent passenger rail service offering approximately 8 services both to and from Melbourne on weekdays, including trains arriving in Melbourne before 9.00 am, would have on your community? What do you think the impact would be if these were express services stopping only at key centres (i.e. Shepparton, or Wangaratta and Wodonga)? Where relevant, please comment on potential benefits to your community/organisation/clients (if any), the potential impact on the frequency train travel by residents, tourism and the local economy. Would the services need to be more frequent than 8 times a day to Melbourne and 8 times a day from Melbourne to be adequate? How many times a day (to and from Melbourne) would be reasonable for residents/visitors in your area? Would travel times need to be quicker and by how much? What impact would arrival/departure times have on the community and why? What evidence do you have to support this?
3. It has been proposed to include a “Transit Business Centre or Business Class Compartment or Carriage” to the expanded future rail service. This carriage would have Wi-Fi and be set up for business/laptop use while in transit. If such a service was to be offered: a. How do you think this would change the travel choices made by members of your community (if at all)?
b. Do you think this carriage could encourage people to use the train rather than driving? Please provide details of why you think this is the case.
31/27462/194577 2 4. What other changes to the current passenger rail services do you feel could encourage your community to use train services more frequently? Please provide details of why you think such changes would influence passenger rail use.
5. Any other comments:
31/27462/194577 3 Hume Region RDA Stakeholder Consultation Questions Freight Rail
Instructions:
Where possible, please provide your answers to the questions presented below (all questions are optional however your answers and inputs are highly valued). For all questions, please provide details of any evidence you may have to support your answers. Evidence may include research outcomes, survey results and anecdotal evidence.
Stakeholder Details
Organisation name: Please indicate your organisation type: Agriculture Food manufacture Livestock Metals Clothing and textiles Petroleum, chemicals and plastics Wood, leather and paper Electronics, computers and transport Other (Please indicate) Please indicate the Council/s in which your organisation is located: Alpine Shire Benalla Rural City City of Wodonga Greater Shepparton Indigo Shire Mansfield Shire Mitchell Shire Moira Shire Murrindindi Shire Strathbogie Shire Towong Shire Wangaratta Rural City Please indicate the organisational role of all the individuals who contributed towards this questionnaire:
Role(s):
About your Organisations’ Current Freight Transport Practices
1. What quantities of freight do you currently transport (e.g. TEU’s or Tonnage of bulk products)? Is this a year round quantity or are your freight requirements seasonal? (Please specify) a. For Outbound Freight
31/27462/194578 1 b. For Inbound Freight
2. To what regions do you send/receive freight? a. Send Freight Melbourne Interstate Ports for export Other (please describe): b. Receive Freight Melbourne Interstate Ports for export Other (please describe): 3. Do you know the locations of freight rail services within close proximity to your organisation? Yes No 4. Are you aware of what is possible/ not possible to be transported via freight rail? Yes No 5. Do you currently use rail to transport your freight? Yes No 6. If yes, what percentage of your freight do you transport using rail? a. For Outbound Freight
b. For Inbound Freight
31/27462/194578 2 7. If you answered no to Question 5, why not? Have you considered using rail to transport your freight?
About Future Freight Rail Services
8. If you could sort out flexible contractual arrangements, would you consider using rail to transport your freight?
Yes No Please provide reasons for your answer:
31/27462/194578 3 9. Would you use a rail freight timetabled service if it was offered (i.e. twice per day at a set time for outbound and inbound services)? Yes No Please provide reasons for your answer:
10. What other changes to the current freight rail services do you feel could encourage your organisation to use train services to transport freight? Are there any specific requirements that will enable your organisation to use rail for freight? Please provide details of why you think such changes would influence freight rail use.
11. Any other comments:
31/27462/194578 4 Appendix D Stakeholder List www.ghd.com.au GHD Tel. (03) 8687 8000 Fax. (03) 8687 8111 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne Vic 3000
Stakeholder Consultation List
Received Received Company / Organisation a Company / Organisation a Company / Organisation Company / Organisation respons respons e to e to Noemail emailNo No Albury Chamber of response Goulburn River Valley response Murray Goulburn response Unilever Commerce - email Tourism - called - called sent and left a and left a No Alpine Shire Council No Goulburn Valley No Murray RDA (based in Phone University of Melbourne response response response discussio - called - email Environment Group - email Albury) n School of Rural Health and left a sent sent regarding message (GVEG) survey Shepparton to call No Asciano Limited - Patrick response Goulburn Valley Health Meeting Murrindindi Shire Council No Victorian Farmers Phone - called regarding response discussio and left a survey - email Federation n sent regarding Meeting Meeting Phone No Bega Cheese Limited regarding Greater Shepparton City regarding Nicholas and Cyril White discussio VECCI’s North east office response (Strathmerton) survey Council survey n location - email regarding sent survey No Email No Meeting Benalla Rural City Council response GV Water repsonse Numurkah Senior Citzens response VISY regarding - email received - email survey sent sentNo Berrigan Shire Council No Hume Sustainable Phone Peach and Apricot response V/Line Phone response discussio - called discussio Council(NSW) - email Communities n Growers and left a n sent regarding message regarding No survey No survey Phone Meeting response response Bright and District HW Greenham at discussio Pental (Soaps) Wallis Group regarding - called - called n survey Chamber of Commerce and left a Shepparton and left a regarding message message survey (Apline Shire) to call to call No Campbells Soups Meeting Indigo Shire Council No Rail Action Group Meeting Wangaratta Chamber of response regarding response regarding - called survey - email Shepparton RAILS survey Commerce (Business and left a sent message Wangaratta) to call Phone response Meeting response City of Wodonga discussio Jeanette Powell Local - called Rural City of Wangaratta regarding Wangaratta Hospital - called n State Member- Nationals and left a survey (North East Health) and left a regarding message message Meeting Meeting No Email DOT - Bus and Regional regarding LaTrobe University – regarding Shepparton Chamber of response Wangaratta Unlimited repsonse Services - Hume survey Albury Wodonga Campus survey Commerce - email received sent
Meeting Phone Email Email DOT Freight Logistics and regarding LaTrobe University discussio Shepparton News Owner repsonse Wendy Lovell Upper repsonse Marine survey –Shepparton Campus n received House MP received regarding Food bowl group Meeting Mansfield Shire Council No SPC Ardmona – Factories Wilson’s Stockfeeds regarding response No No survey - email Shepparton, Mooroonpna response response sent - called - called and Kyabram) and left a and left a message message to call to call response Phone No No Fontera - called Melbourne University discussio Strathbogie Shire Council response Wodondga Chamber of response and left a Business School n - email Commerce - email message regarding sent sent No Email No No response Furphy’s Mitchell Shire Council repsonse Swifts Meats (JBS response Wodonga Chamber of response - called received - email - email and left a Australia) at Cobram Commerce - Dysons Bus sent sent message Service to call No Phone No Meeting response Geoff Hartley discussio Moira Health Alliance response Tatura Milk regarding Wodonga TAFE - called n - email survey Phone Email No Phon Goulburn Ovens TAFE discussio Moira Shire Council repsonse Towong Shire Council response n received - email e regarding sent
List for Appendix D 26/08/2011 9:58 AM G:\31\27462\Tech\Stakeholder spreadsheet ER.xls Page 1 of 1 GHD 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne, Victoria 3000 T: (03) 8687 8000 F: (03) 8687 8111 E: [email protected]
© GHD 2011 This document is and shall remain the property of GHD. The document may only be used for the purpose of assessing our offer of services and for inclusion in documentation for the engagement of GHD. Unauthorised use of this document in any form whatsoever is prohibited. G:\31\27462\WP\198658.docx Document Status Rev Author Reviewer Approved for Issue No. Name Signature Name Signature Date 0 N.Guy E.Ryan *E Ryan M.Baggott *M Baggott 1/7/11 H.Whitley 1 N.Guy B.Shepherd *B Shepherd M.Baggott *M Baggott 15/7/11 H.Whitley P.Templer *P Templer 2 N.Guy B.Shepherd *B Shepherd M.Baggott *M Baggott 26/8/11 H.Whitley P.Templer *P Templer
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