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rail bus ferry reports INDUSTRY Annual Transport Industry Safety & Reliability Reports 2006-07 ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION The Independent Transport Safety and Reliability Regulator (ITSRR): > regulates rail safety (its primary function) > oversees strategic coordination of the regulation of rail and public transport safety, and > advises and reports on the reliability of rail and public transport that receives Government funds. Under the Rail Safety Act 2002 and the Transport Administration Act 1988, ITSRR is required to prepare public reports on these three areas. This publication includes ITSRR’s reports on rail safety and rail and public transport reliability. ITSRR’s Annual Report includes its report on strategic coordination of rail, bus and ferry safety regulation. ITSRR’s strategic coordination function is carried out through its liaison with the Ministry of Transport (buses) and NSW Maritime (ferries). Annual Transport Industry Safety & Reliability Reports 2006-07 ISSN 1835-3339 November 2007 The Independent Transport Safety and Reliability Regulator is pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or part, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. CONTENTS OVERVIEW OF RAIL AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT INDUSTRIES 2 RAIL INDUSTRY SAFETY REPORT 2006-07 11 TRANSPORT RELIABILITY REPORT 2006-07 35 GLOSSARY 73 Annual Transport Industry Safety & Reliability Reports 2006-07 1 OVERVIEW OF NSW RAIL AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT INDUSTRIES 1. Overview context 3 2. NSW rail industry 3 2.1 Background 3 2.2 Heavy rail 3 2.3 Employment 6 2.4 Regulation 6 3. Bus, coach and charter industry 7 3.1 Background 7 3.2 Bus 7 3.3 Coach and charter 8 3.4 Regulation 8 4. Ferries 9 4.1 Background 9 4.2 Ferry route services 9 4.3 Regulation 9 5. Other aspects of transport and public transport in NSW 10 2 OVERVIEW CONTEXT This Overview provides background information on the industries covered by the rail safety and public transport reliability reports. Given ITSRR’s legislative focus on rail safety, this publication provides greater detail about this industry. More information on the bus and ferry sectors is available on the Ministry of Transport and NSW Maritime websites and reports. There are other elements of the transport industry in NSW, such as taxis, hire cars, road and sea freight services. These do not fall within ITSRR’s remit and are not addressed here. NSW RAIL INDUSTRY Map 1: Heavy rail network in NSW Werris Creek Broken Hill Dubbo Broadmeadow Lithgow Goulburn Albury 2.1 Background 2.2 Heavy rail Below-rail net works The ‘below-rail’ networks in NSW are For ITSRR’s purposes, railways are The heavy rail sector in NSW comprises designed to reflect the predominant rail defined as ‘guided systems designed to four segments: traffics that use them. Characteristics of transport passengers or freight on a > ’below-rail’ or track and the networks include track classes,1 and railway track with gauge of at least infrastructure networks signalling and communications 609mm (2 feet), together with its technology. An important matter is the infrastructure’. These railways include > ’above-rail’ or fleet and train ownership and control arrangements. heavy rail systems such as that of operations on the networks RailCorp, Pacific National and the > ancillary facilities including Australian Rail Track Corporation as terminals, stations and sidings well as light rail and monorails. > support services such as construction and maintenance of infrastructure and fleet. 1. There are five basic track classes in NSW distinguished by matters such as ballast depth, sleeper type, and rail type and weight. The highest (best quality) is class 1, and at the other end of the scale is class 5. Within each class, a number of sub-classes may exist reflecting combinations of different rail and sleeper types Overview of NSW rail and public transport industries 3 The Metropolitan Rail Area (MRA) Tracks in the Hunter Valley network are The Country Regional Network (CRN) centred on Sydney is controlled by the Class 1 and are specifically designed to is controlled by the Rail Infrastructure NSW Government State Owned carry heavy axle loads.4 Line-side Corporation (RIC), the NSW Government Corporation RailCorp. RailCorp also signalling with centralised train control State Owned Corporation. It is vertically operates the predominant traffic on is used. Issues in the Hunter Valley separated and comprises the residual of this network – CityRail’s urban and include the coordination of the coal the NSW ’below rail’ network. 2 interurban passenger services. The logistics chain which includes the The CRN comprises around 3,025km of MRA includes around 1,980km of mines, the rail network and rail line. There are a variety of track classes track, sidings and yards. operators, the stockpiles and and signalling systems which reflect The MRA is part of the standard gauge shiploaders at Port Waratah and traffic levels and types on those lines. rail link between Australia’s mainland Kooragang Island and the ship arrival Broadly there are two groups of lines: and departure pattern. ARTC is capitals and major industrial centres.3 > implementing a substantial investment Class 1, tracks with computerised Freight traffic on the MRA includes safeworking systems, and Class 2 container trains moving to terminals in program to increase the capacity of the rail network. and 3 lines with token type Sydney and to Port Botany, container safeworking systems to major and industrial products trains moving The Defined Interstate Rail Network regional centres such as Tamworth, between Brisbane and Melbourne (DIRN) in NSW controlled by ARTC Narrabri, Moree, Dubbo, Griffith through Sydney, and grain and coal to commences at the end of the MRA and Orange. These are used Port Kembla. The MRA therefore plays with the North Coast and Main South regularly by mainline locomotives an important role in the national freight Lines, with the Moss Vale line at for hauls of general freight and bulk task. It is the only network in Australia Unanderra, and at Parkes on the freight to the ports. Passenger trains on which both large scale urban Country Regional Network with the also run to these locations. passenger and freight tasks share the Western line. It includes links between same tracks. Cootamundra-Parkes-Dubbo-Werris > Class 4 or 5 tracks with token type safeworking on branch lines, some Tracks in the MRA are Class 1, with Creek/Ulan-Muswellbrook. The DIRN of which are classed as ’restricted’. line-side signalling and centralised train connects Sydney and the other These more lightly constructed lines control. Major issues within the MRA mainland State capitals and major 5 are used seasonally by light axle include existing capacity constraints industrial centres. locomotives for bringing grain onto particularly during suburban passenger The DIRN is 3,291km in NSW and the mainlines. train peak hours. Future growth in tracks are generally Class 1.6 passenger and freight markets also Centralised train control is being The CRN plays an important role in presents significant challenges for the introduced for the full route length limiting heavy truck movement on local MRA including traction power between Melbourne and Brisbane. roads and highways, particularly at capabilities for the planned new The predominant traffics on the DIRN is grain harvest time. Two significant CityRail fleet, and line capacity for intermodal and industrial freight. There issues for the CRN are the condition of large freight trains. is additional freight traffic that enters the restricted lines, and the potential The 534km Hunter Valley network, the lines from rural NSW, for example, for increased traffic on some lines centred on the port of Newcastle, is grain trains bound for Port Kembla and particularly coal from the Gunnedah vertically separated and controlled by rural container trains moving to Port and Narrabri areas. the Federal Government’s Australian Botany. Some coal trains also operate Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). It is on the North Coast line. The DIRN is predominantly used for coal freight also used by long distance passenger from Hunter Valley mines, and includes trains including the CountryLink dedicated coal lines from Maitland to services to Brisbane and Melbourne, the port. Beyond Maitland up the and the Indian-Pacific. Hunter Valley and North Coast, coal Investment in the tracks to improve the traffic shares the tracks with intermodal performance of rail against truck and other freight services as well as competition is a significant national limited passenger services. issue. ARTC is currently implementing a substantial investment program on the DIRN including in NSW. 2. The control of network and train operations by a single organisation is known as ’vertical integration’. The control of network and train operations by different organisations is known as ’vertical separation’ 3. Including Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Port Kembla, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, Whyalla and Perth. Standard gauge is 1,435mm between rails. Other parts of the links between the capitals include the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s Defined Interstate Rail Network segments, Westnet Rail’s Kalgoorlie to Fremantle line, and the Tarcoola-Alice Springs-Darwin line 4. For the purposes of this discussion the line segment between Werris Creek and Muswellbrook is included in the DIRN 5. For the purposes of this discussion the MRA has been excluded from the DIRN 6. With the exception of Parkes-Stockinbingal and Dubbo-Binnaway-Werris Creek which are Class 2 4 Above-rail While not in the heavy rail segment, Freight tasks are usually measured The ’above-rail’ part of the industry Veolia Transport carries a substantial by tonnes, tonne kilometres, either comprises the movement of passengers amount of passengers on its Sydney gross (gtk) or net. In NSW the most and freight on rail fleets. Light Rail and Monorail services. significant task is coal haulage in the The 7.2km light rail and 3.5km monorail ARTC’s Hunter network which handled The passenger segment is dominated systems are vertically integrated around 85 million tonnes in 2005-06.