Tablelands Information Pack - Issue 1 - 04 Sep ... - Queensland Rail

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RAIL OPERATIONS and THE ENVIRONMENT All railway operators are required to comply with all relevant Environmental Legislation. QR currently has a number of licences and/or approvals for activities undertaken at either QR facilities or on QR corridor. QR’s licences and approvals fall under two main areas: 1. Fixed Locations; QR has a number of licences for activities managed by its operational Business Groups in particular locations, such as refuelling locations. 2. Itinerant or Varied Locations; QR also has a number of licences for activities that occur at more than one location, such as maintenance activities. Railway operators will need to ascertain with the Environmental Protection Agency their responsibilities in regard to obtaining an Environmental Authority(ies) for the type of operation proposed. Copies of all Environmental Authorities administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) within Queensland are available upon request from the EPA. EPA contact details can be found via the Environmental Protection Agency Website at Environmental Noise http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/ The Environmental Protection (Noise) Policy (EPP Noise) recognises a railway as a beneficial asset, which is necessary for the community’s environmental, social and economic well-being. The Environmental Protection (Noise) Policy is available from the Government Printers (GoPrint) or via the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Council website at http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/OQPChome.htm The EPP Noise nominates “planning levels” for railway noise which may be used as a guide in deciding a reasonable noise level for the activity. The EPP Noise recognises, however, those levels may not be appropriate for an existing railway. It envisages that it may be reasonable to apply the levels only in the long term to allow time to progressively reduce any significantly adverse effects on the environmental values from its operation. The long term planning levels are: L Aeq (24 hour) L Amax 65 dBA 87 dBA Where appropriate, they are to be assessed one (1) metre in front of the most exposed part of the building facade of an affected noise sensitive place. TABLELANDS SYSTEM INFORMATION PACK ISSUE 1 - DATE 04-09-2002 26
Code of Practice for Railway Noise Management QR has developed a Code of Practice for Railway Noise Management (approved by the Minister for Environment) stating ways of achieving compliance with the general environmental duty for its activities that cause or are likely to cause environmental harm. Noise can cause environmental harm, called environmental nuisance in the Environmental Protection Act. QR intends to meet its environmental duty with respect to noise by implementing the Code of Practice for Railway Noise Management. The purpose of the Code of Practice for Railway Noise Management is therefore to provide a means by which QR can demonstrate it is taking reasonable and practicable measures to minimise unreasonable noise from its railway and railway activities. A Code of Practice (CoP), in general terms, is a self-imposed set of rules for carrying out a specified activity. As such, the Code of Practice for Railway Noise Management applies to all QR railway and railway activities and is not intended to manage the noise impacts of a third party’s operational activities. However, it is intended to be made available to third parties operating train services on QR infrastructure to the extent that its terms are reasonably applicable to those operators. The Code of Practice for Railway Noise Management is available upon request and is also available via QR’s Internet website at www.qr.com.au under Environment Services. Wheel Squeal Wheel Squeal is caused by friction forces between the rail and wheel interface. Continuous or sustained wheel squeal produced primarily on the low rail side, is distinct from discontinuous wheel squeal, referred to as “flanging noise” that is produced on the high rail side. Continuous wheel squeal is of a high level, and QR’s experience is that it may cause significant community reaction, while flanging noise is of a lower level and is more accepted by the community than the sustained squeal. Generally, tighter radius curves (i.e. under 300 metre radius) when associated with the movement of rollingstock whose condition is affected by a number of rollingstock factors that promote wheel squeal, may result in squeal being produced. Rollingstock factors that promote wheel squeal include: • Higher wheel hardness • Stiff primary suspensions • High centre plate friction • Worn wheel treads • Misaligned axles, and • Unmatched wheel tread diameters • Incorrectly adjusted sidebearers Noise Complaints Where QR receives complaints about noise from railway activities for which QR may be responsible, QR responds to those complaints and maintains records of those complaints in accordance with its Environmental Management System. Where available, generic data will be supplied on request to a third party operator who is proposing operations within a defined network. That data will indicate those areas where QR has received prior complaints relating to its train operations. This will be completed at such a time when a third party operator is undertaking the development of its Environmental TABLELANDS SYSTEM INFORMATION PACK ISSUE 1 - DATE 04-09-2002 27
Page 1 and 2: INFORMATION PACK TABLELANDS SYSTEM
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............
Page 5 and 6: INTRODUCTION This information pack
Page 7 and 8: GENERAL CLIMATE The system is situa
Page 9 and 10: DESCRIPTION OF THE RAILWAY The trac
Page 11 and 12: Fencing along this corridor complem
Page 13 and 14: Corridor System No. of Tracks Route
Page 15 and 16: Mareeba to Atherton From Mareeba, t
Page 17 and 18: From Almaden, the single track rail
Page 19 and 20: 848 m 100 km/h running 542 m 80 km/
Page 21 and 22: OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS & TRAIN CONTROL
Page 23 and 24: COMMUNICATIONS Communications on th
Page 25: Variations of the sectional running
Page 29 and 30: ROLLINGSTOCK BRAKING RATE The signa
Page 31 and 32: Crossing Loop Length Declared Servi
Page 33 and 34: Staff & Ticket Standard Train SWR T
Page 37 and 38: APPENDIX C Rail / Road Interface De
Page 39 and 40: CROSSINGS BY LINE AND KILOMETRAGE S
Page 41 and 42: Line Section Code Km Road Name Type
Page 43 and 44: CROSSINGS BY LINE AND KILOMETRAGE S
Page 45 and 46: Location (km) Down Train Up Train t
Page 47 and 48: APPENDIX E Track Data & Grade Diagr
Page 49 and 50: TABLELANDS SYSTEM INFORMATION PACK
Page 55 and 56: INDEX A Access Agreement 6 Access U

Tablelands Information Pack - Issue 1 - 04 Sep ... - Queensland Rail

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