Railway_Digest__February_2018

News
Newdegate line reopens after record
2017 flooding
Grain train movements resumed in the Newdegate-Lake Biddy area
on Wednesday 6 December following the completion of the works
to repair and restore rail infrastructure extensively damaged by
widespread flooding earlier in the year (see September 2017 RD, page
25). (Newdegate is situated in Western Australia’s Great Southern
agricultural region – 399 kilometres south-east of Perth and 52
kilometres east of Lake Grace. It is the terminus of a line that runs east
from Wagin on the WA Great Southern Line, and continues through
Lake Grace, the junction for the Hyden line.)
Large sections of the track, rail structures and culverts were
completely washed away during the February 2017 flooding with other
areas of the network in the Lakes District remaining submerged for
months.
Arc Infrastructure’s General Manager Asset Management and
Projects Paul Lowney said the Company was committed to delivering a
safe and sustainable solution that provided certainty to the growers in
the region who depend on the rail line.
“While we had wanted to restore services to this final section of the
network earlier, large volume of water remained in the Lakes District
and further recent rains delayed the safe return of rail operations in the
area,” Mr Lowney said.
“Throughout this process we worked closely with the sole customer
of the line to ensure they were kept informed of progress and we thank
our employees, contractors and CBH for their hard work, support and
understanding during the clean-up efforts and look forward to working
with them as services resume”.
Arc Infrastructure provided the following overview of the project:
• The project area included approximately 50km of freight rail line
from Lake Grace to Newdegate.
• The extreme weather conditions in February 2017 produced
widespread damage throughout the Great Southern. According to
Bureau of Meteorology statistics, the Newdegate-Lake Biddy area
received more rainfall in two weeks in February 2017 than any
similar period since 1955.
• With most significant flooding occurring in the Lakes District, Arc
Infrastructure worked with project partners to deliver a long-term
solution to the affected rail line that raised the existing track
formation up by up to one metre to enable it to withstand any
further extreme flooding events that might occur.
This is the last section of the network to reopen following other
sections of the rail line throughout the Wheatbelt, Great Southern and
Goldfields returning to normal operation earlier in 2017.
Subsidy increased to encourage more
freight on rail
Increased financial incentives, introduced by the Western Australian
Government to reduce truck congestion and get more freight on rail
to Fremantle Port, commenced from Monday 1 January. As flagged
prior to the March 2017 WA state election, the container rail subsidy
increased from $30 to $50 per Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit.
It is hoped that the increase will encourage more freight on to rail
and reduce truck traffic on roads around Fremantle Port, as part of the
State Government’s integrated plan for freight and trade in Western
Australia. A target to boost rail mode share to 20 per cent has been set -
an increase of about five per cent.
“The rail service plays a significant role in achieving greater
efficiency in the container supply chain as well as improving
community amenity and environmental benefits along metropolitan
roads that link to Fremantle Port,” said WA Minister for Transport
Rita Saffioti. “That is why the McGowan Government has delivered
Western Australia
on its election commitment to increase the container rail subsidy to
encourage more container movements on the port rail service.
The subsidy will be paid for all loaded containers that move between
North Quay Rail Terminal (NQRT), Forrestfield and Kwinana, as well as for
containers filled with hay that are received by rail at NQRT for export. The
subsidy per container will continue to be passed on in full to rail customers.
Increasing the rail share for container haulage is one of several initiatives
to improve efficiencies at the Inner Harbour to facilitate trade growth until
additional port facilities are viable.
Other initiatives include:
• Facilitating the development of the Westport: Port and Environs
Strategy which involves long-term planning for the Inner and
Outer Harbours;
• Enabling development of the broader rail supply chain, including
intermodal facilities to enhance rail system efficiencies and
minimise truck movements on Perth roads; and
• Upgrading road infrastructure linkages to ease congestion to and
around the Inner Harbour.
Airport West, Belmont, and
now Redcliffe – new name for
Forrestfield Airport Link station
After an online survey in October and November 2017, the name Redcliffe
has been selected for the first station on the Forrestfield – Airport Link.
This is the third proposed name for the under-construction station
which was originally called Airport West, and subsequently Belmont.
The station is located in the suburb of Redcliffe and is about 5
kilometres from the Belmont town centre (most of which is actually in
suburban Cloverdale).
Following the Redcliffe renaming there is now a move to change
the name of the terminus from Forrestfield to High Wycombe, to also
reflect the geographic position of that station. Western Australian
Minister for Transport, Rita Saffioti, has said that no decision in this
regard will occur before a survey is held in 2018.
Concern has been raised about contaminated soil and groundwater
uncovered during railway excavation work. The contaminant is thought
to be toxic fire fighting foam used in the past at the Perth Airport. While
the issue has not halted work, it has caused the stockpiling of excavated
soil until suitable disposal is arranged.
By the end of 2017 tunnel borer Grace had tunnelled more than
1300m and Sandy more than 500m from the Forrestfield station site.
The first tunnel breakthrough is expected at Airport Central station
around late-February.
The $1.86 billion Forrestfield-Airport Link is jointly funded by the
Australian and Western Australian governments and will deliver a new
rail service to the eastern suburbs of Perth – with three new stations at
Redcliffe, Airport Central and Forrestfield.
Perth stadium station testing
The first major test of the new Perth Stadium station occurred on Saturday
21 October when dozens of trains were run through the station to test
signalling, communications, lighting, and staff procedures.
This was followed by a trial event on Wednesday December 13 when
around 15,000 people attended a closed T20 cricket match between
Perth Scorchers and England Lions. Transperth operated a shuttle bus
service from Elizabeth Quay Bus Station to the Stadium, and trains from
the station following the match.
The station is planned to allow over 28,000 people to exit in the first
hour after an event via its 6 platforms. Another extensive full-scale test
using empty train sets occurred on the evening of Saturday 16 December.
The first full-scale test occurred on Sunday 21 January when over 70,000
people were expected at a free ticketed family open day at the Stadium.
24 RAILWAY DIGEST