Railway_Digest__February_2018
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Western Australia<br />
CBH Group – ARC Infrastructure<br />
extends interim rail access agreement<br />
The CBH Group has signed a one-year extension to its current interim<br />
rail access agreement with Western Australian network operator Arc<br />
Infrastructure. The agreement provides grain growers’ cooperative CBH<br />
with access to the WA rail freight network for 12 months from 1 January<br />
<strong>2018</strong> to 31 December <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
CBH General Manager Operations David Capper said it will be business<br />
as usual for the current harvest. “The agreement ensures there are no<br />
disruptions to growers and their harvest programs,” Mr Capper said.<br />
Meanwhile, on-going confidential negotiations to gain long-term<br />
(10 year) access to Arc’s freight rail network – including reopening<br />
most of the Western Australian Tier 3 railway lines - continue under<br />
the Commercial Arbitration Act before independent arbitrator<br />
Sydney-based Queen’s Counsel, commercial law expert and retired<br />
Federal Court judge Kevin Lindgren (see October 2017 RD, page 28).<br />
According to a Monday 4 December report in The West Australian the<br />
independent arbitrator could call an end to the protracted access agreement<br />
negotiations, which began in March 2016, by the middle of this year.<br />
CBH triggered an arbitration process with Arc in <strong>February</strong> 2017<br />
after formal negotiations to gain long-term access to Arc’s freight rail<br />
network failed.<br />
Leaders of both parties have declared the arbitrator’s decision as final.<br />
CBH chief executive Jimmy Wilson said he hoped the decision would<br />
work in the co-operative’s favour.<br />
“Obviously there will be one disenfranchised party and one not<br />
so disenfranchised,” he said. “And if you speak to Paul Larson (Arc<br />
Infrastructure chief executive) you will hear a view as to who that might<br />
be. We are hopeful our position will be heard and that’s all I can say”.<br />
Arc Infrastructure customer operations general manager Neil Hamel<br />
said the group would be bound by the determination, “whatever it is”.<br />
“We continue to work well with CBH at an operational level and are<br />
pleased with our part in helping shift record harvests,” he said.<br />
News<br />
Public warned to stay off the tracks<br />
The Public Transport Authority of Western Australia (PTA) has<br />
reminded Perth residents to stay off rail lines after the number of<br />
reported incidents of trespass almost doubled in 2017.<br />
A total of 412 reported trespass incidents occurred on the<br />
Transperth network up to Wednesday 20 December, significantly<br />
more than the 2016 total of 220.<br />
The PTA has launched a new branch of the highly-successful<br />
Stay off the Tracks campaign using urban art to share the rail safety<br />
message.<br />
PTA spokesman David Hynes said it is worrying that people<br />
continue to ignore safety warnings and trespass on the rail network.<br />
“It is illegal to be on train tracks unless you are walking across a<br />
pedestrian level crossing, or driving across a level crossing. If you<br />
enter the rail reserve or step on to the tracks for any other reason, it’s<br />
called trespass and the penalty is $200 or your life,” Mr Hynes said.<br />
“There are no second chances when it comes to trains”.<br />
Mr Hynes said Perth street artist Drew Straker would paint<br />
a multi-dimensional replica of an oncoming train to engage<br />
passers-by at the front of Perth Station in the lead up to Christmas.<br />
Staff were also be on hand to talk about rail safety with passengers<br />
and others in the city.<br />
Stay off the Tracks is aligned with the PTA’s successful Right Track<br />
program, which aims to promote positive behaviour around the<br />
rail network through education campaigns, urban art projects, and<br />
other youth-oriented events.<br />
For more information on the program, visit:<br />
www.righttrack.wa.gov.au<br />
Mr Wilson said he thought a decision would be reached in coming months.<br />
“It’s only an estimate, but it is looking like the arbitrator will probably come<br />
to some kind of decision in the first half of the year,” he said.<br />
Goninan/GE units NR43 and NR2 are seen stabled on the Forrestfield Yard Long arrivals track with 7PM5 Perth-Melbourne intermodal on<br />
Saturday 16 December 2017. Evan Jasper<br />
FEBRUARY <strong>2018</strong><br />
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