JULY 1 sees the formal launch of the Australian Rail Track Corp, the 'one-stop' infrastructure access body being set up following negotiations between the federal and state transport ministers. It will initially control the trans-Australia routes from Broken Hill and Wodonga (Victoria) to Kalgoorlie and Alice Springs, and market paths on other interstate corridors.
Creation of 'Austrack' was hailed as a major step in boosting the efficiency of Australia's rail network. Would that it were so simple! Quite apart from the myriad of complex structures which the states have created to mesh public and private rail activities (RG 2.98 p112), ARTC is already mired in the swamp of Australian railway politics.
A month before the start-up, Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile confirmed that Chairman-designate Ken Baxter had left the corporation. The official reason was pressure of work, but Vaile said there was also an 'unacceptable' conflict of interest, as Baxter was involved in a company working for ARTC. Richard Balderstone of investment bank ABN-AMRO was named acting chairman. By June 5 ARTC had no Managing Director after the former head of AN's track access unit Leon Welsby turned the job down.
An urgent task facing whoever gets the hot seat will be to sort out the Melbourne - Adelaide corridor. Pending handover of the line to ARTC, Victoria has cut maintenance, with predictable results. Freight and passenger services creep along rotting tracks where they should be doing 110 km/h, while around 70000 concrete sleepers have apparently lain dumped beside the line for the past two years.
CEO of inter-state passenger operator Great Southern Railway John Finnin cited slow timings over poor track as a key factor threatening the viability of the Melbourne - Adelaide Overland which GSR may seek to abandon once a two-year post-privatisation moratorium expires.
The federal government has allocated A$250m for ARTC to invest in interstate track development, and has commissioned a cost-benefit analysis to identify priority projects. Unlikely to feature high on this list is the Alice Springs - Darwin line, for which the government has raised a pump-priming package of A$300m. Three consortia shortlisted in April have been given until October 30 to make final submissions; they are Asia-Pacific Transport, Southern Cross and Northlink. o
