Commentary

A page for contributions from LRTC members and others

How bright is the future for rail freight in New South Wales?

Associate Professor Ian Gray with Dennis Hughes, August 2024

From time to time we are reminded how little freight is conveyed by rail. With Sydney-Melbourne freight being almost entirely on road and persistently so, it is easy to be negative about the future for rail. But there are signs of change.

The large and efficient Logos Intermodal Terminal in Sydney indicates optimism in the industry - see https://moorebankintermodalprecinct.com.au. So too does an item, ‘Rail to port boost for ag’, in The Land newspaper on 30 May 2024 about an intermodal terminal developed by port operator DP World. The development promises to offer exporters of agricultural products more efficient access to Port Botany by using rail. While not such an exciting development, branch lines serving some of the more distant grain silos are still in occasional use.

Striking an optimistic tone, the video ‘Freight trains making sense’ below is a fictional story pointing out the advantages offered by rail freight. The video portrays a process of discovery which takes a rural business out of its financial difficulties. ‘It is a story about a worried person who looks for and finds a happy ending - a fantasy giving meaning to reality with a twist at the end.’

The Maldon-Dombarton continues to receive support but no action

Professor Philip Laird OAM August 2024

The Maldon-Dombarton rail link is a 34.5 kilometre partly completed railway line. It was started in 1983, with enabling legislation, by the Wran (NSW) Government to improve rail access to Port Kembla principally for coal trains. Its history is described on our project page: https://www.lrtc.org.au/maldon-dombarton-railway.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 12 July 2024, the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue is campaigning for its completion as vital infrastructure for the new western Sydney airport and the rapid growth of south-west Sydney. The incomplete railway is now seen as a major component in a freight and passenger system.

Support for quick completion of this line now considers the following factors.

A. Between Sydney and Wollongong increasing demand for more passenger capacity leaving fewer paths for freight trains on the Illawarra Line.

Freight trains can get in the way of Cronulla to Central passenger trains. This occurs when a loaded freight train, heading south on the steep Como bank, is coming up to Sutherland Station to go down the South Coast. The Cronulla to Central passenger train has to give way to the freight train.

At the Permanent Way Institution Annual convention on 30 October 2015 in Sydney, in response to a question, the Chief Executive of Sydney Trains, Mr Howard Collins, said to the effect that the sooner the Maldon Dombarton railway line is built "with freight trains gracefully gliding over it", the better, so it could free up "his" tracks for more passenger trains.

B. Congestion and freight curfews in Sydney, adding to the cost burden for hauling coal from the western fields to Port Kembla, coupled with the need for additional motive power (4 locomotives) compared to half that number for trains operating via Maldon to Dombarton.

C. Work was completed in late 1996 near Granville to give a direct connection for coal and freight trains between the Western Line and Maldon.

D. Considerable available freight capacity on the Southern route from Sydney (to Maldon) with relatively easy grades and room for enhancement of line capacity as and when needed.

E. In August 2017 the Illawarra Business Chamber released a detailed report “Upgrading rail connectivity between Illawarra and Sydney.” The report notes that In recent years, the efficiency of the existing South Coast Line has also been impacted by increased congestion with passenger and freight trains competing for scarce slots, and examines measures to improve the speed and reliability of rail connectivity between the Illawarra and Sydney.

Its main recommendation is for the completion of the Maldon - Dombarton Line with duplication of track outside of the Avon Tunnel and Nepean Viaduct, together with electrification of the new line and the 7 km Dombarton - Unanderra section a to form a South West Illawarra Rail Link (SWIRL). The report calculated a Benefit Cost Ratio of 1.13 (central case with discount rate 7%, 50 years) or 1.56 (central case with discount rate 4%, 50 years).

The report also contends that the construction of the SWIRL is appropriate to offset and major disruption to the existing South Coast Line and would also enable substantial upgrades to the existing line without relying on alternative transport options or causing substantial inconvenience to both passengers and freight users. TfNSW and the former NSW Coalition Government was very reserved in its comment about the SWIRL proposal.

F. In recent years, when heavy rains have closed the South Coast line between Waterfall and Thirroul, sometimes for days at a time, an alternative rail path is needed. This was particularly the case when the Moss Vale to Unanderra line was closed for months in 2022 for extended maintenance.

G. A completed Maldon Dombarton rail link could tie with a long overdue deviation between near Macarthur to near Mittagong. This would speed up Sydney Melbourne freight and passenger trains as well as Sydney Canberra passenger trains (as well as the Sydney garbage trains to the Tarago tip), plus reduce fuel use and hence emissions.

H. Either project could be combined with a new passenger station at Wilton - as requested some 10 years ago for Wollondilly Shire Council to better serve the new housing built and being built there.

I. In early 2024, the current ALP state government in 2024 commissioned a study into rail needs of the Illawarra region with a focus on resilience.

J. On 12 July 2024, a delegation from the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue travelled to Wollongong to make a case for the completion of the SWIRL link to improve access for freight to the new Moorebank intermodal freight terminal (offically opened by Prime Minister Albanese in early April) and to the new Western Sydney International Airport due to open in late 2026.

K. Sydney is partly through a process of procuring several new Metro lines at a cost of about $64 billion.

L. The Sydney and South West metro, due to open on 4 August 2024 but delayed, has some 16 km of tunnels. The two metros (WSI to St Marys and Metro West) under construction have a further 40 km of tunnels, all double track. Serious investigations started in 2024 for Sydney Newcastle high speed rail that will involve rail tunnels.

M. Tunnel boring and making technology has appreciably improved in recent decades. It is time that some of this new technology was applied to give better rail access to Wollongong, by completion of the Maldon Dombarton rail link.

N. This could also extend to the Waterfall Thirroul 11 km tunnel promised in 1998 by Premier Carr for delivery by 2010.

‘Rail freight operators are angry’

A summary of a presentation by Associate Professor Ian Gray at the LRTC meeting held at Canowindra on 9 March 2024

An article in the March 2024 issue of Railway Digest magazine raised concern over the current management of the Country Regional Rail Network (CRN). The CRN consists of the rural branch lines and some main lines, including the Western Line from Lithgow to Parkes and Dubbo as well as the line from Joppa Junction (near Goulburn) to Canberra. It is a very large and important part of New South Wales’ regional and interstate railway system. It is currently managed for the State Government by UGL Regional Linx, providing maintenance and train control for freight train operators including Pacific National, Qube and Southern Shorthaul as well as NSW Trainlink and other passenger services.

The article in Railway Digest reports that the freight operators are angry over allegedly unnecessary delays to trains and the effective downgrading of the capacity of some branch lines. The effective downgrading occurred after certain Train Operating Conditions (TOC), which had been waived to permit higher capacity trains, were reimposed. The conditions had been relaxed with a view to making them permanent if no problems arose. The train operators found no problems arising but the relaxed conditions were cancelled, allegedly for no apparent or given reason. In a more positive move, the relaxed conditions were extended to the end of April 2024.

At least one operator has pointed to the Government’s contract with UGL as being the basis for serious problems. Any issues between track managers and train operators could become a matter for public concern, not just because the efficiency of the system is apparently deteriorating but also because there may be implications for the safe operation of trains if communication between track managers and train operators is allowed to deteriorate. Railway Digest indicates that Transport for New South Wales is apparently taking the problems seriously.

Report submitted by the Blackheath Highway Action Group, February 2023

The Great Western Highway (the Highway) is, like the Pacific and the Hume Highways, a national freight corridor of strategic importance.  It is a vital link between Sydney, Port Botany, and the NSW Central West and beyond. 

There is broad agreement across the political aisle that the only way to deliver a four-lane dual carriageway across the Blue Mountains is to upgrade the Great Western Highway between Katoomba and Lithgow.  The Bells Line of Road corridor is not a suitable alternative because of cost and environmental factors.  There are no other viable corridors available to provide four-lane dual carriageway across the Blue Mountains.

The Blackheath to Little Hartley 11 km tunnel is of strategic importance for the Upper Blue Mountains as well as the Central West because it will address the major bottlenecks of Blackheath, Mount Victoria, and Victoria Pass. 

The existing Highway through Blackheath, Mount Victoria and Victoria Pass remains a major bottleneck with a single lane alignment that follows the original 1813 Blue Mountains crossing route.  The Highway through Blackheath is severely hampered by the very narrow corridor around the Govetts Leap Road and Bundarra Street intersection and the main western railway level crossing.  Traffic lights at this intersection have become a major impediment to the flow of traffic during peak and holiday periods.  These lights have also severely hampered access to the emerging tourism destination of Megalong Valley.

There are also traffic flow impediments around Mount Victoria.  The highway corridor at the Station Street intersection is extremely narrow with heritage restrictions in place prohibiting the highway from being widened at this point.

The Highway between Blackheath and Little Hartley has been subject to regular closure due to bushfire, snow, black ice and accidents. 

Recent weather events have strained the ageing infrastructure along this stretch of the Highway, with landslips and other related problems.  This has severely impacted the flow of traffic to the NSW Central West and beyond and has caused a significant drag on tourism in the Upper Blue Mountains and NSW Central West.  The movement of freight has also been severely impacted. 

Victoria Pass, which was hand-built by Convicts in 1832, is also a major bottleneck which was earmarked to be bypassed by the Rudd/Gillard Government in 2008.

The adverse social and economic impacts caused by the frequent weekend and holiday congestion issues around Blackheath and the unreliability of the Highway due to weather events and natural disasters such as bushfire, snow and ice are very significant.  With failing infrastructure, some of which was hand-built by convicts, we cannot afford to find ourselves again in the situation when, due to both the closure of the Highway and the Bells Line of Road, the NSW Government and its agencies are forced to advise both the travelling public and the freight industry to avoid the Blue Mountains, as has occurred several times in 2021 and 2022.

The Blackheath to Little Hartley 11 km tunnel will address the above issues and provide significant social and economic benefits to the Upper Blue Mountains as well as the Central West.

The Tunnel also has a much lighter footprint on the environment compared to a surface duplication and provides significantly more long-term benefits for local ecosystems connected to the Blue Mountains National Park and the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

The Tunnel also provides certainty to the residents and business owners of Blackheath and Mount Victoria because, unlike other highway upgrade proposals, the Tunnel does not require any property resumption and has a very positive impact on social amenity.

We note the EIS is extensive, and comprehensive, and appears to work towards addressing the concerns of key stakeholders, particularly in relation to the local environment.

The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author(s) alone and are not necessarily those of the Lachlan Regional Transport Committee.