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We’ve now hit the halfway point in building an interstate intermodal and IMEX (port shuttle) terminal in the heart of Melbourne’s northern freight catchment zone.   Thank you to Patrick Hatch who visited our Somerton construction site and wrote about our progress in The Age in a double page spread.   Our CEO Mishkel Maharaj said: “The inner streets of Melbourne are getting more and more congested as the freight task continues to grow, and those potholes that we see in our roads are a result of heavy trucks. So rail freight is better for the community – it’s [about] carbon emissions, road safety, road damage and congestion.”   The link to the full article is below but here are some fun facts about the future SIT: 👉 We’re due to open late next year with the capacity to handle 1 million 20-foot containers (TEUs) – with the potential to double that number – and can manage all interstate freight volumes until mid-2050s. 👉 We’ll remove half-a-million truck trips from inner-Melbourne roads and interstate highways – EACH YEAR. This is about 1,300 a day. 👉 Within a 7-kilometre radius of our terminal there is more than 3 million square metres (equivalent to 133 MCG footy fields) of modern warehousing capacity. 👉 By rail, the SIT is only 22.5-kilometres from Australia’s largest container and general cargo port and approximately 15 kilometres by road to Melbourne Airport. We’re also backed by Aware Super, one of the nation’s largest profit-for-member super funds working to build a stronger future for the nation’s nurses, teachers, policy and other front line service providers. #railfreight  #infrastructureaustralia  #TrucksOffRoads

We reveal today that officials in the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom have hatched a plan to fund the new HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd Euston station and the Network Rail main line terminus. Early-stage proposals are to create a concession, whereby north of £3bn is invested by private investors alongside £700m of public money. Concessionaires are then paid fee for every passenger that passes through the barriers at the stations. It is all part of Labour Party (UK) plans to bring back PFI-style funding. Although, as Al Watson and Paul Davies highlight, it is likely likely to involve a far greater degree of partnership between the public and private sectors. In today's The Times https://lnkd.in/ecbuqkfV

It's fascinating to see PPPs for complex railway schemes come round once again, as before under a Labour government. That's not to say that PPPs can't work in rail. They've been successful in Canada, France and even the UK (HS1, Northern Line trains). But there is vast scope for them to go wrong. I hope the protagonists read the NAO report on the collapse on Metronet (2009): https://lnkd.in/e4FtJqCb The state can borrow more cheaply than the private sector. Unless there's an efficiency gain to offset this (the opposite of what happened on the LU PPP) it is not worth doing. Euston HS2 has all the same precursors of disaster: multiple agencies; complexity; possibly naive politicians; politically variable scope. I hope I'm wrong because I'd like to have another pint at the Exmouth Arms, without being surrounded by hoardings, before I die. Meanwhile FWIW I wrote a somewhat shorter albeit less authoritative piece on the subject in 2021: The Collapse of the London Underground PPP: What Can We Learn From It? https://lnkd.in/eAakdeUV

It’s always nice when the government surprises you and does just what you think is needed. This week’s 2024-2027 National Land Transport Programme has prioritised major roading projects, maintenance and improvements to the tune of about $18.4b over three years. That doesn’t include another $2.4b for repairing storm damage (including rail) and improving resilience. So it’s a lot of money. But as NZTA Waka Kotahi is forecasting income of about $13.7b from RUC, fuel taxes and vehicle registrations, that figure doesn’t seem unreasonable. Some major fans of rail are decrying the $1b earmarked for the rail network, while the $460m planned for footpath and cycleway improvements isn’t winning over cyclists. But rail contributed $60m track user charges to the fund so having $1b in investment is a pretty good return. Public transport is also getting $6.4b of investment, so relative to road investment, the public shouldn’t have too much to complain about. Hopefully this will help free the road networks up a bit too. This NLTP is a plan for the must-haves, and the nice-to-haves might have to wait till things are fixed. We also like the steer that the Minister has given about no frills and value for money. The truth is our roading infrastructure is just not robust enough for what our economy currently is, and what we want it to be. This NLTP work programme will provide a major boost to productivity, and ensure our transport system is moving people efficiently and safely. But what I really like about it is it’s great to see freight being recognised for its vital role in delivering prosperity. Now we don’t want to take credit for everything in the NLTP,  but in our Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Transport, compiled by our Policy and Advocacy Lead Billy Clemens, we had a wish-list of transport priorities that we wanted the government to focus on. My full Friday Blog is here: https://lnkd.in/gfuUHD9u

https://lnkd.in/dhxgRngf "The easiest route to renationalisation, if we really can call it that, given that the railways were never properly privatised, would be for government to admit its mistakes and simply not renew the franchise of the TOCs. This is Labour Party policy. This route wouldn’t solve all the railway’s problems – there would still be the issue of the Roscos to sort out. But it would be a start. There is a precedent for this. In 2009 the East Coast Mainline operator National Express East Coast walked away from the TOC contract, meaning that the public sector had to step in and run the line. Passenger satisfaction and profits subsequently improved. Such was the scale of the improvement that many assumed the “privatisation” experiment was over. However, in 2015 the line was re-franchised. After three more years, when it was clear the new franchise was underperforming, the line returned to public ownership."

HS2 Set to Extend to London Euston: A Major Milestone for UK Rail Post:   The future of the HS2 high-speed rail line is back in focus as Transport Secretary Louise Haigh signals that it is likely to extend all the way to London Euston, reversing previous plans to terminate at Old Oak Common. With the project already facing challenges due to rising costs, this decision could bring much-needed clarity for businesses and commuters. However, questions remain about how the extension will be funded. The Department for Transport has promised further updates soon.  Click the link to watch the video https://lnkd.in/ebmP3pbw #HS2 #LondonEuston #UKRail #TransportInfrastructure #LouiseHaigh #HighSpeedRail #UKEconomy #RailNews #EustonStation #UKGovernment #SustainableTransport

Radio NZ are doing a great job here telling the story of the IREX debacle on Interisland rail ferries. There is great insight here as to where the beaurachy was heading on rail quite a few years ago - It is clear that the “officials” concerned here don’t believe in a national rail freight network - clear as day. It has been exposed well as this story unfolds. As for KiwiRail as a rail operator, they know how critical this link is to the national rail networks continuation. Could it have been done different? - maybe. Can it still be done more cost effectively to keep rail enablement? - also maybe. Have KiwiRail some material fault in this outcome? - probably. But large sectors of the New Zealand establishment don’t want a national rail network - period. This is becoming more clear to even the niave with each passing day. The anti rail rhetoric being labelled as a so called mistrust of KiwiRail here: https://lnkd.in/eqEUSuQS Read these articles as this story has been rolled in great detail by Radio NZ. They even considered selling Wellington Railway Station - that’s how big a existential threat the rail operator considers the absence of rail based ferries to be. https://lnkd.in/eJtZPKQK https://lnkd.in/e_HtpSfK I posted how a big a issue this is to rails entire existence in New Zealand in early December 2023 here: https://lnkd.in/gH2mau-r And Greater Auckland picked it up here: https://lnkd.in/gm7KXMFM And Bernard Hickey picked it up naming it as a the Colunm of the Day across New Zealand a few days later here: https://lnkd.in/egFg2H68 To date this is the biggest political story of the year and it’s only continuing to grow. I called it out it out over seven months ago and have been banging on about it ever since. #kiwirail #politics #transport #newzealand #irex #radionz

We are about to see a second BRT in the region within the next 10 years 👏