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“Freight volumes carried on the East West interstate rail network during October hit another all time record high,” Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd (ARTC) CEO David Marchant said today.
A record 3.3 billion gross tonne kilometres (bGTK) was carried during October following on from record volumes of 3.20 bGTK and 3.27 bGTK in August 2006 and September 2006.
“Rail freight volumes between the Eastern States and Perth are up 9% when compared to the same three month period in 2005,” David Marchant said.
“These results have been achieved in an environment in which grain and the bulk goods have fallen in volume.”
ARTC CEO David Marchant said , “While October is usually the busiest month of the year for us as retailers build up their inventory prior to Christmas, record levels had already been reached in August and September 2006 with October now exceeding any month on record.”
20 November 2006
Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is responsible for all operations relating to the greater part of the interstate and Hunter Valley rail networks. ARTC provides a ‘one stop shop’ for access by train operators to the national standard gauge network. This includes the provision of train control functions, the creation and selling of train paths to rail operators and the provision of capital and maintenance works over the network.
Over the next three years, ARTC will invest $2 billion in the North South rail corridor between Melbourne and Brisbane and in the Hunter Valley , providing quicker and more reliable rail freight services. Once the improvement works are completed, 1500 metre long superfreighters will be able to travel complete their journey between the two cities in just over 26 hours, a saving of almost 10 hours on current schedules.