The Hodgman Liberal Government’s commitment to rail safety and infrastructure has paid dividends with TasRail reporting its best ever performance for mainline derailments.
There have been no mainline derailments this calendar year to date, which is a positive result for both rail safety and service reliability for business and industry.
The great results are the result of strong action such as the ongoing investment in track upgrades and network infrastructure by the Tasmanian and Australian Governments through the Tasmanian Freight Rail Revitalisation Program.
Today the TasRail board has approved a major $20 million track upgrade of the South Line. Ulverstone-based VEC successfully tendered for the labour component of the project that will see them install nearly 24,000 metres of new rail on what is one of the State’s busiest rail links.
That’s a great result for Tasmania, and in particular for the northern economy.
Rail remains the safest and most efficient mode of freight transport, and by eliminating derailments, TasRail has been able to rebuild customer confidence as demonstrated by the consistent year on year growth in market share.
TasRail have also implemented a derailment prevention strategy that incorporates improved track monitoring and inspection with annual ultrasonic testing and innovative research, including a partnership with UTAS to develop a system to predict where rail breaks may occur.
I congratulate TasRail on these great results and look forward to them continuing into the future.