V/Line has commissioned an independent review of heat restrictions which prevent freight services from running on days when the temperature rises above 36 degrees.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
V/Line chief executive James Pinder told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry hearing Monash University’s Institute of Railway Technology had been asked to do the review.
“We have had lots of correspondence, about our heat speed restrictions, and we still feel – given the circumstances and what we have achieved – we have been doing the right things,” Mr Pinder said after the hearing.
“As with all reputable organisations, occasionally you will ask somebody in to carry out an independent review of where we have got to. We, off our own bat – nobody has asked us to do this – have asked Monash to come and do that.”
Mr Pinder said the work was likely to be concluded within a few months and he hoped the review would vindicate V/Line’s position.
“Initially, we are hoping and expecting that Monash will say our response, in the broad context, was the right thing to do – we will have to let them reach that conclusion themselves – they certainly won’t be told to reach that conclusion by me,” he said.
“If there are other suggestions contained within the review, as to how we can improve, we would welcome that too.”
Rail Freight Alliance executive officer and former Buloke Shire mayor Reid Mather – whose organisation has written to Premier Daniel Andrews to warn an economic boom from record crops in Victoria has been “seriously undermined” by the restrictions – welcomed the review but called on V/Line to release its terms of reference.
“We’re yet to see the terms of reference of that review but what the end game should be is that we want to have efficient transport in this state and if you want the regions to grow – a place like Buloke – then we need reliable transport links, road and rail,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of rhetoric by both sides of government about ‘You should do something’, and the other side saying ‘We’re getting on and doing it’,” he said.
“The reality is this is underinvestment by successive governments and at the Rail Alliance we’re sick of the blame game and we want you to get on and do it.”
Mr Mather also called on the government to appoint a dedicated minister and formulate a formal plan for dealing with issues on the rail network.
“Our frustration is that we have no dedicated minister that we can talk to and no transport plan for Victoria,” he said.
“While we haven’t got a transport plan and we haven’t got a dedicated minister any road will do.”
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan defended the heat restriction policy, pointing out last year was the first since 2009 when there wasn't a derailment on the V/Line freight network and saying she was “happy to continue meeting with the councils, farmers and the freight lobby to discuss this issue”.
“Not only do derailments put lives at risk, they can cause extended closures of the line, meaning produce can be left stranded for weeks,” she said.
– with Stock & Land and The Age