NSW: Signal failures on CityRail network on the decline: report

AAP General News (Australia)
08-15-2007
NSW: Signal failures on CityRail network on the decline: report

By Nick Ralston, State Political Reporter

SYDNEY, Aug 15 AAP - The number of signal failures on Sydney's greater metropolitan
rail network has dropped, but the average train delay caused by a failure has remained
constant.

NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat's report released today has found that between
2004 and 2006, signal failures on the greater metropolitan network fell by nine per cent.

The overall number of signalling incidents fell by 45 per cent and RailCorp met monthly
signalling failure targets most of the time.

"The fall in failures is a clear indication of improved performance," the report said.

"Changes in the definition of on-time and to the timetable running during 2005 and
2006, however, make it difficult to determine whether improvements in response downtime
and signalling delays are due to true performance improvement."

The average duration of each train delayed by signal failure remained constant over
the three years at 11 minutes, the report said.

Mr Achterstraat has recommended RailCorp determine now what signalling system will
be required for 2016 patronage levels and also examine how many signal failures the network
can currently tolerate before services are affected.

He has warned the expansion and improvements being carried out on the CityRail network
could place pressure on its signalling systems.

"This could put pressure on signal maintenance spending and staffing," his report says.

"In particular, RailCorp and the rail industry is facing a worldwide shortage of signal
engineers and electricians."

Transport Minister John Watkins welcomed a decrease in the number of instances of signal
failure but said work would be done to reduce it even further.

"The report points us in the right direction, but there is always more work to be done
in better maintaining signals, better training our staff so that they can respond," Mr
Watkins told reporters.

"We'll look very carefully at all the detail in the auditor-general's report and put
it into practice."

Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said the report sent mixed messages and that while
it reflected some improvement, there was nothing to suggest it was genuine, or that it
would last.

"Signalling will always be a critical issue for the railways ... it's too soon whether
to say we're going to see significant improvements," he told reporters.

Mr O'Farrell said it was also unacceptable RailCorp benchmarked its signalling performances
against other rail networks across the country.

AAP nr/hn/goc/jlw/

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