03 Mar 2017 Wangaratta Chronicle, Wangaratta VIC (General News) by Steve Kelly Skelly@ Ne Com Au ARTC commitment to track repair on North East line TRACK monitoring equipment has been used to identify hotspots on the North East railway line and the authority tasked with fixing the track has agreed to repair problem areas this month. A meeting between V/ Line and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) this week is believed to have resulted in an agreement to use the engineering data to carry out the works over a 10day period from next week. Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) sat in on the meeting and told the Wangaratta Chronicle yeserday that there was a positive switch in language that moves away from claims by the ARTC that theyre meeting their agreement, and its not their problem. Ms Symes has been told that its the poor condition of the tracks which is the main cause of the V/Line train faults and once this is fixed it would create a better case for less speed restrictions, shorter travel times and potentially new rolling stock. Its believed monitoring equipment has been placed under the carriages that contain the buffet cars and the information will be used to pinpoint hotspot locations on the Albury line that need immediate works. Once works on the track by ARTC are completed, V/Line will continue to monitor the engineering data to confirm likely improvements. With the improvement of the tracks and the inclusion of the back-up train set, the number of incidents that require the use of coach replacements are expected to reduce, Ms Symes said. Continued page 6 ARTC commitment to rail track repair From page 1 I cant go into speed restrictions and whether they will be all lifted along the line because the focus is on the safety of passengers over anything else. Wangaratta, Albury, Wodonga and Benalla councils have completed the draft report into discovering the impact the poor rail service has had on the regions businesses and commuters. Although Ms Symes wasnt at liberty to comment on the results of the survey, she said shell use the evidence to support the North East transport services bid to secure funding in the 201718 state budget. Ill use anything I can get to support the case to have better transport services for North East commuters, she said. I cant say either way whether new rolling stock will be provided for in the state budget, but its fair to say you would want confidence in the track before any new rolling stock is purchased or deployed. She said V/Line confirmed it will carry out remedial works on the current rolling stock including a HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) overhaul, data log replacement, brake cylinder works, and a head and power upgrade. The new train set will allow for the refurbishment of all four train sets and they will end up looking like the first one which looks brand spanking, she said. Im pretty impressed with the newly refurbished train set and it will allow for one to be in reserve, and Ive been told a train set can be released to the line within the hour if a train fault on another occurs. The multi-million dollar upgrade will also refurbish the North East line trains deep-cleaning the carpets, replacing upholstery and giving the old carriages a fresh paint job. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.