A performance audit into whether the State’s Transport Agencies were able to improve the use of rail freight capacity in Greater Sydney and meet current and future freight demand has found they were not.
In her Report, Rail freight and Greater Sydney, Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford said Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Sydney Trains did not have strategies or targets in place to improve the efficiency or capacity of the metropolitan shared rail network for freight.
“The Transport Agencies acknowledge that they do not have sufficient information to achieve the most efficient freight outcomes and they do not know how to use the shared rail network to maximise freight capacity without compromising passenger rail services,” Ms Crawford said.
“The Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023 contains one target for rail freight – to increase the use of rail at Port Botany to 28 per cent by 2021,” she said.
“However, Transport for NSW’s data indicates this target will not be met.”
Ms Crawford said Sydney Trains recorded data on train movements and collected some data on delays and incidents while TfNSW collected data for the construction of the Standard Working Timetable and third-party contracts.
“However, a lack of clarity around what data is gathered and who has ownership of the data makes data sharing difficult and limits its analysis and reporting,” she said.
“The Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023 includes the goal of “Reducing avoidable rail freight delays’, but the Transport Agencies do not have any definition for an avoidable delay and, as a result, do not measure or report them.”
The Auditor-General said there were no performance measures in TfNSW or Sydney Trains’ rail freight operator contracts or inter-Agency agreements which limited the Agencies’ ability to improve performance.
Ms Crawford made five recommendations aimed at delivering the freight-specific strategies currently in development; improving the collection and sharing of freight data; developing a plan to reduce avoidable freight delays; systematically collecting data on the management of all delays; and implementing key performance indicators for the agreements between the Transport Agencies.
The Auditor-General’s 55-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
