National railway regulator to make its home here

Adelaide will be the home of a new national rail regulator from 2012, a move the industry expects will save about $42 million in duplicated regulatory costs.

The industry currently has seven state and federal bodies with which freight and passenger companies must comply, but the Australian Transport Council has settled upon Adelaide as the home for a single rail safety and investigation body.

Council of Australian Governments approval is expected because the move already has the support of state and federal transport ministers.

Australasian Railway Association chief executive Bryan Nye said the location made sense. "It is in the centre of the rail networks, and it was a jurisdiction that is willing to quickly move and take it forward," he said. "North-south meets here, east-west meets here, there's manufacturing here that will get bigger with Olympic Dam."

However, the industry was warned there was still "a lot of work to be done" for productivity improvements.

The Federal Government's National Building co-ordinator Lyn O'Connell said the industry needed to reduce duplication in recognition of government infrastructure investment. "There must be a will and opportunity to take advantage of the huge investments and regulatory reform - now is the time," she told the AusRAIL Plus conference in Adelaide yesterday.

Mr Nye said an influx of chief executives from other industries had already driven increased innovation and a push for efficiency.

The Advertiser.
November 19th.