Rail suppliers come under fire

OUTGOING Pacific National chief executive Don Telford has warned Australian rail suppliers they will lose business unless they improve their attitude to customers.

In a one-hour forum with rail chief executives at the AusRAIL Plus conference in Adelaide yesterday, Mr Telford said all major suppliers had forgotten the basics of doing business.

"We don't know any of the (suppliers') chief executives and haven't had any delegations from the major suppliers in the Australian rail industry," he said.

"These people have to be concerned because the Chinese (and the British) know our top five executives, we know their chief executives. They are looking to do business in Australia."

The comments were a major departure from the tenor of the rest of the conference, where 3000 attendees welcomed a renewed push for harmonisation and improved productivity.

"They need to do something that will take them from the back-slapping stuff that has been going on here over the last couple of days," Mr Telford said. "Unless you lift your game, you are going to lose business."

The Advertiser.
November 19.