Freight operations
RailCorp does not operate freight services, but independent operators that comply with safety, engineering and environmental standards can apply for access to our network.
We give passenger services priority over freight services on our network. As a result, freight services often operate overnight and may stop temporarily on our network.
We timetable freight services during daylight hours and minimise stopping times where reasonable and feasible, but the frequency of passenger services, especially during the morning and afternoon peak periods, limits the network capacity available to freight trains.
Freight trains may be required to stop temporarily on our network due to:
Safety
We hold all trains, including freight trains, at signals unless it is safe to advance. We often hold freight trains at signals located before junctions, crossovers or sections of single track.
Passenger priority
We often hold freight trains to allow passenger trains to overtake, especially on shared passenger-freight lines such as the Northern (Newcastle & Central Coast), Western (Blue Mountains), South (Southern Highlands) and Illawarra (South Coast) lines.
Train preparations
In some areas, freight operators prepare their trains for service on our network rather than in their sidings because of local constraints. The engines must be running for these preparations, which take approximately two hours.
We recognise that freight noise can be a source of community concern and have recently completed a dedicated program which covered:
Freight noise audit
We installed monitoring equipment at Beecroft in late 2007 to measure freight engine noise and since then we have carried out extensive analysis of the data obtained.
Noise barriers
Noise barriers are not the preferred option for reducing noise from freight engines because they do not address the cause of the noise. Noise barriers may reduce noise if they block the line of sight between the noise source and receiver, however this means they are ineffective for elevated noise sources, such as freight engines, and elevated properties. In addition, noise barriers often obstruct existing views, create maintenance and emergency access issues and attract antisocial behaviour, such as graffiti.
Report for freight operators and the environmental regulator
We have submitted our analysis to the relevant freight operators so that they can consider addressing noise from their engines. We also submitted our analysis to the Office of Environment and Heritage to enable appropriate management by the environmental regulator.
More information