Railway Digest – December 2018

Faster Trains to Canberra and the South
The NSW Government recently announced that it would spend the $4.2 billion dollars it received from the Commonwealth as payment for its share of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme on improving regional infrastructure, both road and rail. One of the stated aims was to reduce the rail travel time to Canberra to below three hours. Peter Clark takes a close look at some of the ways this could be achieved.

Denison Street, Rockhampton
You’ll sometimes hear visitors or tourists say that “Rockhampton is the town where the railway line runs down the middle of the main street”, although Denison Street has not actually been the main street of Rockhampton for many years. Mike Martin reports on an unusual rail/road operation, dating from 1899, that continues today.

SPENO Ultrasonic Testing Vehicle US 7
SPENO has developed a new approach to equipment design for ultrasonic rail testing. The new system uses a multi-element phased array unit replacing the traditional approximately ten probes the inspected the rail at fixed angles, enabling the ultrasonic testing of the rails at speeds up to 80 km/h. John Beckhaus looks at the revolutionary new Ultrasonic Testing Vehicle US 7, currently in use in NSW.