Railway Digest Magazine June 2020 Back Issue

Travel during the COVID-19 Crisis
While many of our readers have been locked up in their homes, Australia’s railways have been operating almost normally. Some operators have actually been busier than usual, notably with intermodal products, which have particularly included items for larger grocery stores. Two runs to Seymour in the week leading up to Easter this year allowed David Campbell to witness quite a number of train movements, and in writing about these, he hopes to give readers some “feel” for what was happening in at least one part of Australian railways.

Watco enters cattle haulage to serve new Morven terminal
In a move that will boost rail business on Queensland Rail’s Western Line, US-based short line operator Watco is to enter the cattle haulage business to serve a new freight hub currently under construction at Morven, between Roma and Charleville and 683 kilometres from Brisbane.

Indian Pacific 50 Part 3: The view from the Indian Pacific
Parts 1 and 2 of this article (in the April and May issues of Railway Digest) covered the story of the Indian Pacific and author Chris Walters’ own personal experiences and attachment to the famous express. For the final part of this trilogy, we step on board and take a ride west, across the continent

The Australian Electric Multiple Unit Fleets
Australia’s fleet of approximately 750 Electric Multiple Unit trains play a critical role in moving people on the nation’s six electrified networks, though the isolated nature of Australian railways has resulted in each city having unique trains. In this month’s Rolling Stock feature, John Beckhaus takes a look at the current EMU rosters of systems around Australia.