Topic Enhancing the position of rail freight in short distance haul The cases of Australia and Vietnam

RMIT International University Vietnam ASSIGNMENT COVER PAGE Course Code OMGT2279 Course Name Transportation and Freight Logistics Title of Assignment Railway Comparison Business Report Lecturer Dr Nguyen Manh Hung Student Name Le Khoi Nguyen - s3682366 Tran Tram Anh - s3777334 Nguyen Hong Oanh - s3798758 Tran Thi Huong Mai - s3742777 Assignment due date September 2020 (Week 10) Word Count Topic: Enhancing the position of rail freight in short-distance haul: The cases of Australia and Vietnam Table of Contents Executive Summary I Introduction II Background Information 1.Short-distance haul transportation in the railway Australia 1.1 Ownership 1.2 Network length 1.3 Freight task Vietnam III Comparative analysis Freight tonnage 1.1 Australia 1.2 Vietnam Freight operations 2.1 Australia 2.2 Vietnam 10 Freight facilities 10 3.1 Australia 10 3.2 Vietnam 12 IV Challenges 14 Australia 14 1.1 Congestion in the Port and Terminal system: 14 1.2 Limited Freight Services and Operations for Short-Haul Demand: 15 1.3 Out-of-date facilities 16 Vietnam V Recommendations 16 18 Australia 18 Vietnam 19 VI Conclusion 20 VII References 21 Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam VIII Appendices 25 Executive Summary I Introduction II Background Information 1.Short-distance haul transportation in the railway According to Marinov et al.(2011), short-distance haul transportation in railway is basically goods transported in a short distance, giving more access to individuals and small enterprises with lessthan-truckload packages in railway The short-distance transportation is dominated by road freight, since it costs less than railways in the few first miles, and also more convenient to deliver door-todoor However, railways have potential to compete with the road sector if they want to expand their economies of scale and sustain in the long run Firstly, as the E-commerce and Logistics industry Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam are rising significantly, there is a growing demand for individual’s small packages to be delivered, thus extending the market and opportunities for the railway sector Standing from the railway's owner’s point of view, they can utilize more assets and save time as well as cost when delivering goods as piles of different orders Applying this also helps boost the domestic GDP because more trades will be executed within the country Moreover, trains consume less fuel than trucks and cars so it is better for the environment as well 2.Requirements for Short-Haul Freight: In order to compete with road transport in terms of short-haul freight, the Railway system\needs to fulfill some conditions to fit with the requirements of short-haul freight services in terms of response time, service times, cost effectiveness, profitability for owners, operators and users(Marinov et al 2011) First, the short-haul non-bulk freight requires the next-day delivery or express delivery (within 2-5 working days) Therefore, delay and congestion in the delivery process should be minimized in Rail freight services (BITRE, n.d) For another requirement, the rail freight service must be economically viable to adopt the wide range of traffic and commodity flows as a part of wider freight services offering to different types of business (Marinov et al 2011) Hence, the wider service range could attract more customers and reduce the cost and risk burden as a whole since it could be shared by multiple firms for the same short-distance freight The next standard for short-haul service is the sufficient number of terminals and pick-up points that have enough proximity to the final destination of customers For short-haul, the proximity location is compulsory for transshipment operation, which would require additional transportation to be involved in the final delivery or pick up process (Marinov et al 2011) Lastly, rail must be able to deliver the economies of scale in terms of rail freight rolling stock and operation, which means that significant changes in the freight vehicle configuration, size, loading and discharge options including bulk and palletized traffic and also need to be made for the purpose of reducing traction costs Australia 3.1 Ownership Rail freight transport used to be monopolized by Australian state governments However, ever since the successful deregulation, commercialisation and privatisation commencing from the 1980s (Everett 2006), the industry has become a fiercely competitive playground for several operators, either operating in regional (Genesee & Wyoming Australia) or national (Aurizon and Asciano) Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam scales Logistics and mining businesses also operate and train on their own railways (National Transport Commission (NTC) 2016) 3.2 Network length According to the 2019 report compiled by Bureau of Infrastructure,Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) and Australasian Railway Association (ARA), Australia currently possesses approximately 32,900 and 314 route-kilometres of operational heavy railways and light tramways respectively With just two main functions: passenger and freight transport, the system contributes over $26 billion to the national economy (Austrade n.d.) 3.3 Freight task The role of rail in Australia’s economy is prominent, especially to bulk export commodities Over 50% of the nation’s freight task is attributed to railroads (see Figure for proportions and Appendix for raw statistics), outstandingly transcending other means of transportation, especially air shipping (ARA 2019) Figure Adapted from: BITRE 2019 Australian freight task, by mode, 2015-16 The two largest bulk flows reported on Australian railways are exporting iron ore and coal Some of the other goods also hauled by the railways to ports include bulk grain (cereal grains, pulses, oilseeds), bulk sugar canes and other non-bulk freight (BITRE 2019) In general, rail transport already has an unrivalled competitiveness in long-distance bulk freight haulage in Australia Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Vietnam The railways in Vietnam are run by a state-owned corporation as Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR), which has two major subsidiaries namely Hanoi Railway Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company and Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company Being placed in a monopoly position limits the freedom and competitiveness of the market, leading to less investment and interest in the industry from outside stakeholders Although it can be understood that railway is an important means of transport that gives access to entering the country, the government needs to pay more attention to this potential business opportunity The reason why it is deemed potential is because it is built across the country and runs through half of the provinces and cities of the nation, which enables a majority of the population to reach this mode The total length is 2600 kilometres, with 11 lines, in which the North - South railway which was built during the French colonial period to transport goods from the North to the South now allows the same function but is used by Vietnamese Moreover, it also interlinks with China, Cambodia and Laos, making it easier and cheaper to export Even with short-distance haul, it is still a very profitable and promising medium compared to the road transport that is used dominantly in Vietnam - III Comparative analysis Freight tonnage Tonnage transported in Australia completely outweighed that in Vietnam in the collected data Despite being recorded in different years, there were no special events in between to create an adverse effect, so Vietnam needs to work harder on railway freight transportation in terms of goods volume Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam 1.1 Australia As estimated by ARA (2017), the freight tonnage moved on rail in Australia is approximately 1.5 billion tonnes each year Due to the unavailability of data, the latest rail freight task recorded was in 2015-16 by BITRE and ARA which totalled to about 1.4 billion (see Figure [ ]) This was a gigantic thousandfold leap compared to around 663 thousand net tonnes just years before that Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Figure [ ] Reproduced from: ARA 2019 National rail freight task, thousand net tonnes The catalysts behind such growth was almost entirely the simultaneous growth in iron ore and despite to a lesser extent, coal exports as well In 2015-16, the former accounted for around 65% of the total rail tonne kilometres, while the latter’s share was 22% (see Figure [ ] for raw statistics) Only a marginal share belonged to other bulk and non-bulk rail freights However, since both also experienced 26% and 6% growth respectively in 2015-16, they further justified the increase in rail freight tonnage Figure Reproduced from: BITRE 2019 Australian rail freight task, by major commodity group, 1971–2016 Such enormous climb in rail freight tonnage as aforementioned is a vivid proof of the phenomenal development of Australia’s rail transport system which is predicted to advance even further (between 13% to 35%) in the years to come (BITRE 2019) Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam 1.2 Vietnam Figure: volume of freight carried in thousand tons of railway freight transport from 2017 - 2019 (adapted from General Statistics Office of Vietnam n.d) The maximum weight per standard wagon is 60 tons, and the metre gauge line is from 25 to 40 tons (Banomyong, Thai &Yuen 2015) Thousands of goods are carried annually by trains in Vietnam In the first quarter of 2020, it was reported that there was 10% - 11% of growth in freight revenue compared to the same period last year (Duy 2020) VR have collaborated with chemical corporations in Vietnam in order to reach the goal of 1.6 million tons in rail freight in 2020, delivering products such as apatite, fertilizer, chemicals, etc… Besides, VR also plans to direct their business strategy from passenger to freight transportation and together with the Agriculture Ministry, directly exporting fruits and frozen agricultural products to China To vary the sorts of goods delivered, VR intends to run more freight to make it up to the loss of passenger one under the Covid-19 pandemic situation, which opens a new gate for the shortdistance haul of railway to further develop Freight operations 2.1 Australia Regarding regions with high rail freight tasks, currently, the Pilbara region in the Western Australia occupies the biggest bulk haulage task, transporting 94% of the country’s iron ore exports (ARA 2019) and representing around 70% of Australia’s total freight task With a complex and Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam highly integrated network, the East Turner River valley in the Pilbara has the third-busiest rail corridor in the globe and is expected to become the busiest soon (BITRE 2019) Queensland and New South Wales also have quite sizeable bulk flows (19% and 6% of the total rail freight task in order), mostly coal movements because these cities are home to Australia’s coal extraction (ARA 2019) As briefly mentioned above, the major type of freight that Australia’s railway network transport is bulk commodities, with the entirely intrastate rail traffic It remains the dominant and the most efficient means of transportation to move bulk iron ore and coal from inland mining sites to ports all over Australia for exports, allowing Port Hedland to be the globe’s largest bulk export port and securing Australia’s position as the top iron ore exporter in the entire world As for agricultural products like grains and oats, they are normally transported over long distances in which rail has traditionally been the predominant mode as well (BITRE 2019) With regard to rail freight fares, over the last few decades, the rate has been continuously declining from a high of around 11 cents/net tonne kilometre to only cents in 2019 (see Figure [ ] for this trend) The BITRE (2017) has forecasted that this rail fares will level off at cents/net tonne kilometre until 2030 Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam with each one at least 2.5 km long The axle loads are 40 tonnes, which means each freight train can carry up to 110 trucks worth of freight off the road (ARA n.d.) Among the 32,894 routekilometres of operational heavy railways, about 10 percent are electrified Apart from these, Australia is also utilizing around 2005 locomotives, half of which has stayed in use for 12 years or less Due to such an old age, Australia has been limiting the use of this kind of train and leveraging locomotives for freight duties merely (ARA 2019) With the majority of railways being heavy types, Australia’ rail transport is mainly utilized for long-distance freight hauls As regards connectivity, the exceptional rail facilities has allowed Australia’s rail network to connect with multiple ports scattered over the nation It serves as the primary mode of transport in three freight movements as below: (1) From inland terminals to ports on railroads - this traffic encompasses either mineral or agricultural products that Australia exports All of the nation’s principal ports, including Port Hedland, Dampier, Port Walcott and Esperance, for example, receive their iron ore exports through railways That tonnage reached up to 677.8 million tonnes in 2017-18, which also equated to these ports’ total tonnage exported (ARA 2019) (2) From port terminals to urban logistics centres - this mostly applies to Australian imports Consignments are shifted out of ports to logistics centers by rail transport in short-haul trips to be distributed to local businesses Empty containers are evacuated out of port to avert congestion by trains as well (ARA 2019) (3) From one port to another - One classical example of this route is container movements from the Port of Hobart to the Port of Burnie for exports or simply for mainland transfers among different ports (ARA 2019) These three routes prove that Australia has impressive connectivity between ports and rail transport The nation shows non-stop attempts in creating more regional freight links, with an investment worth $9.3 billion in a special program called Inland Rail to further connect different markets in Melbourne, Brisbane and Victoria together for even larger economic benefits (Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities n.d.) With respect to the accessibility of the railway line, Australian’s rail networks mainly radiate from the state capitals, then spread out to other states with highly integrated cross-border links (ARA 2019) The country’s rail freight dominates Melbourne - Adelaide - Perth - the east-west corridor In the north-south corridor (Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane), its competitiveness is not that lucid due to infrastructure constraints However, overall, rail network still provides integral corridor links between capital cities in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria (NTC 2016) Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Regarding rail containers, and Adelaide, Australian trains can already carry double-stacked containers whose total height must not surpass 6.5 metres above the top of the rail, specifically in Darwin, NSW, Perth, Parkes Furthermore, road freight vehicles can also be piggybacked on rail flat wagons in the central corridor line (ARA 2019) These methods of freight transport can be very efficient in improving capability 3.2 Vietnam Vietnam uses tracks, bridges, tunnels, signalings, communication and sewers facilities to operate the railway freight transport system With respect to accessibility, according to the map of Vietnam’s railway below, the railroad is built across the country from North to South, with the purpose of connecting the North and South of Vietnam Hence, it is very convenient for both long and short distance haul freight and has great potential for future development in the logistics sector as it connects the whole country and involves very little intermodal transport Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam However, compared to the general quality indicators, on a scale from to 7, Vietnam’s railway infrastructure only ranked at around 2.5, while the regional average positioned at about in a report written in 2012 (WEF 2012) The railway has been operating for so long but showing little revenue in return, which shows a significant imbalance in railway operation While locomotives are supposed to be used for less than 30 years, 89 of them are 30 - 40, 45 are more than 40 years Infrastructure, rolling stock, signalling and telecom systems are main concerns when operating the railway, yet is underdeveloped or outdated because it only has government’s funding as the main source This directly affects the overall performance of the means of transportation in terms of short-distance haul freight Moreover, very few warehouses and unloading yards storage makes it harder for shortdistance transportation to be executed VR is making an attempt to expand this factor in the upcoming years to make way for short-distance haul transportation (Duy 2020) IV Challenges Australia 1.1.Inappropriate Service offering, infrastructure and Logistics performance for Short-haul freight: For the Australia railway system, one of the main challenges that constrain the growth of freight railway service is the delay of freight operations due to the track congestion in Sydney Port access As a result, a freight could have to wait up to 14 days for another ship to arrive at the port (Figure) This disadvantage of the railway system has indirectly boosted road transport for short-haul freight tasks between Sydney and Melbourne since there are new road reforms and new road Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam infrastructure, making it more time-efficient for short-haul transport to use road freight instead of rail freight (ARA, 2019) Ports Terminal Waiting time(Days) Newcastle Hayden Terminal 10-14 Newcastle Dyke Terminal 8-12 Hay Point Dalrymple Bay 7-14 Hay Point Hay Point Coal 1-5 Terminal GladStone GladStone 1-4 Figure : Waiting time in bulk port terminal for clearance (Reproduced Bertho 2010) Part of the reason for the congestion in the port and terminal system came from the network constraint such as linne tonne axle load and the insufficient requirements of vertical clearance that limits the size of the reference train (PWC, 2017) Furthermore, the insufficient road length and material handling equipment increase the spent time for the load and unloading operations of rail freight (PWC,2017) As the Figure shown, most of the rail network of Australia are narrow and standard gauges except only the network in Victoria and New South Wales, where it has the high traffic intensity With the requirement of short-haul freight, which requires no delays and congestions Therefore, with the shift from road freight to rail freight, the broad gauge of the rail network is inevitable Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Figure 1: Australia rail network Keeping up with the fast growth of the transport task is another main priority of the railway freight industry in order to satisfy the demand shift from road freight With over 50% contribution of freight tasks made by rail mode (figure 2), it is estimated that the freight task growth will be 26% by 2026 (Deloitte, 2017) The deregulation, privatization, and commercialization of the railway industry have largely contributed to the expansion of the rail fleet with 2005 locomotives (ARA, 2019) Hence, there is room for investment in rail freight However, the transport services of the players in the industry are mainly industrial and agricultural - oriented (Table 1), which is going opposite to the trend in the age of consumerism When people prefer online shopping rather than physical stores.Therefore, it is anticipated that the demand for short-haul freight will increase For instance, railway accounts for the majority of inter-capital origin–destination non-bulk freight on the East– West corridors (NTC, 2016) Additionally, inner-capital non-bulk freight occupies 30% of rail freight market share and it is expected to go up even more in time The current infrastructure for interstate rail freight in big cities is limited since there are many integrations of freight and passenger services in one rail line, including Sydney interstate and Perth interstate rail lines(Coleman et al 2017).Therefore, the adjustment in service functions of railway operators in the market is compulsory for the adaption to the non-bulk freight demand for transport tasks The current circumstances of COVID-19 have created an enormous impact on the price of fuel , creating the declines in the fuel prices (IBIS, 2019) Subsequently, the declines in prices would increase the competitive advantages for road freight over rail freight since rail freight is more fuelefficient than road freight Therefore, only the increase in fuel price can benefit the rail freight industry while the decrease in fuel price would increase road freight usage since the fuel cost gap between the two freight options is narrowed For another challenge, most of the railway network in Australian is single-tracked railways (approximately 89%) with the only few exceptions like the Melbourne-Sydney line (NTC,2016) Single-tracked lines, which share both directions of the railway on the same truck, will limit the infrastructure capacity of the railway system and lead to the shortage of trains when the level of short-haul demand spikes up Furthermore, the single tracked railways mostly consist of narrow and standard gauges Hence, with the tremendous traffic frequency of short haul freight, one train delay will lead to propagation of delay thus slowing the short haul operation as a whole In terms of commodity-based rail freight network, the current rail freight facilities for industrial commodities like coal, iron ore and steel has provided sufficient options with heavy haulage rail lines and direct access to trading ports and export ports (NTC, 2016) However, it’s not the same case with Short-haul commodities, the lack of urban terminals with fragmented land-use for freight services are big issues in the fundamental facilities for short-distance freight In Particular, Many terminals and pick-up and delivery (PUD) are inefficiently configured and poorly located relative to current major freight generators (Coleman et al 2017) Simultaneously, the increasing problem of urban congestion is causing significant inflation in the cost for pick-up and delivery As a result, the Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam decline in efficiency of last mile tasks is caused by these facilities constraints of the Australia railway system Vietnam The railway services are not efficient and flexible enough to effectively support short-distance haul First, there are very few train schedule available, attributing to the downgrading infrastructure that causes much longer delivery time Specifically, there is up to 85% of national railway is single meter track Most of the 297 terminals in Vietnam are small and in dire need of renovation and the locomotives and wagons are obsolete (produced 30 years ago) (Vietnamnews 2019) Normally, a Rail-shipment would take days, not to mention the days taken to schedule for a shipment (ANTD 2014) There is also a case that oversized shipments have to be transferred from Rail to Road twice (rather than being shipped by Rail only) and travel on longer route since there are height restrictions at some tunnels (Beresford, Pettit & Wang 2014) Second, several terminals have small capability of warehousing and loading yards (Duy 2020), which cannot serve large quantity of shipments, indicating that the short haul seems to be unviable currently Operation inefficiency, along with the lack of investment, has led to Rail not being as competitive as other transport modes While there is 90% of annual investment from the State in Roads, this amount for Railways is only 8%, just enough for general maintenance rather than significant upgrades (ADB 2017) The Railway’s market share, hence, inevitably declined to only 1% (UIC 2017), giving place to other transport modes, particularly Road, Air and Maritime (Figure) This also results in private firms’ investment preference towards other modes than Railways The situation of Rail-Road investment imbalance hence hinders the effectiveness of Rail-intermodal and its importance in helping reduce road and port congestion and domestic short-haul For instance, inefficient delivery time and low shipment productivity cause disconnection between Rail and Sea transport Specifically, the Hanoi - Haiphong - Quang Ninh route only links with three sea ports (i.e Cai Lan, Vat Cach, Hoang Dieu), while some branch lines linking other ports have been demolished (Vinalines 2019) Besides, with the railway inefficiency and low capability, despite the lower freight tariff (VND 40,000/ton/km (ANTD 2014)), it is understandable why firms/customers in need of transporting products would prefer other transport modes, particularly road, as they can be more flexible in schedule shipments with trucking companies Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Figure Freight traffic in Vietnam from 2010 to 2018, by type of transport (Reproduced from Statista n.d.) V Recommendations Australia 1.1.Optimizing Operational network and infrastructure for short-distance haul In order to reduce the congestion and slow speed of transport of the rail freight service, the broad gauge railway must be fully implemented into the rail network Given that rail freight demand for the followings years will be up by 26% while the current standard gauge railway only allows 21 tonne axle loads at 110 and 115 km/h, which limits the speed and quantity of goods and speed thus decreasing time-efficiency of rail freight and e-commerce delivery in terms of speed as discussed in the previous parts (Coleman et al 2017) Along with the broad gauge, the wagon size and train length, which is limited by the loop lengths at up-country silos and/or receival roads at export port terminals, also need to be adjusted Hence, it is highly recommended to put more loops at these export ports and terminals to aid traffic flow and enable additional trains access (Wong & Rosser 1978) Simultaneously with the implementation of broad gauge railway and additional loops, the tonne axle should be increased in order to enhance the competitive advantage of rail freight, exploiting the economies of scales in short-distance delivery (Coleman et al 2017) For the purpose of shifting freight from road to rail, the fundamental facilities and services for shorthaul corridors, which is dominated by road freight, must be established.The cross-metro shuttles for rail freight, which is a method that has been successful in Sydney, needs to be replicated in multiple regions throughout the countries due to its multi-user terminals function and co-location services These advantages of the cross-metro shuttles would erase the need to break trains up and shunt between stevedores, which adds the handling cost and loading/unloading time to the rail freight operation in general and intermodal operation in specific (PWC 2017) The booming of interstate road freight with two-way freight service throughout the country is one of Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam the reasons that explains the dominance of road freight in short-distance haul (NTC 2016) Since most of the railway lines in Australia rail network is single-tracked line Which is not an appropriate type of railway for two-way freight Therefore, double-tracked lines are compulsory for Australian railway network to achieve an efficient two-way loading freight profile with disparate products and freight categories Which is one of the services that complement the e-commerce logistics industry Subsequently, stimulating the demand for freight in short-distance haul in the near future Vietnam 2.1 Key Infrastructure Improvement To fulfill the requirements of short-distance haul, Vietnam’s Railway primarily needs a reconstruction on key infrastructure, acting as a solution in the near future Tracks, stations, signaling and telecom systems shall be renovated to increase overall operation effectiveness (Vietnamnews 2019) Specifically, the convention 1-meter gauge could be replaced with current global standard one (1.453 meters wide (RailSystem n.d.)) to speed up delivery Then, the other key facilities - locomotives and wagons - could be replaced correspondingly with newer model Furthermore, the new warehousing area and loading yards could be expanded in more terminals throughout the North-South railway By improving efficiency (faster train) and capability (carrying larger shipments), these key infrastructure upgrades would also support intermodal options with rail for short-distance shipping Specifically, there will be a connection between railways and logistics center near ports (e.g Haiphong’s industrial zones) In fact, a petition regarding the rail-track width reconstruction for Lao Cai - Hanoi - Haiphong and Lang Son - Hanoi - Haiphong routes has been proposed to promote such intermodal option (PTSC 2017) Furthermore, with the expansion of warehousing area, short haul can be more easily executed at terminals throughout Vietnam, promoting the connection between rail and trucks (i.e rail-road intermodal option) Such crucial improvements would highlight the national railway’s potential for development and attract private enterprises’ participation Meanwhile, the pressure from external investment would make VNR eliminate the monopoly mindset and hence attempt to be more competitive Further Infrastructure Improvement In the long run, with the support from Government and private enterprises, the Railway could aim at offering higher-quality standard for short-distance shipments First, VNR could equip techniques at warehousing areas to support shipments transferred from different modes and serve wider range of products Specifically, some basic techniques for (un)loading services such as forklifts and trucking facilities should be provided so that customers not have to outsource such services Moreover, with the existing temper-modified containers and wagons, temperature-control techniques and a special area should be designed for temperature-sensitive products (e.g fruits, Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam meat) With the short and long-term infrastructure improvements, the railway can be more competitive as other transport modes and potentially shift customers to use railway, given the aforementioned promising merits Second, the railways could be equipped with tracking technology to support visibility Specifically, currently Trimble is developing a technology for real-time tracking and inspection on tracks and wheels using image optical and 3D scanning (Trimble n.d.), called TreadView If installed, TreadView can help to detect abnormalities for in time maintenance By this way, the operational cost could also be reduced as currently VNR is using large number of manual workers to inspect tracks daily (Ha 2019) Figure TreadView Technology (Reproduced from Trimble n.d.) VI Conclusion This paper gave insights into the railway systems of Australia and Vietnam via a comparative research approach It can be seen that Australia’s railway system is more advanced than Vietnam’s as regards three dimensions - freight tonnage, operations and facilities, indicating a higher usage of railways for freight transportation in Australia Nevertheless, both countries still face challenges in executing freight short-distance haul Recommendations are given for both nations to improve short haul performance Australian railway needs to be upgraded regarding its fundamental infrastructure to reduce congestion and satisfy the rising demand for non-bulk shipments, while Vietnam’s key infrastructure should necessarily be reconstructed and then head to the equipment of more advanced facilities By this way, hopefully both countries would achieve competitive advantages in developing short-distance shipment via railways Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam VII References Austrade n.d., ‘Australian industry capabilities - Rail’, Austrade, viewed 24 August 2020, Austrade 2013, Heavy haul, Intermodal and Freight rail, Austrade, viewed 24 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emerging constraints’, Transport Policy, vol 13, no 1, pp 74-84 Trimble n.d., TreadView - Wayside Wheel Tread & Surface Inspection System, Trimble, viewed 23 August 2020, Cruz, CO & Sarmento, JM 2017, 'Horizontal bundling of infrastructure managers: The case of Portugal Infrastructure Company (roads and railways)', Transport Policy, vol 55, pp 99-103 Rodrigue, J-P et al (2020), Railway Deregulation in the United States, The Geography of Transport Systems, Hofstra University, Department of Global Studies & Geography, viewed 23 August 2020, Ha, M 2019, Đâu 'con tàu Việt Nam khắp bốn mùa vui'?, Thanh Nien, viewed 25 August 2020, RailSystem n.d., Rail Gauge, RailSystem, viewed 24 August 2020, < http://www.railsystem.net/railgauges/> Statista n.d., Freight traffic in Vietnam from 2010 to 2018, Statista, viewed 24 August 2020, Vinalines 2019, VÌ SAO LOGISTICS ĐƯỜNG SẮT YẾU KÉM, THIẾU KẾT NỐI VỚI CẢNG BIỂN? , Vinalines, viewed 24 August 2020, Bertho ,F, 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Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Wong, O., & Rosser, M (1978) Improving system performance for a single line railway with passing loops New Zealand Operational Research, 6(2), 137-155 http://www.thebookshelf.auckland.ac.nz/docs/NZOperationalResearch/1978vol06/Number2/ORSNZ1978-6-2-03.pdf Dolman, G, 2016, Australian logistic council dialogue, 21 April, Viewed 28 August 2020, Koziarz, J, 2017, Transportation that built Chicago: The importance of the railroads, 21 Sep, viewed 28 August 2020, https://chicago.curbed.com/2017/9/21/16344608/transportationchicago-railroad-cta-union-station-history Bertho, F (2010) Maritime transport in Australia The Impacts and Benefits of Structural https://apec.org/-/media/APEC/Publications/2011/1/The-Impacts-and-Benefits-of-Structural-Reformsin-Transport-Energy-and-Telecommunications-Sectors/TOC/Maritime-transport-in-Australia.pdf Marinov, M., Mortimer, P., Zunder, T., & Islam, D 2011, Short haul rail freight services RELIT-Revista de Literatura dos Transportes https://www.scielo.br/pdf/jtl/v7n3/05.pdf https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/168755/A6C4AC82-C53C-4E47-90CCBD591A1CE078.pdf VIII Appendices Table Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam 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Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam Topic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.VietnamTopic.Enhancing.the.position.of.rail.freight.in.short.distance.haul.The.cases.of.Australia.and.Vietnam