AUSTRALIA: Reflecting a growing market for rail infrastructure work, notably on heavy haul freight railways and urban passenger networks, Leighton Contractors and Swietelsky have formed a joint venture to provide track construction, maintenance and renewal services.
LS Rail brings together Leighton's expertise in the Australasian rail market with Swietelsky's extensive fleet of high-performance machinery currently used in more than 20 countries.
LS Rail draws local staff from Leighton's National Rail Business and specialist engineers and plant operators from Swietelsky. Leighton has already been accredited as an infrastructure manager and rolling stock operator by the rail regulator in New South Wales.
At the AusRail Plus exhibition in Brisbane on November 22-24, LS Rail confirmed that it would put its first Plasser 09-3X DTS tamping machine in Australia into service during December, with an 08-275-3S switch and crossing tamper to follow in January and an SSP303 ballast regulator by mid-2012. Later this year the joint venture expects to put into operation the first ballast profile measurement and guidance system to be used in Australia.
