In the Public Interest I can give you a copy of the such said letter and somewhat business plan and yes this was on another forum and I was given permission by the person who posted it to post it here:
Dear Sir,
I am one of the investors in this project. I am part of a group of 27 investors (some of whom have there own sub group of investor under their name). We have been together as a group for nearly 20 years with 4 of us from Australia the balance from Europe and North America with 2 from Asia and 1 from South Africa. We invest in a lot of project globally, not just rail or transport related but other fields as well. A few of the investor group are also transport enthusiasts some of us owning various Locos and rolling stock another has 17 aircraft and so on, so we are quite a mixed bunch.
The ones of us who have rail interests like to see what lines can be feasibly reinstated. No we are not trying to turn back time and try to reopen everywhere a railway once ran as times have changed, but look at lines which have merit and need a bit of a push to get open we did look at the SE line to Mt Gambier but this looks like t will go ahead with government support. There was another line in NSW but this was not viable. I agree Passenger service to the Mid North is not Viable, but we are dealing with an Agribusiness specializing in fertilizer and wanting to open up a facility just south of Blyth and another near Farrell's Flat, with the goods being railed in from Victoria. That is why we are looking at reinstating the section from Bowman to the first facility and then re-gauge and upgrade to the other facility, Forecast freight to theses facilities make this a long term viable option. As for the passenger service, if the track is upgraded and we can offer this it is worth doing for the communities as well as potential of people from Adelaide visiting into the regions for the day or two. Initial figures on this show it is borderline viable but the agribusiness is interested in this and is prepared to invest an ongoing contribution if required as a PR exercise, after all it is also there potential customers that may be using the service too
Our staff monitor over 100 of these types of web site globally, and it is surprising after you get past all the gossip and carry on just how much leaked information comes out in these sites, along with some excellent ideas.
I am based in Europe and consider myself to be Australian as I spent my childhood and early adulthood growing up in the Mid North region of SA and I still have my sister and her family living on our family farm not far from Manoora.
When I was first informed of the thread by Mitchell, I decided to reply via PM to see what they had in mind in case it was duplicating something that we have already spent over 12 months on. I was a little surprised after contacting him that he was in his early 20's and grand plans to take over the whole rail network of SA. Thumbs up for enthusiasm and if you want to be an Entrepreneur you always need to think big, although maybe not that big. I know when I was his age I was going to take over the world, well I still haven't taken over the world but I do now own a lot more of it. As enthusiastic as he is when I told him some of our plans it did end up on this website. So I decided to tell him what he could release to this site and with interest I have been watching the replies. We have also kept about a dozen of your members who took the time to reply correctly to Mitchell's initial post informed on some of our plans.
Please respect the fact that we are dealing with various bodies in putting this together, Phase 1 and 2 have been completed and we are now working with the DPTI and others or the next phase and I would be pleased to forward you some of the correspondence we have received from DPTI and other parties along with a excerpt from our business plan for this project.
Railpage Australia™ has been helpful to us via this thread with some excellent contact coming forth from this which has saved us some time. Our group owns several companies which we use for investments and we do not give out our company email addresses to any one but the relevant bodies we are dealing with, and also out of respect to the privacy of some of our investors. Therefore I have been corresponding with persons from this site using one of my private Australian email addresses. I was amused by the hang up many have over an email address, for $10 I could set up any address (
david@midnorthrail.com or whatever) and it would not prove a thing.
Please understand that there is some information that we can not release at this stage. I am thinking of holding a webinar on this project at the right moment in time to explain this to all and if permitted on Railpage Australia™, posting the link for members to join in on this webinar.
I must stress we are a self funding investment group and do not seek any investment from any outside source, even to the extent of not seeking government subsidies, however we have been known to accept some government support if their are not too many conditions attached.
Thank You for your time, and I hope this helps clarify a few things
Yours Truly
David von Peters
The other Email.
Australian Rail Project
# 61844
LOCATION
Mid North Region South Australia
Phase 1: COMPLETED
Investigate the initial feasibility of reinstating rail service in the region
(Stages 1 to 14)
Phase 2: COMPLETED
Secure initial funding and future investors for the Australian Rail Project (#61844)
(Stages 1 to 5)
Phase 3:
Implementation of Legal’s, Access and Commencement of works
Stage 1:
Contact the various bodies in relation to access and lease of the areas in question, along with requirements to proceed, including permission for future access to the standard gauge network at Bowmans
Stage 2:
Set up required Australian companies and registered offices and appoint responsible persons and project managers.
Stage 3:
Secure access to areas of interest and sign leases and other relevant documentation and implement all requirements as per directed in stage 1 to enable commencement of works.
Stage 4:
Access site and conduct full inspection and comprehensive engineering report and compare with initial inspection report and budget forecast sheets already completed in Phase 1 Stage 5.
Stage 5:
Negotiate agreements and contracts with various companies and contractors for supply of persons and equipment for works ahead as per schedule outlined in Phase 1 Stage 8 and subject to amendment after inspection conducted in Phase 3 Stage 4.
Stage 6:
First work crew on site commencing on right of ways still containing rail infrastructure, clearing hostile vegetation from the track beds to enable safe working of track maintenance / re-laying crews
Stage 7:
Reinstate level crossing signs and workings, notifications to local communities of returned activity in the rail right of ways and other procedures as requested and required to ensure safe workings of work crews and public safety.
Stage 8:
Once Phase 3 stages 1 to 7 are completed and signed of by the relevant bodies, the project is handed over to the Operations Manager who is to coordinate on going works with the Head Project Manager and Site Project Managers as per the order of works outlined in Phase 4. .