ABSTRACT
The study, of VicRail’s system in Australia, was undertaken in 1980 for Victoria’s Minister of Transport by Transmark’s Economics Group. † Its findings were directed to a major Government review of railway policy. In consequence it dealt with questions of the chief information requirements, and their intended use by top management, for devising a strategy for future business development. In considering current financial performance, and the scope for improvement during the 1980s, the study had to address issues of traffic costing methods and pricing policy, the railway’s future financial viability and its required level of public expenditure support. To draw conclusions for the business as a whole, this meant giving attention to all of the railway’s activities, including ancillary functions such as property management and station trading.
