News & Discussion: Regional Transport

[Waewick]

I read that article a few times.

Me thinks mr Knapp might be a bit of a Labor leaner because he really doesn't offer anything up outside his initial thoughts based on the Labor report.

Lets wait till see what a full report provides.

[claybro]

I read that article a few times.

Me thinks mr Knapp might be a bit of a Labor leaner because he really doesn't offer anything up outside his initial thoughts based on the Labor report.

Lets wait till see what a full report provides.

I was also puzzled as to why anyone in the freight council would hold a negative view on a study of transport infrastructure. There has been not nearly enough forward planning in SA in the past couple of decades. Sure, the airport component might be pie in the sky, but I believe as many have stated years now, there is a strong case for a road and rail link the other side of the hills. If this study puts all of this on the table, then well and good. Who knows, in 50 years time, when the road and rail has been in place, the Monarto Airport might make sense.

[Goodsy]

Why a fast train to regions near Adelaide makes increasing sense
Opinion


The new State Government’s freight infrastructure plans would tie in neatly with a proposal to develop fast passenger train services to connect Adelaide with nearby growth regions, writes Richard Blandy.

https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2018/07/ ... ing-sense/

[1NEEDS2POST]

Why a fast train to regions near Adelaide makes increasing sense
Opinion


The new State Government’s freight infrastructure plans would tie in neatly with a proposal to develop fast passenger train services to connect Adelaide with nearby growth regions, writes Richard Blandy.

https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2018/07/ ... ing-sense/

At a speed of 160 km/h, I don't see the benefit over the "fast bus" proposal in the Mt Barker O-Bahn thread (https://www.sensational-adelaide.com/fo ... 7&p=169521). Laying down O'Bahn guideway in the middle of the freeway would be inexpensive. Sure, a "fast bus" isn't as sexy as a "fast train", but it gets you there just as fast and at a fraction of the cost.

Furthermore, the freeway is shorter than the railway and the bus can have multiple stops in the towns.

[Waewick]

Why a fast train to regions near Adelaide makes increasing sense
Opinion


The new State Government’s freight infrastructure plans would tie in neatly with a proposal to develop fast passenger train services to connect Adelaide with nearby growth regions, writes Richard Blandy.

https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2018/07/ ... ing-sense/

At a speed of 160 km/h, I don't see the benefit over the "fast bus" proposal in the Mt Barker O-Bahn thread (https://www.sensational-adelaide.com/fo ... 7&p=169521). Laying down O'Bahn guideway in the middle of the freeway would be inexpensive. Sure, a "fast bus" isn't as sexy as a "fast train", but it gets you there just as fast and at a fraction of the cost.

Furthermore, the freeway is shorter than the railway and the bus can have multiple stops in the towns.

I have never seen this thread or proposal?

[Eurostar]

Train to Mount Barker would not be held up in traffic, extra carriages can be added to provide for future capacity without the need for multiple drivers. The train operator is a 100% government owned unlike the bus operator which is privately owned. Mount Barker would be an ideal candidate for a dial a ride service, could even extend that zone into surrounding areas including Littlehampton and Nairne.

[PeFe]

Totally pie-in-the-sky stuff...…..I actually cringed when I read that article.

The region Richard Blandy is taking about only contains 47,000 people, and not in one city, but spread about 5 towns.
How many of those would ditch their cars when travelling to Adelaide for business or pleasure?.....3 or 4%?

On one forum we have genuine discussions about the cost of tram extensions and whether $90 million per kilometre is worth it...........and then we have this fantasy proposal to spend $1 billion on a fast train to Strathalbyn !!!

Richard Blandy has blown any credibility he has (in my eyes) and I am totally 100% public transport orientated (no car since 1993) but these "whacko fast train proposals to places that have the population of 20 streets in Hong Kong" leave me totally cold and just makes real public transport advancement harder in Adelaide when the car drivers read such silliness.

[rhino]

Totally pie-in-the-sky stuff...…..I actually cringed when I read that article.

Me too

[claybro]

Is it pie in the sky though? How is it that WA can run a daily service from Perth pop 2 Million to Kalgoorlie pop 60000, through a steep winding scarp, stopping all major, and some minor towns, with a train top speed 160 km/h .. and yet SA cannot manage the same thing, over a relatively similar distance, almost identical terrain, with larger intermediate population centres.. between Adelaide , pop 1.3 mil and Melbourne pop 4 mil. Also in the case of WA, there is a branch "Avon Link" using the same modern trains to service the same small hills communities and some sparsely populated wheatbelt towns. It is absolutely no different.

[rhino]

Where is our regional city with 60,000 population? The whole Iron Triangle doesn't reach that much.

Also don't forget that for 25 years WA lived through a mining boom with no end in sight, and had piles of money to throw at things that they thought might work.

[Goodsy]

Where is our regional city with 60,000 population? The whole Iron Triangle doesn't reach that much.

Also don't forget that for 25 years WA lived through a mining boom with no end in sight, and had piles of money to throw at things that they thought might work.

Mildura is closer to Adelaide than Kalgoorlie is to Perth.
Riverland + Mildura is over 100k


Broken Hill is closer to Adelaide than Kalgoorlie is to Perth
It could service Balaklava, Jamestown and Peterborugh

[rhino]

Back in the Australian National days, there were commuter trains servicing Whyalla (and Port Pirie and Port Augusta) and Broken Hill. People will say that AN purposefully wound these services up, but patronage was declining too, and the populations of the main centres (Whyalla and Broken Hill) has declined quite a bit since then.

Mildura, on the other hand, has boomed, but has no rail connection via the Riverland to Adelaide. Add to this that it is in Victoria, and Victorians are the most parochial of all Australians, in the main they would rather travel 6 hours from Mildura to Melbourne to reach a major city than travel 4 hours to Adelaide. Those that will come to Adelaide are happy to hop on a bus, and Mildura is serviced by rail from Melbourne already.

FWIW, I honestly believe that if it weren't for the Western Australian mining boom supplying copious funds, there would be no fast rail service between Kalgoorlie and Perth either.

[Goodsy]

FWIW, I honestly believe that if it weren't for the Western Australian mining boom supplying copious funds, there would be no fast rail service between Kalgoorlie and Perth either.

Might have more to do with the Prospector taking advantage of a well maintained freight route. All they really had to do was bring standard gauge into Perth station and pay for the maintenance of the cars, it's probably not as expensive as it seems

[rhino]

You could be right there, too

[claybro]

Where is our regional city with 60,000 population? The whole Iron Triangle doesn't reach that much.

Also don't forget that for 25 years WA lived through a mining boom with no end in sight, and had piles of money to throw at things that they thought might work.

I was referring to what is serviced by the whole line. Perth to Kalgoorlie is 650km, Adelaide to Ballarat is the same distance. Kal has a population of 60000, Ballarat has a population of 80000, but then just 90k's further at the end of that line is Melbourne with 4 million. Towns on the SA side of the border serviced could be Mount Barker, Murray Bridge, Bordertown etc.-the excuses trotted out in SA are the slow winding line...(exactly the same as lines out of Perth over the Stirling scarp.) Towns that the prospector stop at include Northam, which is almost identical to Murray Bridge, if not with a smaller population and other regional towns in the Wheat Belt, all identical to small towns in SA such as Bordertown. The comparison in situation of the Perth/Kalgoolie line, and the Adelaide/Ballarat/Melbourne line are almost identical, and yet the response in SA is always every reason under the sun NOT to have a daily service with modern fast trains-I just don't get it.
The Adelaide Melbourne line also utilises a freight route, exactly the same as Perth Kalgoorlie.
Regardless of the mining boom which by the way has not been 25 years of straight boom, it has very huge peaks and troughs, the current economic situation in WA is the worst in decades, and yet the government is still determined to keep the rail service in place.