It's why build a rail system for passengers when the freight system needs support and will provide a much better ROI in financial and environmental grounds.
We need politicians who aren't swayed by lobbying,donors or party lines.
THE ORIGINAL POST WAS ALL ABOUT HSR, ONLY ABOUT HSR FFS! YOU HIJACKED IT BUT ONLY IN YOUR HEAD. You should have started your post saying "well forget about HSR blah, blah, blah"!
Didn't the examination of where rail was required find that most freight was going from western areas to eastern ports, rather than south to north? What should we call a white elephant which has been a pie in the sky for years and as likely to be built and as useful as flying pigs?
I actually heard some folks in the Newcastle light rail (some govt civil planners I think) discussing a fast train that was 1 hour to Sydney and 4 to Brisbane. I asked them “where” and she just said “underground”. I said “what? Under a National Park and a floodplain?” She said “nobody owns it”
Of course just because the politicians have never had the guts to actually do anything positive about it, doesn't mean this it isn't a good idea. Perhaps they could put a few Virginia class subs on rails?
In 1898 the good people of Wagga Wagga pushed for it be the nation’s capital. Had they succeeded, we would have a VFT. The economics works with a major city between Sydney and Melbourne.
Fast rail Melbourne to Sydney, rail link Tulla to Melbourne, which will we have first?? Heck I still remember the tram out to Essendon before Tulla was even built, it wasnt great but at least it go you there.
What about the Maglev trains? They're used in China now (and trialling them in Japan & France). They could do Sydney - Melbourne in a little over 2 hours.
This would turn a 8-10 hour drive to Adelaide into a 1.5 hour ride in a train for me. Australia is a cheapskate country, unless some corruption is involved, then everything is possible.
I used to be able to do the drive easily, now due to illness it’s a nightmare. Living in the Outback is so remote from anywhere else in Australia, we might as well be in another country. We didn’t have to be like this as a country, cannibalising our regions for our cities.
In my opinion everyone wins with a good VFT network as people could move go the country and work in the City. This would ease housing prices and supply in the city, whilst people could afford a decent home say 1 hour and 2 hours away from work via VFT
Daily circa 30-35 flights- about 2 train sets to service a line.
HSR in Aus context can’t compete with flying between capitals + isn’t initial focus in biz case terms of ref. May stack up to open up regions?? (HSR’s primary biz case justification throughout Europe)
Sure but these destination cities will be regional and not capital to capital, certainly in the mid terms, particularly to accommodate projected pop growth and economic development.
What makes HSR viable (necessary in fact) is the climate cost of the fossil carbon pollution from jet travel. To stabilise the climate before the weather collapses civilisation (yes weather can do that) we need those jets grounded. Only HSR can do that atm. China’s built 45000kms.
The problem more broadly with this take, and why Utopia got it wrong, is that it ignores all the absurd economic and environmental costs of our existing reliance on road and air travel, including climate, road accident vehicle damage, injury and death, congestion, mechanical depreciation etc etc.
They been jibbering about it for 25 years and still nothing.
Domestic airlines furiously lobby against it whenever the topic arises.
The Liberals managed to kill off Ansett as well… Competition made space for Jetstar and Virgin, so what was the point of killing off Ansett 🤷♂️
The second airport is all about the curfew. There won’t be curfew out there and the whole zone will grow very rapidly and no new residents will be able to contest flight noises. Kingsford will go mostly domestic.
Singapore Airlines wanted to buy Ansett and keep it running and John Howard said no, he didn't want Ansett foreign owned.... destroyed lives mean nothing to Liberals
They'll never buld it.
Coz then they'd have to come up with something else to promise every metropolitan voter on each election that has easy arguments both for and against.
Comments
It's why build a rail system for passengers when the freight system needs support and will provide a much better ROI in financial and environmental grounds.
We need politicians who aren't swayed by lobbying,donors or party lines.
there was talk then that they would ultimately connect the snowfields to the VFT
ha
Utopia terrifies me.
900 daily flights between Syd and Melb is equivalent to 2 trains….
flights monthly.
Daily circa 30-35 flights- about 2 train sets to service a line.
HSR in Aus context can’t compete with flying between capitals + isn’t initial focus in biz case terms of ref. May stack up to open up regions?? (HSR’s primary biz case justification throughout Europe)
Domestic airlines furiously lobby against it whenever the topic arises.
The Liberals managed to kill off Ansett as well… Competition made space for Jetstar and Virgin, so what was the point of killing off Ansett 🤷♂️
Gosh, I only saw a snippet of the long road.
Ping pong with Ansett and TAA which ended with the demise of them both because of his corporate antics. https://www.afr.com/companies/why-murdoch-has-stuck-with-abeles-19920731-kao58
(Might be the being in Perth thing - probably very quiet about it in Adelaide as well)
https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/hello-kitty-shinkansen
Coz then they'd have to come up with something else to promise every metropolitan voter on each election that has easy arguments both for and against.
https://www.netimes.com.au/2024/05/26/joyce-dungowan-dam-back-on-if-coalition-wins-next-election/
So here it is, meet nuclear powered high speed rail built by work for the dole.🤮