A time for everything

But not enough time for all my different boards and blogs!

I might deemphasise this one for a while, and eventually take it down.

My aim in setting it up was to have a permanent pointer to my hobbyhorses - namely aspects of transport and political theory and practice which are immutable. And which I was tiring of restating on Railpage.

Given I'm no longer stating anything on Railpage that time has passed. And most people who've read me know where I stand on rail theory and current practice.

It is sad to have seen where Railpage has gone. Like Court of King Knut of times old, I dreamed of pushing back the tide of dribble. I pity some of my regular readers who are still in there (Lachie?). But not my problem anymore.

And this blog has reduced now to my sarcastic observations on current new items. But I really need to do no more than write 'ditto'. Ditto to the silliness coming out of Kosky's office. Ditto to the Roger Rabbiters and other tin foil hat men. Ditto to the death of the NSWALP government. I've said it all before and not much new to say.

I'm keen to learn from the Skyscraper freaks, especially this Culwalla guy who seems to be the driver behind the Australian operation. I confess I know little of floor space ratios, DAs and so on so I'll put some time in there. It seems to move more slowly than rail; but the quality of the opinion and postings generally is greater.

And very little of the 'spergering' that affects rail from what I can tell.

I'm keen to get back onto Transport Textbook and was going to move the theoretical stuff off this blog and onto it. Time for a reliable internet connection methinks!

It is my earnest wish that some higher ground around Australian railfandom could be marked out. Some high points that people could point to when down in the swamp: Correct theory. Valid international comparisons. History and archeology that is being built up from a sound base. Valid use of economics and other disciplines to understand rail. Insights into the political system rather than pure partisan nonsense. Genuine commentary from the players, not mindless speculation.

It's too much to expect one fan-based board to carry this load and anyway, the internet doesn't work like that. People speak of the 'marketplace' of information and the hope that the good will drive out the bad. A hope it is, certainly the Skyscraper blogs and places such as Emporis show that a very valuable industry like high rise property development 'pays' for correct information in the market, and participants and fans take the trouble to get correct information.

And I know, Steamtostay, you spoke of how to guide the younger members to better understandings of rail rather than me talking down to them. I'll ponder that. I've never had to before. With the waters being muddied by spin doctors and others, it is hard to expect the younger railfans, who don't even have their own memory of history as a guide, to know what to think.

I'll open my comments to readers who might have thoughts on how to educate the teenage railfans who float around on the basics. My dream was they would all descend en masse to their local libraries, find a tattered old copy of Electrification in Australia and NZ or similar, and learn up all the facts and figures. Or at least surf wikipedia for a while till it ran out of facts.

Clearly that doesn't cut it with the current group so if you have comments would enjoy reading them. I won't respond unless you want one.

North by Northwest

I'm interested in the potential of the bypass routes of the Adelaide Hills suggested by the Adelaide Rail Freight Review out recently.

Apart from "Do Nothing" and "Do Nothing Plus" the paper touts two routes roughly via Truro, and 1 south of the current route including a 15km long tunnel.

Surprisingly the paper is upbeat about the tunnel route, upbeat about the possibility of not 'doing nothing', largely because of projected growth beyond 2027 (by which time, if they started now, the bypass would be finished!)

The paper also sings the praise of shortening Melbourne to Perth transit, although as I have mentioned before, if the aim is to save 2 hours between the two capitals, you could do it much cheaper anywhere else but around Adelaide. Improving overall cruising speed on plain track; improving loops and passing arrangements; improving troubling arrangements around Melbourne, Geelong or Kalgoorlie; fixed distance safeworking and so on.

Some other options emerge which I found fascinating with the Truro route:

First, the Penrice line could be extended back along the Truro track bed, connected to this new line and the stonies run that way (assuming they still run when such a line is completed). Then the existing Barossa broad gauge could be discontinued and the Transadelaide system fully separated from the freight system.

Second, and related to the above, a genuine attempt at a freight siding in the Barossa that would allow wine and grapes to be moved around by rail.

Third, they seem to have assumed a new line between roughly Roseworthy and Two Wells. An alternative might be to rebuild the Roseworthy section to Standard Gauge and a new line from Gawler to Salisbury, rather than through virgin territory to Two Wells. This would speed up Melbourne to Adelaide transit, possibly at the expense of the run to Perth.

Fourth, the assumption is that the terminal at Islington is the objective for a Melbourne to Adelaide run. It maybe that more northern terminals like Two Wells, analogous to Somerton or Minto are sufficient.

Fifth, the paper doesn't talk about the double stack beyond Murray Bridge but the time has surely come to talk about it. I'm surprised if you can't get to Geelong or Altona North by double stack (not counting numerous small gantries etc to be moved). And a yard there for Perth double stack traffic might be appealing to a forwarder. It should be part of this package.

Sixth, notwithstanding the negligence of the Victorian Government in not standardising to Mildura, it would be good if a yard in the Riverland, say Loxton, could be built to tranship Riverland/Mallee traffic bound for Perth. If Mildura and the accompanying Panitya/Pinnaroo line had been done and moderately upgraded, a respectable travel time from Mildura to Perth, net of a runaround at Ouyen, should have been possible.

Seventh, it would put paid to the objective or a Hills suburban and Murray Bridge interurban service. It would still take 2 hours to get to Murray Bridge, versus 1 hour by road. Steamranger might get a concrete sleepered line, admittedly to the wrong gauge. I don't know if the old gauge changeability is reversable. I doubt they'd want it. They are struggling with what they have. Possibly an existing locomotive could be converted to Standard Gauge, and the existing line from MBJ to MB also converted. Pax could then change at MB for the broad gauge beyond. Possibilities, but not very realistic. If they hang on to Goolwa to VH, they'll be lucky.

Eighth, the Belair line would return to double track, as has been missing for nearly 15 years. And no freight to share. No practical limit on the number of suburban heavy rail, or light rail vehicles, that could be run.

Ninth, it would be nice to think the IP could do some runs on the Overland table from Sydney through Melbourne to Adelaide. I know - they could do it now! While passengers would miss the Blue Mountain crossing, they would gain two capitals, rationalise the Overland operation, and cover a lot of towns that could retain the residual passenger service when the XPT is got rid of. What the heck. Why not Brisbane as well. Run two timetables - a Sydney to Perth one, and a Brisbane to Adelaide one, both via Melbourne. Run that section daily, to ensure all the major stops like Wagga and Coffs and Horsham get a passenger train. But run all of them as cruises. Mainline speeds with comfort and a price to match.

Tenth, and to round of the set, I could join the dribblers and recommend the closure of Keswick, which would no longer be needed with a northern access. The line from the south would no longer pass it; in fact, the whole complex south of North Adelaide into Gaol loop and Goodwood is nothing but trouble. With the network converted to Standard Gauge, there will be no need for the freight line south of Dry Creek. This line could be the third suburban line from Dry Creek to Adelaide, with the inevitable express suburbans using it.

Room could then also be found for the daily long distance passenger train each way. With all that trouble and strife saved with no freight movements south of Dry Creek and with Keswick closed, then a special platform should be looked at Adelaide station. With light rail on the Outer Harbour line (and potentially Belair) there should be space at Adelaide for nice long platform for the long distance trains. Not for sentimental reasons.

Just because Adelaide station is still somewhat nice (despite the pokie palace above it) and because Keswick is a hole. I'll back our dribbling friends on that one.

To round off, I don't give the bypass line much chance on any grounds except perhaps the limited growth potential of the existing route, and increasing hostility from neighbours. The transit time arguments aren't strong. The gradient argument doesn't carry much weight, except insofar as short train lengths limit the line's capacity. The cost is not ridiculous (1.5 to 2 bill) but there are cheaper ways of getting transit time reductions, especially to Perth.

It would be interesting to see the Truro route get up. To see if some of the old circum-Adelaide traffics return. And to see the potential for Transadelaide to further develop without the freight interface holding it back.

Know ye not romance?

Once upon a time, when people had less money but the sense of adventure was strong, a traveller from Christchurch might go all the way to Queenstown the romantic way, by steam.

Two trains would get them from Christchurch to Kingston, then a steamboat would get them 50km across Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown.

Where has that romance gone? Maybe romance is a by-word for inefficiency? But it must have been nice with all that steam, all that smoke, all that wood panelling and the lovely whistles. In the rain and mist.

End of an era

Even the rightwing nutcases(or wingnuts as they are called in the trade) are coming back to rail.

Never mind the implied collectivism of riding in the same vehicle, the socialism of a government owned railway, the egalitarianism of sharing with people of different social classes.

If the thinktankers like the Centre for Independent Studies (independent ha ha!) had thunk a bit earlier when they were criticising rail, we might have had a natural descendent of the Flyer for them to ride, rather than the all stops V set with its complement of ferals.

But the pure logic of overloaded roads, chaotic airfields and even their business class friends overseas riding the trains, is starting to come back to them.

I have of course argued what they are now arguing - a business class train for those prepared to pay for it. Considering the running cost of a car on the route would be two hundred dollars odd - plenty of scope for rail to compete.

Bargain basement

I can't find the original budget paper estimating this grade sep in Victoria Park, WA at only $9m in the early part of this decade, but St Alannah did release a press release saying it, its friend up the road and a new railway station cost the grand sum of $22m.

Here's a street view of the sep.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=perth&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Perth+WA,+Australia&ll=-31.97598,115.906771&spn=0.001113,0.001725&z=19&layer=c&cbll=-31.97598,115.906771&panoid=bclU3YCZdsmiCCI4v--u-g&cbp=12,162.78,,0,5

Certainly puts Victorian efforts in the shade.

One man's poison

Have to agree 110% with ColinW's post on Railpage about the southern Brisbane freight rail bypass line and NIMBYs. Pity I can no longer respond to him there.

I'll extend the concept though.

While NIMBYism appears on the surface a defensive reaction, in fact it is a power play.

The mill owners have never lived in the shadow and soot of their enterprises. The rich and powerful have always been able to live in nicer societies than the ones they profit from.

Zermatt has no cars. Men who've made their money from cars and roads and pollution and traffic and congestion can afford the hideous price of skiing in Zermatt, which has none of these things.

Men who will tell you electric cars have no future, can stay in resorts like the one at Port Douglas that uses them to get around internally to it.

We see the walled cities, the gated communities - the world writ micro as the very people would object to being done in the macro.

Sometimes the very changes we seek in society only happen when the consequences of the decay and dispair are inescapable for the rich.

When Bermuda drowns in a rising sea.

NIMBYism is a social evil because it means the powerful stay in situ and manipulate events, as much as they can, to avoid the impact of the decisions (or just the lifestyle) they foster.

I liked the ALP's advertisement at the 2007 election warning Queenslanders about nuclear power. And while there were obvious hints at radiation or terrorism worries that are needless, even the idea of a nuclear reactor, basically a power station, in suburban Bribie Island would definitly scare the horses.

Nuclear power is a contradiction within an enigma.

If you say it's safe, then there's no reason to build it far away. Anyone who says "Nuclear power is safe, but let's built it a long way from the cities, in outback SA etc" is basically not believing what they say. Transmission loss is a killer.

And Nuclear can come back to bite the powerful.

Like the Bribie Island example, there are plenty of nukes worldwide built on coastlines or lakes, near cities, and with plenty of potential to ruin ocean views from holiday houses, restrict coastline access to fishermen and yachts, or lower the property values.

I don't doubt there are genuine opponents of these things - because they think they are the wrong thing. If you are anti-nuke you are as anti-nuke in Oodnadatta as in Coolangatta.

If you don't like dams you won't like Traveston as you don't like the Franklin (and I wonder how many of the Traveston mob opposed Bob Brown when he stood against the Tassie dams. Joh-voting hypocrites who now want the Greens to save them.)

NIMBYism will always come back and bite you. One man poison is another man's meat.

Let's all sing a new song

And after years of propertied and business interests ignoring rail, along comes the Property Council in SA recommending a light rail line from the airport to the city.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/27/2725049.htm?site=news

I've blogged on the merits of this before so I'll leave it for the moment. Let's look at the Property Councils, the BCA and there support for rail.

In the past their concerns could be enumerated thus - the huge deficits (and therefore tax paid) to support rail operations; the freedom to develop land like Chadstone Shopping Centre away from rail lines; the freedom that motoring gives to get more customers in; supply chain disintegration that undermines rail freight; general aversion to government control.

I think what we are seeing now is something quite different, and was not there before: CBD investments at their practical limit without further investment in moving people too and from; capital gains accelerating at rail served sites (and potential for many more such gains, opportunistic and speculative); lack of competitiveness internationally with cities that have better quality of life, attributable in large part to better urban transport; costs to business from extended and tangled supply chains from a reliance on road alone; public private partnerships seen as a good earner.

And I suspect while in the past the government railways were a hotbead of unionism and socialist-ALP control, the ALP is no longer socialist and can be bought, the unions have been weakened (though not eliminated, especially in Sydney), and many operations are privately run and their owner/managers are part of the same class of people as are represented in such bodies as the BCA.

I suspect the deficits are now tacitly seen as the cost of having a city with a cheap workforce.

If we became in the expat language a "Hardship Posting" like Bangkok or whatever, people will start expecting the chauffeurs, the extra allowances, the servants at home that are required in a hardship posting because no one could be seriously expected to work in one, such is the poor transport to and from home, without one.

Now of course we are a long way from Bangkok and I don't want to sound hyperbolic. But if Lynne and Nathan's meltdowns had continued, such that the rail systems had become unusable, we should expect 2-3 hour commutes each way, and unless the business lobby is prepared to up the wages to compensate, CBD working would become unviable for anyone but those with no other choices.

So it's no wonder the few bill for a metro is seen as small change to some of the business advocates compared with 'do nothing' which is the political system's current default.