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Is A High Speed Rail Network A Good Idea?

Is high speed rail a good idea for the eastern seaboard?

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 80.0%

  • No

    Votes: 3 20.0%
  • Total voters
    15
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Slipperz

Joined
3 May 2009
Posts
515
Reactions
2
Just read this article and the thought strikes me it probably would be a worthwhile infrastructure project. http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/a-spanish-train-may-have-created-the-perfect-solution-to-long-distan

Sorry sandgropers not thinking WA or NT for obvious reasons but surely Melbourne/ Canberra/ Sydney/Brisbane is worth consideration?

Last time I flew to Melbourne on a Monday morning at about 9.00am ( never again) I sat on the tarmac at Kingsford Smith for about as as long as the actual flight!

I have heard reports soon KS will be at capacity so what do we do? Noone seems to want an airport in their backyard so is high speed rail our best option?
 
Anything to improve the transport for Australians is a good idea. It can take 2 hours just to go from Palm Beach to Central in Peak Hour, nice to know you could be half way to Brissy from Sydney with the high speed trains in that time. Unfortunately it just won't happen with the thoughtless, gutless and self serving politicians we have from all sides though.
 

Actually Bill M I just had a google and it is actually under consideration right now!

http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/aa/releases/2011/February/AA011_2011.htm
 
Melb / Syd High speed rail makes alot of sense and i feel is somewhat inevitable, Syd / Bne is probably only going to happen well after the Melb / Syd link is up and running and seen to be successful and that's maybe 2 or 4 decades from now.

The wiki for the worlds busiest passenger air routes makes interesting reading and rates Melb / Syd as the 3 busiest route in the world and Syd / Bne as the 12th with Mel / Bne 34th

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_busiest_passenger_air_routes

This subject has been discussed here a few times already.

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13438
 
It's surely got to be a better idea than most of the other silly projects that politicians come up with. Regardless of whether or not it would actually be profitable, at least it would do something useful.

My guess is that it will be built, but not until oil price rises have effectively forced it.
 
It has a lot more merit than an N.B.N. and I live in W.A.
I would rather my taxpayer money was spent on providing high speed rail connecting the major cities. Than spending it on high speed internet so kids can sit on their rear ends and game faster or companies can transfer information faster and I pay fot it.
At least a high speed bullet train on the grid will cut down fuel usage by planes and as most people prefer to travel during the day, the power supplied would fit in with renewable energy.
 
Its a great idea. I just don't think there is the demand for it though. How much do people really have to travel between the eastern cities? We are talking enormous distances with low populations. Its really not feasible.

For comparison as to when it is feasible, Japan, which has high-speed rail, has shorter inter-city runs, much higher population, much higher city population density, and much higher GDP. The rail systems are also all owned by private companies (although they weren't always).

Good idea if it can be made for free .
 
Proved time and again to be too expensive. Bob Brown might like the idea, but can you imagine a govt led by him ever delivering it? What would be the current account deficit at the end.

Lots of cows, sheep, and kids throwing stones and placing coins on the rails out there in regional Australia, considering you'd be travelling at 180km/hr.

Traditionally trotted out as a a pre-election gimmick, and will remain the case for a long time.
 
In China the HST are putting pressure on the Airlines as it is cheaper and quicker to get a train , no checking in to and from airports etc. But they cost a motza and we can't afford one so some one will do it to get votes and taxpayers will pay it off and it won't make a profit.
 
Anyone who has been to Japan will be able to attest to the benefits of high speed rail (Europe as well I'm sure although I haven't been)

The first step should be to build Canberra - Sydney, it's only 290km so you could possibly do that trip in around an hour, and a 1 hour Sydney CBD to Canberra train trip would absolutely crush the airlines on that route.

Melbourne - Canberra at 670km is a similar distance as Tokyo - Okayama, which has about even market share between Train and Plane, but the airlines have to lower prices to compete.

Getting up to Brisbane from Sydney is more of a challenge, as there isn't much on the way and it's a long journey. Shortening Sydney commuter trip times from places like Newcastle and the Gong would be a better investment at this stage.
 

Our biggest transport headache is that interstate highways are choked with heavy freight transport. There is no place for freight in a high speed rail system. This poll in the SMH shows how populist the idea is.

Is Australia too big for a high-speed rail network?
Yes
14%
No
86%
Total votes: 6249.
Poll closes in 22 hours.
Click to expand...
 
Before the question can be properly answered, we need to think about what we're trying to achieve.

1. What are we moving (freight? people?) and where are we moving it?

2. How much of this activity is likely in 20 or 50 years time? There's no point building something that's just adequate now if demand is likely to increase.

3. Strategic issues. Is being critically dependent on oil to fuel transport, whilst also being a major importer of that oil, a good idea? Likewise is having major national dependency on individual roads, rail lines or airports a good idea? Are they something we should be addressing from a strategic risk management perspective even if doing so is not financially profitable?

4. Once we've had a proper think about all that, then we'll know whether or not high speed rail fits in.
 
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