Re: Gunnedah shire pushes Melbourne-Darwin rail line

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

Dion Williams (onamission@freemail.com.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> David Bromage wrote:

> > > Yes exactly. The only place the idea of 200km/h freight trains running
> > > 3000km through outback Queensland and New South Wales to Darwin could
> > > gain any attention is in the minds of spruiking politicians who know the
> > > power of a promise. After fixing Adelaide-Melbourne, rebuilding the
> > > Sydney-Melbourne and Sydney-Brisbane routes in their worst spots and
> > > after that possibly getting Alice Springs-Darwin up and running, then
> > > other connecting routes could possibly be considered. Even these
> > > relatively small projects are endlessly booted back and forth by
> > > politicians; projects like Melbourne-Darwin are just pie in the sky.
> > 
> > Again, you've missed the point. Melbourne - Darwin is a privately funded
> > project.

> And if they run out of money, which on a project as large as this is a
> high risk, it's going to require government funds to complete it or
> there's going to be a huge amount of infrastructure sitting around doing
> nothing.

Gee, a relatively straight non-electrified line designed for 200m/h
running with gradients no more than 1 in 66 and clearance for double
stacking. If they run out of money, they could sell it or sell operating
rights. If they run out of money at Gunnedah, there's still Melbourne -
Tocumwal - Temora - Dubbo - etc. available for traffic.

Cheers
David