Re: (Vic)Mildura passenger service plan

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

> You are kidding, aren't you? Three trains a day to Mildura? What
drugs are
> you on, I want some!

No I'm not.
The reason the suggestion of a decent train service is met with such
disbelief that its possible is because its something that we in
Australia have never had.

What Victoria needs is trains every hour to everywhere, except for
places like Mildura which are outside the jurisdiction. Swan Hill and
Echuca could probably get by on a two-hourly service.

> Oh dear oh deary me.
> This would be better than what is in NSW, which has the best medium
> distances services (in terms of frequency) in the country. The only
medium
> distance services here that operate at a frequency of two per hour
are the
> Mental Coast - and even then, only Woy Woy, Gosford, Tuggerah and
Wyong get
> them.

And I'd say Ballarat is comparable to the Central Coast. Anyway, since
when is NSW the international benchmark for country train services?

> The Illawarra and the Blue Mountains (both of which are conurbations
with a
> much higher population than that on the Ballarat line) make do (quite
well
> too) with an hourly service.

They deserve better, then.
This is why so many people don't use trains in both Vic and NSW -
because they can't go at a time that is convenient to them. Thats the
key to good service. People don't like having their lives run by
timetables, they want to know that they can leave Ballarat when theyre
ready, and there will be a train within a reasonable time for them.

> Do these centres warrant an hourly service, all day, every day?

It depends how you look at the question. I'd say they do, obviously,
otherwise I wouldn't suggest one :)
Remember, Maryborough and Ararat are in an ultra-marginal Labor seat
unexpectedly taken from the Libs at the election last year. If they
want to hold on to it......

> Why not just have an hourly service to Ballarat, comprised of two
sprinters,
> and then have every second service dividing, with one car to
Maryborough and
> one to Ararat? This would give a service every two hours beyond
Ballarat.

That would be an improvement on what they get now, certainly. Ballarat
already has something resembling an hourly service though they don't
have clock face timetabling. (Its roughly one every 90 minutes, give or
take)

What I outlined above is a vision, and unlikely to be achieved in one
go. Incremental improvement is always welcome.

> I don't mean to be rude here, but have you taken leave of your
senses? :-)
> To even suggest that two or three trains per day is a STARTING point
is
> bordering on the absurd.

Well, maybe just the overnight one to begin with, but we want daylight
trains to Mildura!

> I would - if they do what British Rail do and leave the cars in the
platform
> until a reasonable hour. A nice wake up call at 0700 with a light
breakfast,
> with the train having been stationary since about 0300 would be nice!

If nobody is getting off the train until 7am, then why does it need to
be there at 3am? Might as well slow down, stop at every little town
along the way, and get there at 6am instead.

> Absolutely agree that some services should be restored, but we need
to be
> realistic here.
>
> Who holds the electorate around the Geelong area? Labor, Liberal or
> National? Is it marginal?

Labor.
Its Marginal
Very Marginal.
I think they won it by less than a hundred votes.
There are two other Geelong-based seats that are marginal liberal-held
too.

The four seats along the Ballarat corridor are also very marginal Labor-
held too. It will take something spectacular for them to hold those
seats, especially Gisborne and Ripon.

> Perhaps Labor could fund the Geelong electrification (something which
should
> have happened a long time ago, IMHO).

I'd put that one a way down the list, actually. Geelong doesn't need
electification, it just needs a more frequent service - the same as
other outer metropolitan places. At the minimum, half hourly.
Preferably 20 minutes.

Unless it wants to be a one-term wonder, this government is going to
have to make spectacular rather than tokenistic improvements to public
transport (amongst other things) in country Victoria. Residents of
these areas put public transport in the top three issues, according to
some polling we've seen.

This is one service that can be provided relatively cheaply because
most of the infrastructure to do it already exists.

To start with, lets extend those two Sale trains (that sit at Sale for
a couple of hours) to Bairnsdale.

Vaughan


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