Re: Goodbye Overland

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <01bf67f0$e1e5a9c0$358817d2@rodsmith> "Roderick Smith" <rodsmith@werple.net.au> writes:
>From: "Roderick Smith" <rodsmith@werple.net.au>
>Subject: Re: Goodbye Overland
>Date: 26 Jan 2000 11:37:22 GMT

>The Overland has been killed steadily for 30 years by an unnecessarily-slow
>schedule with unusable arrival times.

>In the notorious 1960s the train was often late despite having a 13 hour
>schedule.  Since the actual running and station stops required only 11
>hours, 2 hours were allowed for crossings.  There were only two overlength
>freights each way on the route.

>In the years since, there has been virtually no schedule improvement until
>the latest, achieved by eliminating most intermediate stops BUT, a 7.50
>arrival in Melbourne is still too late.  I rode the train with a group
>recently (taking the risk); the train arrived 7 min late, missing the last
>connection which would have had me at work on time.


All the above is true , but one must look at the reasons why the schedules are 
so slow , and still are and what can be done about them.
In the case of GSR and to some extent AN , they were / are simply a passenger 
train operator running largely (in the case of GSR) over someone elses tracks 
and are therefore totally dependant on the track owner for schedules / max 
train speeds / pathing , ie just about everything needed to improve the speed 
and running time of this train is totally beyond the control of the train 
operators.


>The sg route took the long way to Ararat - 30 min slower than the direct
>route.

Again this is the right result for the wrong reasons.
The SG route is slower not because it goes via cressy but because of the poor 
track, the speed restrictions ,the absurd safeworking system in Victoria.
If Newport to Ararat were built to 115 km/h standards with CTC as it should 
have been then its faster than via Ballarat but again ,all these factors are 
totally beyond the control of the pass train owners.
 

>Crossing loops were removed and (in SA) intermediate follow-on signals were
>removed, giving longer sections and reducing the opportunity to overtake.

Umm could you clarify the above.
The only loop that was removed was Cookes Plains and my current track and 
signalling diagrams of the Keswick to Wolsely line dont show any removal of 
intermediate autos anywhere else..
Also given the train densities on the SA side of the border (low) and the fact 
that today most freighters run at 115 km/h ,(ie the same speed as the 
Overland) follow on movements are extremely rare.
One question that would be worth asking is why is the maximum speed limit
for pass trains still only 115km/h , the same as it has been for the past 50 
years at least.
Why arent we running loco hauled pass trains at US type speeds , ie 160 km/h.
You could easily do this between Wolseley and Tailem Bend on the existing 
track. 

>Along the way the AN cruise-ship mentality has been taken on by GSR:
>two classes - extortion and squalor.
>I can't afford extortion, and I can't survive squalor and still be fit to
>work.

Fair enough, GSRs fares are high,no doubt about it , but they need to be .
Running trains these days is an expensive business.
In GSRs case ,and indeed in the case of other private operators there are lots 
of expenses which dont exist for rails competitors,like air and bus.
GSR have to pay track access fees, have to pay loco leasing costs, on train 
staffing costs, maintenance costs for their carriages, compliance costs to 
accredidation authorities.
The first two alone ensure that the Overland cant make any money.
In addition there is also the very high proportion of rail travellers who 
travel on some sort of concession fares.
The Air and Bus industries dont have this problem to anywhere the same extent.

>This is exactly what USA managements were accused of doing in the early
>1960s to eliminate passenger trains completely.

I dont beleive for a moment that GSR want to eliminate the Overland.
They certainly would want to eliminate an unprofitable train service.
But they are a private company,not a Govt social service.


MD