Re: Article in Australian 18/7

["deano" <dsma@pigpond.com>]

I've heard that it is the third busiest on several occasions recently
however I'd like to know if anyone has some accurate figures. Here are some
that are supposedly accurate.(though I think they are intl sectors only)
Then it's clear that this route is right up there with the best of 'em at
5.1 million bums on seats every year. This fact alone means this is likely
to be a very viable sector. But when you consider the demographics, it takes
on an even brighter light. We are not talking about two cities full of low
income, non travellers. Sydney and Melbourne dwellers are well off by world
standards and can afford to travel.
Hong Kong - Tapai
4,100,000m Passengers Per Year

London - Paris
3,553,000 Passengers Per Year

London - New York
2,633,000 Passengers Per Year

London - Dublin
2,537,000 Passengers Per Year

Kuala Lumpur - Singapore
2,315,000 Passengers Per Year

Konolulu - Tokyo
2,294,000 Passengers Per Year

London - Amsterdam
2,208,000 Passengers Per Year

Seoul - Tokyo
2,170,000 Passengers Per Year

Bangkok - Hong Kong
1,903,000 Passengers Per Year

Kong Kong - Tokyo
1,877,000 Passengers Per Year
"Dave Proctor" <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:wned5.430757$VR.5480137@news5.giganews.com...
> "deano" <dsma@pigpond.com> wrote in message
> news:R4dd5.14752$c5.39292@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
> > The problem for the HS rail link is it will only be built only to
Canberra
> > initially and on that route it has to compete with Ansett/Kendell,
> > Qantas/Eastern, Impulse and Virgin. With this kind of competion it is
> almost
> > certainly not going to
> > take off in a rush and this fact is very likely to knobble the growth of
> the
> > link to Melbourne.
>
> Not really - you are still looking at a journey time of at least two hours
> from the centre of Sydney to the centre of Canberra, mainly due to the
> unreliability of Sydney airport. With a journey time of 90 minutes by
VHST,
> all of which is usable time (as opposed to around 20 minutes of usable
time
> when flying) the VHST will be able to capture a signifigant share of the
> business and government market on the Sydney to Canberra sector (providing
> they know what they are doing with regard to marketing, pricing, etc.)
>
> > The other side of the coin is that Dept of Transport
> > figures show that 5.1 million passengers travelled the Syd-Mel-Syd route
> > last year making it virtually the busiest city pair in the world
>
> 3rd busiest, actually.
>
> > which means if any route can stand some competition this one can.
>
> Which is why the VHST needs to go right through. As for competition,
again,
> looking at total journey times, rail will be about the same as air, when
> looking at city centre to city centre timings. Where rail will have the
> advantage over air is with usable time, i.e. time that business people can
> use to work, prepare for meetings, etc., etc., etc. Also, they will be
able
> to use computers and mobile phones for the entire journey (assuiming the
> phone companies get their act together and make the entire route
> accessible). This is something that is not possible with air travel and
will
> be a huge marketing point for the train.
>
> > In fact with those
> > kind of numbers of passengers (15,000 passengers a day) there must be
some
> > lateral thinkers overseas who must be shaking their heads in amazement
> that
> > such a link was not completed years ago.
>
> <SOAPBOX>
> Based on those figures, and similiar figures for Sydney to Brisbane, you
> could eliminate the need for a second Sydney airport if the line was built
> all the way through. The fact that the government is willing to directly
> fund a second airport (with direct input of taxpayers money) whilst
refusing
> to provide tax concessions (i.e. revenue foregone - no taxpayer outlay)
for
> a high speed line which will remove the need for that airport is nothing
> short of scandalous.
> </SOAPBOX>
>
> Dave
>
>