Re: The future of broad gauge was Ouyen - Pinnaroo line

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

Maurie Daly (mdaly@pcug.org.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> There are a few lines which would possobly justify the cost , namely Heywood 
> to Mt G (only if the other side was guage converted ) and possibly Mangalore 
> to Tocumwal (only if Tocumwal to Naranderra was re opened.),and thats about 
> it.

Benalla - Oaklands could also be justified, and there have been murmuers
abourt reopening Springhurst - Wahgunyah.

Seymour - Albury is also a candidate for regauging. This should give
double track, each signalled for bidirectional running. Crossovers on each
side of stations mean you don't need additional passenger facilities - you
can use the existing stations. I'd dual gauge the up platform at Seymour,
and a standard gauge platform may be required at Broadmeadows. The sg
platform at Sunshine would need to be upgraded.

I'd even (eventually) regauge the up line from Somerton to Dysart. The
broad gauge can continue to serve the commuters on a single line with
loops at each station.

Dunolly - Inglewood - Korong Vale - Kulwin/Robinvale would be viable if
more grain went through Portland. This is a bit iffy given the layout of
Ararat.

If Geelong - Ballarat (and eventually to Merbein and Pinaroo) is to go
over, I'd rather see a second track put down (it used to be double track)
than dual gauge. The second track would allow 115km/h running on both
lines. Dual gauge would limit it to 80km/h because of the paranoia about
derailing and would preclude using 60kg rail.

After this, you can also do Ballarat - Ararat for both passenger and
freight. It is essential for Geelong - Ballarat to be parallel tracks
(therefore 115km/h or higher) for a western passenger service to be
viable.

Maryborough - Castlemaine could then be regauged after the Mildura line is
exclusively standard gauge, then regauge the down line from Castlemaine to
Bendigo. The up line can be resignalled for bidirectional running with a
loop somewhere around Ravenswood. Bendigo - Echuca can be dual gauged
(high speed isn't essential), but Swan Hill should probably remain broad
gauge. The grain from Piangil can go to Geelong.

The only "metropolitan" line which has any merit for standard gauge is
Long Island for the steel traffic. Rather than trying to dual gauge all
the way through Frankston, it would be easier and cheaper to dual gauge to
Caulfield (including the new viaduct) and build a third (sg) track to
Dandenong (or Berwick), then south to Westernport.

> Guage conversion of existing lines is only justified if the guage conversion 
> results in a large increase in traffic which would otherwise not exist,and Im 
> not aware of any lines that fall into his category.

It would depends on what ports end up getting standard gauge. Hopefully
the Webb Dock phoenix will be dual gauge as was originally designed.

Melbourne - Geelong - Warrnambool, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and
Traralgon can remain broad gauge.

Cheers
David