Re: [Vic] Fast (160km/h) Train to country Vic.

[Chris Brownbill <cbrnbill@enternet.com.au>]

David Bromage wrote:
> 
> It's well known in railway microeconomics that revenue goes up with speed.
> The cost of operation also go up with speed, but you can make an operating
> profit when you have a frequent service and your speed is a certain margin
> over the speed of your competitor, usually about 40km/h. 

Well actually, cost of operation CAN also go DOWN when you increase speed
because you can operate the same frequency of service with fewer trains and
crews.  Eg if you have a 2 per hour frequency on a route which takes 90 mins to
run and 15min turnaround at each end you would need 7 train sets to operate the
service.  If you up the speed so that the journey is done in 75 mins you can
then operate the same frequency with only 6 train sets and retain the 15min
turnaround at each end.

In the case of
> Victoria, this means you should start winning passengers back to rail when
> your running speed exceeds 140km/h. The XPT has the speed (in NSW) but
> doesn't have the frequency.
> 
> The problem is that the "slow railway" mentality becomes so entrenched
> that the decision makers dismiss the idea of fast trains out of hand.
> 
> Cheers
> David