Re: Airport rail link

["Alex Pout" <alpout@optusnet.com.au>]

Michael <usenet.spam@gunzel.net> wrote in message
8FE6A43AAgunzelT333@139.130.239.94">news:8FE6A43AAgunzelT333@139.130.239.94...
> Alex Pout <alpout@optusnet.com.au> wrote in article
> <3a08e9ae$0$19425$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au>:
>
> >Even when I first arrived in Melbourne, and lived in St Kilda, I hardly
> >ever went into the city (and did use the trains/trams to do so).  Having
> >to go to the city to change did deter me from going on more rides on
> >trains though, say out to Stony Point or Werribee.  Of course, coming
> >from the Cityrail area originally, it also surprised me that there were
> >no trains like V-sets or even Endeavours (ie commuter type trains) to
> >get from Melbourne to Geelong.
>
> Geelong is an interesting point. They do have endeavour type trains now -
> Sprinters. But as far as Geelong corridor patronage goes, Sprinters just
> don't cut the butter.
>
> Geelong needs to be electrified ASAP and integrated into the suburban
> network, even if it's zone 3 past Werribee. For the amount of people who
> use the Geelong to Melbourne corridor each day, be it by train, car, or
> otherwise, the service (or lack thereof) that Geelong recieves is
pathetic.
> Additionally, frequencies are shithouse, and the times that services
finish
> each night are abortional. Weekdays something stupid like 9:30pm and
> weekends something even more stupid like 8:30pm.
>
> For what it's worth, it will bring great growth to Geelong and the
corridor
> from Geelong to Werribee. Geelong is also a similar distance from
Melbourne
> to Frankston. Geelong suburban/local services, similar to Newcastle would
> be of use too.

That was the point, that catching a train from Melbourne to Geelong wasn't
as easy as catching a train from Sydney to Newcastle, or Newcastle up the
Hunter.  I never managed to do it, but did the drive quite a few times.
Wouldn't it have been cheaper and possibly easier to upgrade rail services
rather than upgrade Geelong Rd?  If Sprinters are those one carriage little
diesel cars that seemed to breed around SSS, then I can see how that would
put people off going by train.  Even some of the nearer western suburbs (St
Albans/ Keilor for example) had these, and they were a major growth area,
not exactly endowing confidence in using them.  And from the way I read the
map, the only way that Melbourne is going to expand is outside the arc
sweeping from Greensborough around to Werribee, as the east and south east
are pretty much all full up now (until Waverly Park gets turned into flats
(LOL)).

If the Cityrail sort of distances applied to Melbourne (pay attention
Bracksy, Connex and Bayside), then the Melbourne "suburban" network would
be, from my understanding, roughly from Torquay, to Ballarat, to Bendigo
(think of either the Goulburn or Dungog/Scone lines), Seymour, Healesville,
Warragul and Dromana.  (Give me a day or two, and I'll provide closer
distance/equivalences).

But getting back to the airport link, wouldn't it be similar to the NSR and
the Eastern Distributor opening in Sydney?? It works there, doesn't it?
Maybe that's why the station access fee is so high, so the tollway doesn't
feel put out by the train line.

Al