Re: Airport rail link

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

Anthony Morton <amorton@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au> wrote in message
8uajbt$ae8$1@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU">news:8uajbt$ae8$1@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU...
> (crossposted to aus.rail from melb.general)
>
> whitehat <whitehat@alphalink.com.au> wrote:
>
> >Both the Kennet and Bracks Governments had plans to do this. The current
> >government's plans are striking two problems:
> >
> >1) They are keen to be seen to consult widely regarding the route, but
> >various protest groups are saying 'not in my back yard'.
> >
> >2) They want the private sector to pay for it but not to own or operate
it.
> >The private sector is having trouble with this concept.
>
> Both problems boil down to the fact that the whole thing's being run as a
> typical DoI bureaucrats' project, where they spend twice as much money as
> they need to and get something half as good.  For a relatively modest sum
> they could extend the existing Broadmeadows line three kilometres right
into
> the basement of the terminal building.  Instead they propose running
special
> high-speed trains along a new dedicated track at enormous expense, and
> terminating the trains on the far side of the car park!

Whereabouts on the Broady line would you build the connection to the
airport? Run north from Broadmeadows station, then pretty much due west
through the reserve/ Broady Valley Park into the terminal?  From memory,
that area across there is pretty rugged, would take a bit to get a train
line across there.  Or more pretty much parallel with Johnstone St, then the
Tulla Fwy to the airport?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but before I left
Melbourne in July, Bracks had just announced some extensions to train
services, such as electrifying out to Crazyburn (oops, sorry, Craigieburn)
and either Sunbury or Melton, I can't remember which.  If extending the line
to the airport, why not do it with those projects?

How about another radical suggestion: Branch off the Broady line at Pascoe
Vale, run along the north east side of Essendon Airport, then parallel with
the Tulla Fwy to the larger airport.  It would complete the loop with the
Albion line, giving direct access to the airport from most of Melbourne
then, if trains run along the Albion-Jacana line (is that electrified? The
only train I remember along there was an XPT one morning as I went over the
Maribyrnong River, looked good as dawn was breaking, no camera though. I'd
always wondered where the SG access to Melbourne was).

One of the biggest problems I had with Melbourne's train network was the
lack of ring lines, ie the fact that everything radiated out of the city.  I
thought when I lived there that a ring line from say
Frankston-Dandenong-Ringwood/Bayswater-Watsonia-Fawkner-Jacana and connect
with the Jacana-Albion line would make sense.  Of course, that was purely
selfish thinking, from having to put my g/f on a train at 6:30 every morning
from Coburg to Boronia (apparently FSS is not pleasant at that hour) while I
headed off to Port Melbourne.  But wouldn't it make sense to plan something
like that now, and possibly build in conjunction with the Eastern Ring Rd?
The 2 could practicaly be side by side, from how I read my Melways..  It's
what they do in Europe....

> The money they save by not building excessive infrastructure could be
spent
> instead on eliminating all the level crossings on the Broadmeadows line,
which
> would go a long way toward placating the local residents.  Vicroads has a
big
> fat budget for road projects, so the level crossings could be removed
without
> having to hold out the begging bowl to the private sector.  If this proves
too
> difficult you could run the trains via Albion instead - but the single
track
> raises problems here.


> I don't believe it's necessary to compensate Transurban if a passenger
service
> to the airport materialises.  Freight service is a different matter.

I don't believe it's necessary to compensate Transurban at all.  I would
have much favoured Citylink if they'd included a couple of toll booths off
to the side at each gantry, rather than having to go out of my way to get a
day pass (and I only worked about 500m from the South Melbourne Citylink
office).  Each time, the saving using Citylink was cancelled by the time it
took to get the pass, especially when compared to using the Western Ring Rd.
Not to mention the prices they were charging, compared to Sydney and the
benefits the tollways there give.  So I hold my head up high and say that I
was happy to use Citylink when it was free, but then used the WRR when it
wasn't.

> (Note: these are my views and my views alone.)
>
> Tony M.
>