Re: Implications of high speed trains in Victoria

["Peter Berrett" <pberrett@optushome.com.au>]

James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
39E85E25.C44BD845@ozemail.com.au">news:39E85E25.C44BD845@ozemail.com.au...
>
> Both of these towns are fairly small and this would not warrant the
> replacement of these lines. The Maldon line is 60lb (D?) rail. The
> Daylesford line has been ripped up from Carlsrhue to Bullarto and the
> section that is left is a mixture raging from 60lb to 75lb of various
> types. There may be a bit of 80lb as well, but I'm not sure. Another
> major problem is that both lines would require 100% sleeper replacement.
> Of course, the biggest obstacle is the alginment of the route. Both were
> designed as branch lines and the curves and gradients reflect this. Both
> lines feature sharp curves and the Maldon line has many 1 in 40 grades
> (not sure about Daylesford). For modern high speed purposes you would
> have to construct a new railway, which is obviously not an option when
> Maldon is only half an hour away from Castlemaine by road and Daylesford
> is only about 40 mins to an hour (depending on traffic) away from
> Woodend by road. The most logical choice in both these cases would be to
> upgrade the existing bus service.
>

Yes the line would need replacing but it need not be high speed. As I have
written elsewhere the high speed trains could travel on slower track but at
a reduced speed. The key point here is that even travelling at a slower pace
Daylesford to Woodend, the overall travelling time to Melbourne would still
be significantly reduced and this might increase demand for the service.
Lines such as Daylesford might become viable.

cheers Peter