Re: Implications of high speed trains in Victoria

["laurence.fagan" <laurence.fagan@wanadoo.fr>]

Peter Berrett <pberrett@optushome.com.au> a écrit dans le message :
bU8G5.5542$Xx3.24988@news1.eburwd1.vic.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
>
>
>
>
The town where I live (Saint Etienne) has four TGV services to Paris per
day, the first 60 km being over non - high speed track. Over this section
the TGV is in fact slower than the regional trains (about 50mins express for
the TGV, local trains take the same time including 3 stops), so yes, high
speed trains can run on the normal track at a reduced speed but as they are
built for the high speed track their performance on normal track is not
necessarily fantastic. In reference to the discussion about commuting, Lyon
(where the high speed track begins) has an hourly service to Paris, every 15
mins in peak periods, over a distance of about 450 km. The trip takes 2
hours so is definitely in commuting range. However a return ticket costs
about $160 economy class so it's only a special type of commuter who takes
this train. That said, this service makes money hand over fist for the SNCF.