Re: [WA] Minister denies Govt not committed to high-speed train

["Dave Proctor" <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au>]

"James C." <james_ccj@my-deja.com> wrote in message
8t6fo9$1u4$1@nnrp1.deja.com">news:8t6fo9$1u4$1@nnrp1.deja.com...

> Indian Pacific can run at competitive speed to road coaches. If an EL
> class or AN class haul IP along this stretch, higher speed would be
> possible. If you took both the comfortable GSR coach seats and
> Greyhound's crappy coach before you would be able to make a judgement.
> IP's coach seat is a lot more comfortable then Greyhound. It would be
> even better if GSR can provide some sort of club car for coach
> passengers to stretch leg and run IP more frequently.

First time I have EVER heard Coach Class on the IP described as comfortable.
I had to do it in 12/98, as Holiday Class and First Class were full, and I
was regretting it well before we got to Kalgoorlie (this was eastbound). As
for Greyhound, I have travelled from Darwin to Perth on Greyhound, and it is
not as bad as you paint it to be. remember that coach drivers can only drive
for 5 hours without a break, so they schedule stops around every 3.5 to 4.5
hours. that half hour break, to walk around on solid ground, use non-moving
toilets, etc., can make a huge difference.

Greyhound also has the advantage of offering a daily service. As far as
potential patronage goes, when they took over Pioneer, they were running
(for a time) two services a day across the Nullabor, one leaving each end in
the morning (two days and a night) and one leaving in the evening (two
nights and a day) - the patronage on offer quickly reduced this to one a day
(leaving in the morning, two days and a night, about 10 hours faster than
the IP). If there is only patronage for one coach per day, and two IP's, I
doubt that a fast tilt train would be commercially viable.

Dave