Re: Latest news on Speedrail

["William Miller" <backtran@optusnet.com.au>]

OK, so everybody's experience is different. I was expressing a view to get
some balance to the what seems like a continuous flow of negatism about the
thing. The fact that it is a personal view (what other can I have?) is
irrelevant.

My experience of air travel in this country (I fly about twice a month) is
that around 40-50% of flights experience some kind of delay. Of course the
airlines are very good at palming this off (better than rail).It may not be
*your* experience but it is certainly
*mine*.

I am definetly not the *only* one! Of course the gample is,will Australians
take to it like Europeans?



----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Bolton <billboltonREMOVE-TO-EMAIL@computer.org>
Newsgroups: aus.rail
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 7:07 PM
Subject: Re: Latest news on Speedrail


> "William Miller" <backtran@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
> > I take it you are suggesting these times (check in baggage and city tx)
are
> > the same for plane and train. Not true.I do not have to have an office
"on
> > the platform" to make rail a viable alternative, I just need to have it
more
> > accessible and central to where I want to be, and have faster check-in's
> > both done everyday with VFT's.
>
> Good of *you*, but is that really the profile of the tens of thousands
> of passengers who would need to use a VFT to make it viable?  Given
> the spread out nature of Sydney and Melbourne, I would suggest that
> its possibly not.
>
> > I think the point I am trying to make, (however hopelessly) is that
there is
> > less stuffing about and city tx time for business passengers with VFT's
vs
> > air. The same level of check in time is not required on the train
>
> My experience with both VFT and airline travel, is that if you are an
> experienced traveller who understands how the particular "system"
> works and uses it appropriately, the check in time is not
> significantly different for either mode.
>
> > and the train is usually closer to where you want to be.
>
> See above.
>
> > Add to this the productive business time on the train makes it a
> > better way to go.
>
> Only if the "business" involved is in fact something that can be done
> in a public space.
>
> > I have personally experienced both air and VFT over similar distances
and I
> > know what I would prefer from a business point of view.
>
> Long distance business travel is a pain, whatever the method.  I have
> had experience of both methods and can see some advantages for VFT
> over middle distances (~500km) in densely populated countries, but not
> in sparsely populated Australia
>
> > There is simply less hassle and more reliabilty with the train.
>
> Personally, I've never found intercapital city airline travel in
> Australia to be "unreliable" in any significant sense except for
> occasional days of exceptional weather. On the other hand I have
> experienced travel disruption in both Shinkasen and TGV services
> because of track problems on days normal weather.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bill
>
>