Re: Latest news on Speedrail

[neumannc <neumannc@ozemail.com.au>]

William Miller wrote:
> 
> 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
> >
> >
Personally, I would have to agree with William.  My experience with
extensive Sydney - Melbourne travel in Australia is that ther are always
'some' delays, usually a peak hour slippage of 15 mins to half an hour
for Sydney - Melbourne.  My experiences are that TGV services do not
have this problem and indeed RENFRE (Spain) offers fare refunds if its
TGV services are more than 5 minutes late!  I would like to see
Australian airlines offer this there would be heaps of free travel.

Chris