Re: Latest news on Speedrail

[mauried@tpg.com.au (Maurie Daly)]

On Thu, 21 Sep 2000 21:21:38 +1000, "Tezza"
<tezza2000@dingoblue.net.au> wrote:

>
>"David Head" <david@nmit.vic.edu.au> wrote in message
>39C979AF.7C9545E3@nmit.vic.edu.au">news:39C979AF.7C9545E3@nmit.vic.edu.au...
>> David points it out clearly as savinf the roads from further congestion,
>it
>> will assist in the safty (road toll), and will probally affect the trucks
>as
>> parcels and the like will go by train, alot quicker than truck,
>
>Probably not, when it still has to be moved by truck at each end.
>
>
Yes, the double handling costs of having to transship goods from rail
to road at each end in order to deliver to the final customer makes
rail even less attractive than it could be.
Ive often wondered why rail operators dont also own truck fleets so as
to eliminate part of this problem.
It doesnt solve the double handling,but it does solve the hassle of
the customer having to deal with both a trucking company and a rail
company.
Currently , there is very little incentive for anyone to use rail,as
the differantial between road freight rates and rail freight rates are
so low , especially on the eastern coast..
This is due to mainly extreme competition in the trucking industry,and
the fact that trucking doesnt pay its way.
As neither of the major political parties seem in the slightest bit
interested in fixing the 2nd problem,the only fix for rail is for the
track owners to abolish their access fees.
Fat chance of that hapenning either.

MD