Re: A thumbs up to trains

[Mark & Roz Creely <mcreely@pnc.com.au>]

Maurie,

Didn't you read Als 2nd post which said Dr Karl made a mistake or two.
And I think he's on the money, need more people to think this way and express
their view.

Regards Mark:-)


Maurie Daly wrote:

> On Fri, 6 Apr 2001 15:49:32 +1000, "Al" <alpout@optusnet.com.au>
> wrote:
>
> >Dr Karl Kruszelnicki (thank god for copy and paste) has put an article up on
> >his website (http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/trek/s268283.htm) regarding
> >trains and the benefits of them, particularly compared with trucks for freight
> >transport.  He even concludes with "Many of the countries in Europe, and
> >America, are all expanding their rail networks - but in Australia, we're
> >closing them down. With this kind of "planning", we'll never be The Clever
> >Country. ".  Now, this guy has a lot of clout, does a lot of stuff on the
> >radio, been on Good News Week etc.
> >
> >Also, did anyone watch the doco on the ABC called "The Truckies"?  It aired
> >last night, 5/4.  What got me was how many illegal things were shown or talked
> >about on the show (from the in-cab shots of drivers and passengers without
> >seatbelts), to the appalling hours and distances they cover.  One truckie was
> >given 2 1/2 days to drive Melbourne-Perth by his freight company, and lost 1/4
> >day with reloading since the load was overweight.  This ended up with him
> >having to cover 1400km per day (from Adelaide).  Now, in theory, trucks are
> >limited to 100km/h, and one driver can only do 12 hours a day, so that's a
> >maximum of 1200km/day.  Another driver admitted that he used stimulants, until
> >a crash where he rolled his truck and broke his neck.  What really annoyed me
> >about the program was that it portrayed the drivers as heroes, but in reality
> >they're kamikazes.
> >
> >--
> >Al Pout
> >
> >Men are from Earth.
> >
> >Women are from Earth.
> >
> >Deal with it.
> >
> >
>
> Im somewhat curious to know just what passenger trains running between
> Sydney and Melbourne weight "several thousand tonnes ".
>
> MD