Re: Brisbane airtrain

["Kevin Lyons" <klyons@primus.com.au>]

John Coyle <nospam@newsranger.com> wrote in message
news:eXwT6.1508$bA3.74244@www.newsranger.com...
> In article <3b1e0822$0$6127$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au>, James C.
> says...
> >
> >> >Well, there you go, Dean, I should have said IMU's and not SMU's are
> >being orded for Brisbane Airport services! I >hope that you don't lose
any
> >more sleep over such a minor error! QR/Airtrain still should have planned
to
> >operate >modern train sets with suitable luggage space, from "day one",
> >
> >It is not possible to do so, it takes 3 years at least to plan design and
> >build new trains, EDI-rail's  Maryborough plant had pretty full order
book 3
> >years ago. QR also do not have sufficent rolling stocks to do special
> >adjustments for several months just to operate on airport line .
> >
> >Cheers
> >James
> >
> >James, thanks for your helpful information. I was aware that it takes at
least two years, and perhaps up to three years to "start from scratch" and
build a train. However, once the design is available, and the jigs are in
place, I would have felt that it is just a matter or ordering the materials
etc, and building the cars. It would seem to be a 12/18 month job. My point
was, as the airport line itself, was to take some time to build, that
QR/Airtrain would have ordered the cars right away.
>
> On a related issue, I discussed the problem of the high cost of buying new
> passenger cars with John Atkin, who was then, the Traveltrain Manager, at
QR. My
> suggestion was to obtain good quality second hand passenger cars, in
particular,
> diesel rail cars, from Japan, at a much lower cost that buying new
equipment. I
> also felt that QR could explore options such as India or China for the
purchase
> of rolling stock. The reason that I even raised the overseas "option" is
that
> Walkers have offered a "quote" to QR of six million dollars per two car
set, for
> diesel rail cars. That is way too high a price to be viable for QR to
consider!
> Mr Atkin was talking about obtaining rail cars to replace trains such as
the
> "Westlander" and "Inlander".
>
>
So importing clapped out 50 year old Indian rollingstock that even they
don't want to replace Westlander and Inlander stock is your solution. I
thought you were a lobbyist FOR railways. Half a dozen posts ago , you were
complaining about EMU's on the Airport line. But maybe you are right. Lets
give the tourists something to talk about - let them hang off the outside of
an old wooden coach and fill the inside with brochure and luggage racks.

Kev