Re: Cost of Alice Springs to Darwin.

[Krel <krel4203@netconnect.com.au>]

Tom Jones <Tom.Jones@sawasdi.apana.org.au> wrote in article
<004_9709030811@sawasdi.apana.org.au>...
> In a msg of <26 Aug 97>, Maurie Daly wrote to All:
> 
>  MD> As a simple comparison, the total project cost of building the
Tarcoola to
>  MD> Alice Springs Railway in 1980 was only $145 million total.

Although it has a new alignment and concrete sleepers the Tarcoola to Alice
line was built on the cheap. Some sections are still restricted to 80 km/h
due to light rail.

> 
>  MD> Where has this $900 million figure come from?????

Maybe this is the cost of a real World Class Railway.

It seems that most recent rail construction that the federal government
have been involved in has been built on the cheap. The SG from Melbourne to
Adelaide is the most recent example but others include SG Albury to
Melbourne and Kalgoorlie to Perth were, I believe, the WA government paid
extra to get heavier rail than the feds had planned for. It would appear
that as long as the two end points are joined by rails of some sort and the
whole project is built on time and under budget the feds pat themselves on
the back and tell us what a great job they have done. They build great
branch lines.
> 
>

-- 
Cheers Krel

The Law of Inverse Proportions - The chances of the signal clearing 
without having to get out of the cab and go to a lineside phone is inversly
proportional to the amount of rain falling at the time :-)