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Re: Australian Rail Highway



G.Lambert@unsw.edu.au (Geoff Lambert) wrote in aus.rail:

[sd]

>Most of the hundreds of thousands of kilometres of rail tracks remain
>aligned on "steam-age" routes, mapped in the late 1800s.
>The first interstate rail link was made at Albury on  the NSW-Victoria
>border in 1883 (they mean 1873.... and where are those "hundreds of
>thousands of kilometres"?).

No Geoff, I think you'll find (miracle or miracles!!) that the press
got it right for a change. The broad-gauge was built to Wodonga in
1873, but the standard-gauge from Sydney didn't reach Albury until
1881. By the time the Murray was bridged, it wasn't until June 14th
1883 that the first inter-colonial rail connection was opened.

Ref: "Six and a Half Inches from Destiny", Keith Turton, Page 55.

[sd]

>>What on earth is this all about?
>>Whose idea is it?
>>What are the current 22 Australian railway systems?
>>Who would own this new national system?
>>How does this fit with State track Access regimes?
>>How does this sit with the recently announced sale of AN and the proposed
>>sale of V/line.
>>Will this be a rail operator or just a trackage owner?
>>Over what period is the $250mil of Federal money to be spent and on what?
>>How much extra funds will the States chip in?
>>Does this include metropolitan rail systems?
>>What about private mineral lines such as in WA?
>>In what dingy back room of what hotel was this plan hatched?

>To which I might add..... who is going to own and administer it if
>it's a track authority?

All the states party to the agreement are to be shareholders in the
administering authority.

Les Brown.