>Reprinted from the Age Monday 13/4/98
>Districts appeal for standard rail lines
>
>The national standard gauge, however, does not connect to the Port of Geelong,
>which is serviced by broad gauge. Thus, Geelong is cut off from most of the
>potential markets of southern NSW, which use standard gauge.
>
Yes... I'm sick of hearing the City of Greater Geelong mention the SG
when they speak about the opportunities for industry etc. in the
region. The nearest set of points to Geelong on the SG line is at
Gheringhap Loop, about 10km away!
And then there is the SG platform at North Shore promised in the last
state election -- still no sign of it. To go from Geelong to Adelaide
requires a connecting trip to Melb. first to catch the Overland, after
which you retrace your steps for nearly 70km!
>
>Thus, according to the south-west councils, the Port of Portland is locked out
>of the rich agricultural areas of the north-west from Mildura, Ouyen, Swan
>Hill and the Goulburn Valley, which are all on the broad gauge.
>
>The only connection to the broad-gauge network is via an interchange at
>Dunolly, just north of Maryborough, which requires double handling of freight.
>To transport grain and other bulk produce from the north-west by road to
>Portland is too expensive.
What do readers think about the best way to do a SG conversion in
Victoria? Here are a few thoughts to get the ball rolling (in no
particular order)...
1. Convert all the NE line past Seymour to SG. This would seem to be
relatively easy -- it would only require converting Oaklands to SG as
well. The Goulburn Valley line could stay BG initially.
2. Convert the GV line, Dookie and Cobram to SG, as well as
Toolamba-Echuca. Easy except for the poor condition of the latter
line, but it would give Echuca access to both gauges.
3. Convert Kulwin & Robinvale to Dunolly via Inglewood to SG. These
are mainly grain lines anyway. The short distance from
Bridgewater-Inglewater could be 'mothballed'.
Unfortunately Victoria has never had a history of good track
maintenance, particularly at the moment -- why spend money when a
private operator might do it next year? Thus we see recent loss of
traffic & line closures (Fyansford, Nyora) and the ridiculous scenario
where traffic from Tocumwal to Echuca has to go via Melbourne (and
where passengers on a special train from Toolamba to Echuca had to
disembark and be put in buses while the empty train traversed the
section) because of poor track condition on this line. I'm therefore
not very hopeful that anything will come out of the councils'
efforts...