It has been suggested by many that the railways compete on speed but this is
a highly fanciful idea worthy of dreaming about but unlikely to occur. In my
opinion, the only route in Australia worth seriously considering for a high
speed rail link would be the direct route between Melbourne and Sydney via
Canberra. It links two of the largest population centres in Australia and
another largish one and if fast enough would encourage enough high
fare-paying business and government people to stand some chance of making a
profit. Any other route simply wouldn't have the demand or the profitable
passengers for the trip or the time efficiency to make it viable.
Therefore how can the railways attract more customers?
I doubt price would do much, there were $49 return fares going in the end
times on AN and nobody particularly commented that traffic picked up because
of it. Nor is this a really sustainable way of increasing traffic either as
the trains cannot compete properly with buses as they cannot run frequently
enough for the traffic offering unlike the smaller buses which have to run
more vehicles for the number of passengers and hence can run them over more
periods of time (ie higher frequency). Plus to make any return, the
conditions would have to be similar to a bus thus removing a lot of the
natural advantage the train has.
Convenience is unlikely as you couldn't run a frequent enough service from
enough places. Buses can run quite easily from any part of the metro area in
either place, meet at a central location and then travel to the other city
with minimal inconvenience to the operator. Trains are more or less stuck to
travelling from Spencer Street to Keswick with an interchange of some sort
at each end. It has been shown people do not like modal transfers unless
they are simple and convenient. Adelaide has an hourly metropolitan train
service on weekends and half hourly off peak during weekdays - hardly
convenient. Melbourne's is slightly better. Bus/tram interchange is unlikely
as the trams/route buses offered are designed for carrying loads of
commuters carrying little more than a bag or briefcase, not people carrying
several suitcases. Taxis are expensive and minimise the cost effect of train
travel pushing people towards flying. Hence convenience is not a factor.
Luxury, as only a few operators seem to have discovered, is one of the few
areas that railways can tackle its competitors head on. When I went on my
trip from Melbourne to Brisbane via Sydney and Gold Coast a few years back,
I went of course by train (the railway employee friend of mine I went with
got train trip for free of course so HE wasn't going to go by any other
mode - it took me a while to convince him I couldn't afford to pay twice the
fare to go first class which he was entitled to so he eventually gracefully
decided that if he wanted company on his trip, he had better slum it in
economy with me...). I was rather glad as it offered me more leg room than a
bus or plane and I could stretch my legs on a long walk every now and then
when the XPT seats became unbearable (usually after an hour or so). It also
enabled me to curl up in the doorway with one of the many books I had
brought when my friend's crapping on became unbearable. Neither of which you
can do on a bus or plane. Plus hot meals were available as well as a highly
priced range of food from the buffet car.
To summarise, let us get off the thread of high speed trains - the closest
you might expect is the Prospector railcars (railmotors? DMUs?) or similar
(eg souped up Sprinters). The best this will cut off may be an hour - which
will get a few bums on seats but hardly a rush of people signing on the
bottom line for rail travel. A better option would be to exploit the natural
space and luxury advantages of a train. Provide a decent food service eg
buffet car or seat service with a good range of items including snacks and
hot food available almost any time. Provide comfortable seating and easy
access to a walk. The Club Car sounds like an excellent idea but allow
anyone to use it, not just first class. Clean and spacious toilets and even
a bathroom with a few showers. Provide a convenient travel time eg day train
that arrives in Adelaide late afternoon (eg leaves 9am, arrives 7pm and/or
night train leaving around 10pm arriving around 8am. Or better as running
times allow) None of these are overly expensive in themselves (except
running the extra train which requires no real capital input but significant
labour and loco hiring costs). These with associated public awareness
marketing may help the Overland to run requiring more than a minimum service
and may help take people off the buses and maybe even a few off the planes.
I have known a number of business people who lament the loss of the night
Syd-Mel trains as these weren't the quickest but they were better than
getting up ridiculously early to catch a plane to be there by 8.30am and/or
saved the cost of a hotel room as well as expensive air tickets. Plus they
were LUXURY compared to the alternatives.
Sorry about the long post, hope you found it interesting enough to get here.