Re: Idea for new rail service
David Bromage (dbromage@metz.une.edu.au)
26 Apr 1998 02:08:19 GMT
peter berrett (pberrett@tbsa.com.au) wrote:
>The coninuing discussion about the Overland service and the alleged
>conspiracy into its demise (ha ha) and a post about Westrail not having
>first class prompted me to recall my trip on the Prospector. It also
>reminded me of a recent artciel I saw whereby Westrail was looking to
>get new rollingstock to replace the Prospector fleet.
>
>Thsi got me thinking - what will become of the existing fleet. I am sure
>that Westrail have kept it reasonably well maintained and it does
>provide a first class service at relatively high speeds by Australian
>standards. Where could these carriages go?
>
>Well, why not run them as a day service Melbourne to Adelaide and vice
>versa? If only as trial? They are standard gauge so they will run on the
>standard gauge line and should be able to tack along at a reasonable
>speed for at least part of the journey.
That's not such a silly idea. The distance is similar, although it would
take longer due to speed restrictions. The Prospector has run with only 1
or 2 cars at times depending on the demand.
>I realise the Victorian end of the line is in deplorable conditions but
>it would be interesting to ponder what timings might be achievable using
>high speed on those parts of the line that will take it.
West of Horsham it would probably be allowed 130km/h.
Cheers
David