Re: Murray Bridge to Mt Lofty Regrade

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

>But what would a northern line save in time?

>At present it is 2.5 hours to Murray Bridge.   The new line would be
>about 50 minutes to Two Wells, another 40 or 50 to Cambrai,
>and another 40 to Murray Bridge.

>A realignment of the existing line would save 15 to 20 minutes between
>Balhannah and Monarto South along my suggested alignment plus another
>10 to 15 minutes elsewhere.   This makes Murray Bridge in about 2 hours,
>still slow, but somewhat faster than the the northern line would allow.

>Cheers
>-- 
>Neil Waller     (nwaller@denr.sa.gov.au)
>Department of Environment Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs
>Telephone:      Oz: (08) 8204 9218; International: (618) 8204 9218
>Mail:           GPO Box 1047, ADELAIDE 5001     Australia

>Unless explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed are personal
>and not those of DEHAA or the South Australian Government.

It doesnt save very much in time at all ,in reality it makes the trip longer 
but the real aim isnt to save time , but to greatly increase the loads that 
can be hauled.
We need to start thinking about the main lines as lines between State 
capitals and not just as lines from a Capital to a State border.
If the Adelaide Hills are removed then the single worst grade between Melb 
and Adelaide is the 1:66 climb up the Stawell bank , assuming we lower the 
top of the diapur bank , which was costed at $7 million.
The alternative is too simply close diapur loop altogether and then the 1:50 
diapur bank becomes a simple momentum grade.
Reducing Adelaide to Melb to 1:66 worst case means  very close to a doubling 
of current loads with the same number of locos,(around 2000 tonnes for a 
single NR loco) , which results in much greater profitability for all users 
who run over this line.
Infrastructure improvements , ie removing grades , are one off projects which 
require a one off injection of funds , but the benefits last forever.

cheers
MD