Re: NSW govt supports Chatswood to Parramatta line

[M.J.Jennings@amtp.cam.ac.uk (Michael Jennings)]

In article <6np2hq$728$1@sunb.ocs.mq.edu.au>,
Brendan Jones <brendan@mpce.mq.edu.au> wrote:
>In article <359F8DB7.5DECBE41@ozemail.com.au> David Johnson (trainman@ozemail.com.au) wrote:
>> Pick the error in the article.  I'll give you a clue:  It is in this paragraph
>> Transport Minister Carl Scully says the $1.4 million rail link will
>>                    be a great boost for the north-western corridor.
>
>Yup, should be $1.4 thousand million (called a billion in the US).  The
>project is going to EIS, so it looks as "real" as it can be at this point
>in time.  Construction to start in late '99, pending a succssful EIS.  IMO
>that start date looks a bit optimistic, but you never know.

	I think work may start then, actually. The reason is that this
is very close to the completion date for the airport rail link. This
provides the opportunity to use the equipment and expertise that have
been developed for the airport line, and to say 'We will spend the same
amount of money on railway building as we did last year' to the
treasury (which is much easier than saying 'We want to spend $200m 
more than last year', which would be the situation after a delay). 
This makes starting late next year both cheaper and politically 
easier than even a year later.

>
>Four months ago I defended Carl Scully from accusations he was wanting
>to "pavement" all of Sydney and was ridiculed.  I said then and say again
>now I believe he is NSW's best transport minister in the past 20 years,
>if not longer.  Looks like I was right.

	Yes, if he gets this line built, he deserves plenty of praise.

	Michael.

-- 
Michael Jennings
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
The University of Cambridge. 		mjj12@damtp.cambridge.ac.uk
--

	"So I committed heresy. I asked Krzysztof to change the ending
to make his intention a little clearer to American audiences. He said
he would consider it. This was Krzysztof Kieslowski, however, and
even I didn't want to press the issue too hard".
			- Harvey Weinstein