TGV type questions.

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

It seems to me that even with a VFT style rail service between Canberra & 
Sydney there simply wont ever be enough patronage to make the train viable if 
it simply continues to serve the same two end points.
A continuation of a VFT style service to Melb from Sydney would make a bit 
more sense , but would still be marginal if the line is only used for 
passengers.
In the European perspective , are all the TGV lines and the Channel Tunnel 
exclusively passenger only , or is there some sharing with high speed freight.
One of the general arguments against running freight trains on hi speed 
passenger alignments is that the freight trains get in the way of the pass 
trains as they naturally have to run at lower speeds.
If for example , it was viable to run Sydney - Melb freights at even 
relatively slow speeds of 160 km/h all the way ,then rail would easily be able 
to regain a huge share of the road freight on the Hume Highway, a desirable 
outcome.
I cant honestly see that a VFT service between melb & sydney could justify 
running any more that maybe a 1 hour service during the day , with a lot less 
at night and on weekends, which means that there is potential for running fast 
freights overnight without a great deal of interaction with the pass trains.

Of course the whole issue a total lack of any sort of National Rail Policy 
then becomes paramount,as if freight were to be carried on the VFT corridor , 
would it be carried by NRC or by the VFT provider?
The viability of NRC would be threatened if it lost all this freight to 
another operator.

It seems to me that for the total amount of money that is likely to be spent 
initially to simply provide yet another way of transporting people between 
Sydney & Canberra is wasteful at best.

cheers
MD