Re: TGV type questions.

[dbromage@omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

Maurie Daly (mauried@commslab.gov.au) wrote:
> 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.

It _might_ be. The short haul flights are not economic, which is why
Qantas and Ansett have given many of the shuttle flights over to Eastern
and Kendell. Qantas and Ansett are partners in the two rival tilt train
proposals, and Virgin is in one of them too.

> 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.

That was always the thinking of Speedrail, supported by the Victorian
government. Also part of Speedrail's plans were the VFT-N to Brisbane
and one from Melbourne to Adelaide. A direct Sydney to Adelaide or
Adelaide to Perth have not een considered.

> 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.

The Channel Tunnel has freight, plus Le Shuttle between Cheriton and
Calais. The only freight on the LGV lines is the TGV La Poste, owned by
the French postal service but operated by SNCF. 

> 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.

Depends what sort of freight you run. The LGV lines rely on the speed of
the trains to climb some 1 in 20 gradients which are mostly run on
momentum.

Certainly you won't see container or steel traffic, but other freight
carried in standard airfreight containers would be viable. This would be
particularly useful between Sydney and Canberra as the small turboprops
don't carry freight.

> 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.

I would have put the frequency at approximately the same as one airline,
so about half the total number of flights per day.

Cheers
David