Re: Just an idea? Plans for an South-Eastern Suburbs Freight Intermodal Centre.

[pcc@ocean.com.au (Les Brown)]

Craig Haber <albatross@harnessnet.com.au> wrote in aus.rail:

>Les Brown wrote:
>> RAIL ACCESS:
>> Standard Gauge access would be more difficult and more costly.
>
>Given that you're talking about Fastrack, which is basically all
>intrastate traffic, I don't think SG is justified (similarly, as a
>pointed out in another thread I don't think any standardisation in
>Victoria other than the interstate routes is justified) as there is
>relatively little freight to come off the intrastate network which then
>goes onto the interstate.  For the interstate stuff, it can go by road
>to Dynon from the SE suburbs up the SE Arterial, then across Melbourne
>via Citylink.  Not ideal, true - but the difficulties in getting SG to
>the south-east of Melbourne are enormous, as are the costs.

Whilst the shift of Vline palletised freight to road was the impetus
for my proposal, it was not and could never be the sole or even major
reason for the justification of a freight centre. My thought was to
develop a rail intermodal centre that would act as a feeder for rail
freight to all over Australia as well as within the state. The idea
was that rather than competing with roads for freight it could work in
conjunction with road freight as a possible TrailerRail centre.

I mean, if Vline couldn't make a go out of palletised freight, no-one
can......wait a minute......what does SCT do?


If you read The Age today (22/06/98) you would see there was
considerable attention paid to Westernport Bay area as a the fastest
growing industrial area in the state with Dandenong as a town of
growing importance as a result.

And the way Victoria is now, with the rail system a confusion of
gauges which was unimaginable 5 years ago, if the state does not
convert to S.G. rail freight will be restricted to interstate traffic
anyway if it survives at all. You just can't get the volumes of
freight needed to justify expensive rail infrastructure unless you do.
Road will be just so much cheaper. It is a shame now that steel must
be transferred from SG to BG at the NRC BHP transhipment centre. It
just adds so much cost and delay to the whole job. It must be an
expense that NRC would prefer it didn't have. Freight transport is so
incredibly competitive that even a slight reduction in road or rail
costs could mean life or death for rail freight and road operators. In
Europe, rail is losing the battle.
>
>By the way, what is supposed to happen in "3 years" which will allow
>fastrack back onto rail?  

The new owners of a privatised Vline freight will have found a new
freight centre?

Apart from that, 3 years is a Vline metaphor for eternity

Les Brown