Re: Reopening NSW branch lines

["John Wayman" <trecker@bigpond.com>]

David,

You are talking about the railways competing with the likes of Gray Line and
Australian Pacific.

Such a service seriously dent their tourist operations. Next you will be
advocating a 9.00am Ballarat trip to cater for Sovereign Hill, and a similar
trip to Bendigo!

But will they be able to pick up passengers from hotels like the bus
companies do?

cheers

John Wayman
David Bromage <dbromage@fang.omni.com.au> wrote in message
iSeO2.9$No.341899@news0.optus.net.au">news:iSeO2.9$No.341899@news0.optus.net.au...
> Barry Campbell (barryC@qimr.edu.au) wrote:
> > Albert Alcoceba wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Yes... but back in Comet days, the motor car wasn't as prevalent.
> > >
> > ISTR riding on the Comet at least one day a week in 1979 and AFAIK it
> > didn't stop running until at least well into the 1980s. Has car
> > ownership increased that much since then?
>
> Not really, but the willingness of government to operate passenger trains
> outside big cities has decreased.
>
> There was an editorial in the Age a week or so ago about the unwillingness
> of passenger railways to seek new markets, particularly tourist
> destinations. The example given was V/Line where most of the passenger
> rollingstock sits idle at Spencer Street from 9.00 to 16.00. It was noted
> that airlines would never dream of having multimillion dollar aircraft
> sitting idle in Sydney or Melbourne at those times - that's when they fly
> to Ayers Rock and Hamilton Island.
>
> So, for example, the first Bendigo train after 9.00 (10.10?) should run
> through to Echuca and be marketed to tourists.
>
> Cheers
> David