Re: [Melb] Hillside Trains takeover: farce?

[paul@xenu.ee.mu.oz.au (Paul Dwerryhouse)]

Gareth Lumsden <s9763278@minyos.its.rmit.edu.au> writes:

>Sorry Paul, but that won't happen in Melbourne - not enough population to
>support it.  

That "Melbourne doesn't have the population" is one of the largest myths
perpetuated, when these matters arise. Yes, _Australia_ doesn't have a very
big population, but Melbourne and Sydney do have large populations on a 
world scale (of course, London, Paris, New York are much bigger, but look at
how many other "world-renowned" cities have populations that are far less
than that of Melbourne).

Hamburg and Vienna both have populations of 1.7 - 2 million people [1], yet
their public transport systems (especially Hamburg's) leave Melbourne's for 
dead.

Berlin's population is 3.5 million - not much more than Melbourne (ok, they
have another million in the surrounding region, too). I've already noted how 
much better their PT system is than Melbourne's.

>More and smaller trains is just not feasible either - more
>dollars spent on driver's wages, and more wear-and-tear on trains.

But you've missed the point of what I am saying - spend _more_ on drivers and
trains, and _less_ on refurbishing the railway stations. If we didn't have
to spend so much time waiting at stations, we wouldn't need the facilities.

Besides, tram and bus travellers don't need stations, what makes train
travellers any different? The light rail lines down to St. Kilda and Port
Melbourne highlight this very well...


...Paul


[1]    Times Atlas of the World, 1989



--
Paul Dwerryhouse                                        paul@xenu.ee.mu.oz.au
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