Readiness for the Olympics

["David Bennetts" <davibenn@pcug.org.au>]

Dagz and Dave Malcolm have speculated about where the extra trains will come
from to cater for country visitors to get to the Olympics.  They just won't
be there - it's all very well to offer free tickets from Bathurst, Goulburn
etc on the limited capacity Endeavour services, but if they're full you
won't be able to use your ticket, will you?  I understand that all heritage
trains have been banned over the Olympic period from the Sydney Metro area,
so that's out.  Why on earth didn't State Rail (either in its Countrylink or
Cityrail guises) keep the U-boat cars and de-motor them so they could use
them in loco-hauled trains in country service for such occasions?  It would
have cost them almost nothing to do so.

About the only way to maximise the use of the very limited service of
non-electric trains now operated by City Rail and Country Link would be to
terminate them on the fringes of the electricified areas, ie Broadmeadow,
Lithgow and Campbelltown and force passengers to change at these points to
high capacity inter-urban and suburban electric trains, bringing into effect
a special timetable.



David Bennetts
Canberra