Re: Latest from the NSW rumour mill

["Andrew Honan" <ahonan@wr.com.au>]

Maurie Daly <mauried@commslab.gov.au> wrote in message
mauried.243.37698E18@commslab.gov.au">news:mauried.243.37698E18@commslab.gov.au...
> In article <37689417.DA9ABB51@omni.com.au> David Bromage
<dbromage@omni.com.au> writes:
> >Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 17:22:15 +1100
> >From: David Bromage <dbromage@omni.com.au>
> >Subject: Latest from the NSW rumour mill
>
> >Latest rumour: Countrylink is to be privatised after the Olympic.
> >49% of FreightCorp will be sold and listed on the stock exchange.
>
> >I now open the floor to wild and uninformed conjecture and speculation.
>
> >Cheers
> >David
>
> Privatising Freightcorp makes sense, but not 49% of it .
> You would have to sell the lot to get a good price and you would also have
to
> sell or lease the tracks , a la Victoria.
> It needs to be done soon though before the Hunter Valley is opened for
> competition, I beleive this is 2002.
>
> MD
>
Gee I hope it is before 2002!!! Ithought it was going to be October this
year.

I agree with you, that Freight lines should be leased  a la Victoria.

My impression with Countrylink is as it name suggests linking country people
to the city.
Private passenger train operators are offering an adventure experience, not
merely a form of transport. Hasn't Countrylink  an extensive bus service
that feeds its regional centers almost as a Community Service Obligation for
rural NSW?

Maybe Countrylink should re-invent itself and provide 'an experience trip'
to Byron Bay, for example, for particular events. This would need investment
and entrepreneurial spin with  local areas to promote activities and tourism
but it would take Countrylink out of just transporting people.

AH