Re: Road and Rail Funding

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <3777F471.51FD@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz> David McLoughlin <davemcl@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz> writes:
>Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 10:17:21 +1200
>From: David McLoughlin <davemcl@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz>
>Subject: Re: Road and Rail Funding

>Patrick Dunford wrote:

>> Trains have to go on railway lines. The construction costs of these lines are
>> massive. Therefore I am definitely challenging the implication that it is
>> cheaper to run a train. When was the last time a new railway line was built
>> in NZ? Tranz Rail will not do it unless they can be sure of getting enough
>> traffic. Just being able to compete over a route is not necessarily enough.
>>
>> Most of the network that exists today was built by the State (as public
>> works, etc) and was not compelled to operate profitably. OK so the roads at
>> present are not compelled to operate profitably either but at least it is
>> possible to show that the running costs of a railway are not trivial.

>Ahem I was talking about public transport -- trams and trains -- in
>cities. The cost of building a tram line or an electric train line as
>urban public transport in a city is much less per kilometre than
>building a freeway, but nobody moans about the cost of freeways, all the
>criticism is on the much lower cost of a tram or train line.

>David McLoughlin
>Auckland New Zealand


I cant comment on the New Zealand situation but here in Australia the costs of 
Railway Line construction are far cheaper then road.
For example the Darwin to Alice Springs Rail line is estimated to cost approx 
$1 million per km , which gives 60 kg/M rail on concrete, ie a very high 
quality rail line.
A similar size road project being undertaken at the moment is the 
reconstruction of the Pacific Highway between Maitland & the NSW / Qld border.
This project , which simply involves the upgrading of the existing road to 4 
lane freeway status is costing from $4 Million per km up to $10 Million per km.
A lot of this cost is to support the heavier gross weight of B double trucks.
These figures are available from DOTs Web Site.

The railway if we assume 1800 M crossing loops at 25 km spacings can carry up 
to 40 trains per day of 5000 tonnes gross.
To carry the same tonnage by road requires 6000 semi-trailers per day or one 
every 15 seconds .
Its pretty obvious which solution is the best.

MD