Re: Victoria...it begins!

[James Robinson <NOSPAM@ERIE.NET>]

John Cleverdon wrote:
> 
> Rod wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >     A little bit about our Railway, as described by Marinus:
> > V/Line is a Class 3 Railroad, by US standards, and if anything they consider
> > it over maintained.
> 
> "Over-maintained"? Did they take a look at the Geringhap-Maroona section prior
> to the current work? At least the "Class 3" is understandable, thanks to the
> road-biased governments, its like 1st class roads and 3rd class railways.

The various classes of railways in the US refer to the total annual
revenue that the railway earns.  It does not refer to how the railway is
maintained.  There were some class three railways with very high
standards because they were relatively short, and served as a link
between other, larger, railways for the movement of bulk commodities.
 
> > Our Railway will be maintained to 80 kph, those tracks that have Pass
> > Services will be maintained to 115 kph standards with the help of a 25
> > million assist from the Government.
> 
> Lets see now... Speed limit for the railway = 80 kph. Speed limit for truckies =
> 100 kph (when they bother with legal limits :-).
> So how is rail meant to compete with road if the trucks can go 25% faster?
> When it is seen that road is faster than rail, and the rail company has little
> interest in improving this, guess where all the traffic is going to go? 

The speed will probably not have a very big effect on the movement of
goods traffic.  With the time that it takes to assemble a train, and the
fact that there may be only a few trains a day, trains are nowhere near
as convenient as trucks for distances within Victoria. Even raising the
speed limit to 160 kph will not change this fact.  Truckies can be on
their way to their destination immediately after the load is made ready,
no driving to a rail terminal, no shunting into a train, and no waiting
for a scheduled departure.  Trucks also provide fast door-to-door
service.  Trains can be time competitive for transcontinental distances,
on the other hand. 

Where the train becomes the mode of choice is when the shipping cost is
significantly less than that of the truckies, and the shipping time is
not too much longer.  This is the market that Freight Victoria has to
look toward for their income.  Having the speed at 80 kph will keep the
permway maintenance cost under control, and will not significantly
affect their ability to deliver timely service.  It's in the shunting
yards that most of the time is lost, and where they need to keep things
working well.

As far as passenger service is concerned. 115 kph will not help that
situation.  Since these services tend to be money-losing, it is up to
the state government to determine what they want an pay for it
appropriately.