Re: GSR will extend the Ghan service to Darwin

[pcc@ocean.com.au (Les Brown)]

mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly) wrote in aus.rail:


>One obvious question that no one seems to have asked is exactly what is the 
>passenger rail requirement for trains to Darwin?
>Darwin is a very small city , 1/3 the size of Canberra which only rates 3 
>explorers a day, of 2 - 3 cars each.
>Whilst there is a high demand for passengers to Alice Springs because of the 
>tourism potential , is the same true for Darwin.
>Ive only been to darwin once in my life , and have no wish to ever go back 
>there, simply too hot.
>
However small Darwin is, it is still larger than Alice Springs. 

Although Darwin does not quite have the same tourist potential that
Alice Springs has, IMO, if the train goes there so will the people if
only to see what's at the end of the line and then fly back home to
Sydney or Melbourne. The destination is not the most important factor;
it's the trip which makes it a holiday and speed is not an issue. Sort
of like a cruise ship on rails. If you're really serious about getting
to Darwin, you'll fly.

Speaking of the Ghan, I was down at Spencer St. tonight and I noticed
an Overland carriage (Weroni?) tacked on to the rear of the Ghan. Does
this carriage go through to Alice or is it dropped off at Adelaide?

Les Brown