RE: QR going national

["Shane Polle" <shanep@amc.aust.com>]

> "MattyQ" <matticueQ@corplink.com.au> wrote in aus.rail:> > >I can't see what all the hooey is about. After all, the 3' 6" gauge IS the> >most widely used gauge in Australia. Can't be that bad.> >> It's also the most isolated guage in Australia. It just doesn't go> anywhere. There are just too many isolated 3'6" gauge lines around the> country. That situation has over the last 40 years improved by closing> or converting isolated systems to Sg or Bg.

Lets see, if the CAR was built to NG, including the new Alice line, which had to be built anyway and the other lines upgraded to decent NG instead of SG, then all we needed to do was run a third rail from Bribane to SA via Syd, Dubbo and Syd, Mel and few other important lines. Then trains would have been able to travel around the country 40 years ago. The only thing left to do is for NSW and Vic to take the bloody bends out of the intersate lines and while they are at it, put some bloody decent sleepers and rails in.

Saying the NG dosn't go anywhere, the SG does go long distance, but it is from NSW to a few important  points of call. 

NG trains is be nature slower than SG/BG trains, but that is if they are running on equal quality of track.

Does anyone know the average speed for a container train over these lines?
Cairns -> Rock
Rocky -> Bris
Bris -> Syd
Syd -> Mel
Mel -> Adl
Syd -> Adl

Shane