The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Eyes wide open: the cost of commuter rail > Comments

Eyes wide open: the cost of commuter rail : Comments

By Ross Elliott, published 17/12/2021

Not only are buses much cheaper as public transport but they also make use of the existing road network, they can be re-routed in response to changing needs.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All
Well said, Ross Elliott. Your researched article is what should have been done- through a cost/benefit analysis by the Queensland State Government; too blinkered by old facts, political pressure and arguments. And, I agree with your centralisation of schools, offices and work offices near/around the railway terminus. It makes common sense to do this. Both for the convenience of the train commuters and the above-mentioned facilities. Congestion can be avoided by scheduling of the arrival and departure of the train commuters to meet their school and work routines. Melbourne has the problem for people in the outer suburbs of no work being available, while there is good transport into the city. This mismatch of transport to the living areas of our cities has been ignored ever since the Whitlam years, when Gough and Tom Uren tried to present answers to the poor planning of our cities.
Posted by Cyclone, Friday, 17 December 2021 1:01:46 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The same sort of criticisms can be made about light rail. While light rail is cheaper than heavy rail, it usually runs at ground level and negatively affects other traffic.

The bottom line is that commuter rail is very expensive and can only be justified when it can attract very high patronage.
Posted by Bren, Friday, 17 December 2021 10:07:52 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Of course bureaucrats think rail is a good idea, most of them work in the CBD, & we subsidise their trip to work.

Forget the school idea. Schools have a small local catchment area. No more than one station either side of a school would service it, so like most rail, would be of use to a very limited number of kids.
Posted by Hasbeen, Friday, 17 December 2021 11:19:10 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Look where the money is: it’s in freight. The war over freight has been lost to the inefficiencies of road transport, and roads are built with taxpayers money.

Loss is where commuter rail is servicing: that war has also been lost to the inefficiencies of road transport.

Seems to me, the logic here is to go back to fight the already lost war.

Schools:
Schools are an anachronistic money waster. The war over school students has been lost to online technology.
We should be winding expenditure down on education, including transporting students unnecessarily to Mausoleums of madness, where now children turn guns on each other in the also lost culture war!

Dan.
Posted by diver dan, Saturday, 18 December 2021 8:44:12 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Rail is a long term investment; typically the numbers of people using it start off low and build up slowly over the decades. There's no reason to expect it won't be the same with this line, despite passenger numbers currently being even lower because of Covid.

______________________________________________________________________________

Diver,
It's not a war; the objective is to provide a service, not destroy the competition!
And have you asked the school students? I was under the impression that having experienced the home based alternative, they were eager to return to the normal school environment.
Posted by Aidan, Saturday, 18 December 2021 9:22:53 AM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Aidan

Views always depend on perspective. In a unit with beautiful water views from the front window, out through the back window is the view of an adjacent brick wall.

Just try.

Dan
Posted by diver dan, Saturday, 18 December 2021 10:30:21 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy