I think Brian that steam locomotives are out of the question because of
the high maintenance costs.
However there will never be a time when oil is not available and the
cost may be such that it could be used for high worth functions such
as railway locomotives.
I presume there is a formula to calculate what level of traffic will
be best, electrification or diesel, with input of oil price and electricity price and cost of electrification.

Railway administrations probably already have such a calculation.

I agree. But Governments do not. In NSW the XPT is treated like any other train, not an express since it no longer has priority over other rail traffic.

In Qld the tilt trains are great, but the pension booking fee for a free return journey now means it's cheaper for us to drive the car 289km to Brisbane - for one or more people.
Let's face it, trains are old hat. Governments think they are much better off promoting planes so there is very little happening in the train domain at the moment.

New trains (Qld has them) work well with good speeds - even though QLD now had some questionable schedules.

NSW XPT's desperately need some work to bring them up to speed - change out the English diesels for one thing! NSW tilt trains would be good but while the infrastructure is solely used for $15 fares it is hard. But maybe a fare system like the airlines use would work in the off-peak periods. Just maybe they could try to actually sell seats and not just have them available. Overbook - Yes, Overbook to fill the trains. Won't happen while NSW rail workers leave visitors seated while they go home at 16:07 and the tea lady still has a job.

Meanwhile SA, NT and VIC have no Govt. operated interstate trains. VIC has had a go at long distance rail cars, but still doesn’t understand what they are doing - it was a good idea and that's about it.

Rail had to be competitive to win the race.

I have been to Melbourne a few times by rail on the XPT.
They stop and most stations along the way and they we almost fully
booked with people boarding and leaving along the way and most looked
like they would have been full fare paying passengers.

Harvey, whats wrong with the diesel engines ?
I presume you mean the engines in the propulsion cars at each end ?
Actually, I don't think there is anything else other than XPTs on the
line s now.
There could be rail car units out of Newcastle but that is about it.
I have not seen other than XPTs out of Sydney (except electrics of course)
The XPTs must be approaching their use by time as they have been
around for a long time.

Further to what Brian said

""... during his farewell address.... Chapelon was not happy. Everybody knew that his best locomotives had been scrapped.... But why scrap the best machines? Because after the war the French governement wanted to show France as a strong and progressive nation, so a political decision was taken to get rid of steam traction as quickly as possible.

However Chapelon's 242-A-1 had demonstrated such high power outputs that it created political embarrassment, so SNCF demanded that Chapelon build a new machine that excluded his best steam technology. Thus the 241-P series became Chapelon's newest creation, but not his best. Chapelon claimed that new steam technologies could be outperform electric traction until 1980 when he planned that the last steam locomotives should be built and which would remain in operation until 2010. By then the performance of electric traction would be markedly superior to that of steam."
< http://5at.co.uk/index.php/modern-steam-2/andre-chapelon.html >

Even simple steam locomotives are far more efficient than the belching clouds of black smoke monsters that one sees in films; a properly fired and driven steam loco seldom makes black smoke or much of any other colour at all.

Great article Jim. With the Sydney to Melbourne air corridor being the fifth busiest in the world and the regular pushes for a 2nd sydney airport, a high speed, frequent rail service from Sydney to Melbourne seems an obvious choice.

Also, house affordability in Sydney is continually decreasing with first home buyers finding it difficult to break into the market. High speed rail would make surrounding cities and towns such as Newcastle and Wollongong a viable option for those with jobs in the Sydney CBD.

hi.james..[noted you/at the god topic]
and having done long distance/rail..as..well as commuter rail..ihave some opinions..too..

you wrote..<<..The mantra ought to be: fast trains,
*not very fast trains.>>

exactly

i noted..the travel times..to longreach..[on the super fast thing]
was a frustrating thing..because as you poinnt out..the track..is too poor..to/go..at faster speeds

i..noted..the track..condition..sydney/canbera..was in extreme poor state[we were speed restricted often..so yes the tracks need sorting

<<..If improvements in track quality and rail alignment were introduced on a wide scale, we would have the potential to nearly halve the passenger travel time between our capital cities, and just with our existing rolling stock.>>

yes egzactly

also the times..of departure..not linking effectively[efficiently..]..to other/local lines

further..the staff are ignorant..of the little time..savers
eg..i have overnighted three times in..sydney..wasting half a day

[when you can get off earlier stop..and go straight though[if your told]..its..much/the same both ways..

anyhow im.. surprised..you didnt get into light rail
[much like the cane/train..rail/system

[lets face it..their only used..at harvest time..so..must be cheap..to lay..[here we stand..with a dead auto industry
but what if they were engaged..in building LIGHT RAIL*/systems

anyhow for mine..if you/got a traffic flow problem
build light rail..[really more like automatic driving auto;s]
stamped out in....their thousands..sort/of..like..a cross between an auto/train

anyhow..the worlds not perfect
but your on/the right track

dream/big..ie
issue..the light rail bonds
based on/the value..of the right/to cross the....lands
[much like presently councils sell off their sewer system
[but then rent it back]..just to.,.get a few extra bucks..

thought flow lost..

truthfully..my/minds on/the other thread..
i..have a lot of expectation,,for this xmass