and if high speed rail is to replace the majority of trucks then there will need to be many freight depots along the line, thus ensuring many stops. Then passengers will want to get off closer to home so we'd end up with a conventional railway and we already have those.

Your guess is wrong, Jayb. I've been on the Ghan from Adelaide to Alice Springs and back (this was before it was extended to Darwin). And in 1999 I travelled around much of Eastern Australia by train (Adelaide–Broken Hill–Sydney–Canberra–Sydney–Murwillumbah–Sydney–Melbourne–Adelaide). But the train companies have responded poorly to the rise of the low cost airlines, so all the interstate journeys I've made since then have been by air.

The very high prices of sleeping compartments on the Ghan is irrelevant to how much a seat on a high speed train would cost. Making rail more competitive with air requires a lot more passengers to bring economies of scale.

Freight is not the only thing that rail is good for in Australia, but improving rail freight services can provide a much quicker economic return than high speed rail.

What was the objective of the Queensland to WA line proposal 50 years ago?

Where is Bromilton?

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rehctub, who said anything about a monopoly?

We can afford to build things, but we choose not to because some politicians have fooled the public into thinking budgetary outcomes are more important than real improvements.

Aiden, what makes you think we can afford to build things when our labour costs are ridiculously high, compared to other countries with HSR.

Besides, we are now paying the price for a government that thought they knew best and threw money willi nilly at projects or brain farts that failed one after the other, mainly due to incompetence in the implementation and management of these projects. And that was at a time when we had money to burn. Those days are history.

So let's say we do build a HST network. We send a fast train to the likes of Bris, Can, Syd or Mel, then we take those passengers and ferry them off on the existing train network that is often running at well above capacity. Either that, or we congest put more hire cars on an already congested road network because to have a high speed rail, means millions more will have to arrive at stations that are arriving now.

Of cause the real problem nobody wants to visit is that of huge competition from the airlines as they won't just accept the fat that a huge share of their business will diminish.

As for a monopoly, I am the one suggesting a monopoly would be produced simply because once you send most of the trucks packing, many being small owners that would loose their houses, those left could pretty much name their price because the freight still has to be taken from the rail depot to its destination.

Im telling you, it's a dream.

Adain: Where is Bromilton?

JB: & Bromilton near Beaudesert in Queensland.

Adain: Your guess is wrong, Jayb.

Then you know that Train Travel is ridiculously expensive compared to Air Travel, especially if you get the bargains & don't take the frills. Let's face it Air Travel is just like a bus ride from the Suburbs into the City. Do you really need a meal?

I really don't know why they are pushing Public Transport unless it's to service the Pensioners & Concession holders. I can't see "Millions" of people using the Service at all.

Fast freight is the only sensible way to go. As for Road Transport, those people will adapt. Adaption happens with any change, usually for the better in the long run. Fears of people losing their houses etc is a furphy. I suppose some will. Those who can't adapt, but that's normal within the shakeout.

It happened in the Sugar Industry when Harvesters took over from Cane Cutters. Kids in Small Towns got Apprenticeships to fix the Harvesters instead of having the hard slog of cutting Cane by hand. Just one example. The itinerant workers settled down in towns instead of raising large families in Caravans & traveling from one end of Australia to the other with different School Systems.

Jayb one kid fixing a harvester that replaces dozens of men is hardly what I would call adapting.

As for losing their house, if an owner operator goes into debt for a truck at say $750K, they usually pledge their house as well and if they lose their contract, which could happen if interstate freight turns to HS rail, they face losing their houses as well, especially if there are no buyers for their truck.

rehcub: Jayb one kid fixing a harvester that replaces dozens of men is hardly what I would call adapting.

Not exactly what happened. the Gang of four, usually, turned into Harvester operator, Haul out Driver, Cleaner upper, Motor Mechanic, Fitter, Turner, Boilermaker, New Business managers, Salesmen & a few other professions on top of that. So the reality is that four itinerants labourers became higher educated & better paid in the long run. Yes there was an interim period of shake out but in the end these people were much better off.