Again, think future!
Hasbeen,
Yep ! All Australians need to work out now is who's future. At this stage we're not allowed to say but just wait till it's too late !
I think anyone who can think agrees with the Labour costs, they need to be competitive otherwise what's the point ?
High salaries need to come down & blue collar wages frozen & only then will building infrastructure for the future make sense !
We need to plan for the future of Australians first & only then can we afford to think about being a Welfare provider for those with no interest regarding Australians.

Interesting article. The high speed train has always failed on paper
because our "small" cities are so far apart.
The fast enough train project is a good possibility, by straightening
the track which was built using horses and scoops we could have a
200 km/hr service everywhere at fairly low cost.
The track would need to be rebuilt to a higher standard.
Note the difference in the ride on British rail to ours.

The article however does not take into account that in the not too
distant time the oil companies will be exiting the transport oil industry.
Long distance trucks may not electrify economically.
Oil will be too expensive to burn for transport and will be reserved
for other purposes.
That could signal the end of long distance road transport.
The very much lower energy needed for a steel wheel on a steel rail
will signal the change.

I can't believe some of the rationalisations for dud railway shemes.

How many of the apologists for wasteful rail projects would use these facilities, if they had to pay the full costs?

Would Aidan subscribe to a share float to build the $6.3 billion Canberra to Eden railway (he seemingly supports) that has zero chance of ever being commercial and would generate huge losses and minimal patronage? He also thinks that the Alice Springs to Darwin line "has been open for less than twenty years, so to label it an "economic disaster" is rather premature". Nobody in the commercial world believes this, which it why it was sold off for a song, resulting in massive losses for its owners, including the taxpayer!

With airfares between capital cities now so low (often below $200) how would a bullet train ever get enough patronage to justify its $100 billion price tag? It still has its looney supporters though.

I (again say) a pox on all these train fanatics that want us poor taxpayers to fund their fantasies and pet train projects.

Bren,
>Would Aidan subscribe to a share float to build the $6.3 billion Canberra to Eden railway
No, right now I can't afford to buy shares in anything.

> that has zero chance of ever being commercial and would generate huge losses and minimal patronage?
Those conclusions rest on assumptions about the cost of construction, the cost of finance, the cost of operations, the population of Canberra and southeastern NSW, and the capacity and competitiveness of Port Botany (among other things). What makes you think your assumptions will prove correct?

>Nobody in the commercial world believes [it's premature to label the Alice to Darwin
>railway an economic disaster] which it why it was sold off for a song,
What is commercial and what is economic are two different things. The latter depends on the benefits to customers rather than just the owners. Also commerce tends to prefer short term investments over long term ones.

>resulting in massive losses for its owners, including the taxpayer!
It would have been sensible for the government to buy it, but they chose not to.

>With airfares between capital cities now so low (often below $200) how would a
>bullet train ever get enough patronage to justify its $100 billion price tag?
For a start, the cost of airfares varies widely, and most of them are above $200. Expect there to be similar variation in rail fares. Also there would be high speed trains serving intermediate destinations that don't have any flights to capital cities, let alone cheap ones. And trains wouldn't be restricted by airport curfews.

Who needs a Bullet train ?

Bren said;
With airfares between capital cities now so low (often below $200)

How long will that last ?
Remember oil will not run out, it has just become too expensive to
search and develop new oil fields.
As the oil companies withdraw from the transport fuel business fares
will rise as aviation slowly declines. The whole situation will be
complicated by co2 legislation. The greenies may close the airlines
even before the oil industry pulls the bowser hose.
To sum up my guess;
The price of fuel will rise significantly; Governments will tax CO2;
Airlines will effectively be out of the picture;
Interstate travel will be rail or by ships.
What funds that are available will be used to improve conventional
rail systems as they will be the only electrical fueled transport.
Nuclear energy will force itself onto the discussion table.