![\"TGV\"](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/TGV.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNot quite the John Candy\/Steve Martin film, but more a query in regards to transport options. As it appears Australia will have a Federal election sometime this year, the age old question about fast trains (especially in Australia’s eastern states) gets hauled out of the too hard basket and recycled for another look-see. <\/p>\n
To fly between the three main cities, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, on the eastern seaboard, takes an hour to seventy minutes, with the usual conditions about weather applying. In context, the Sydney-Melbourne route is considered to be the world’s fifth busiest air route. To fly from Sydney to Perth or the reverse varies, from four to five hours, however the fast train option doesn’t quite apply here. ![\"Prospector\"](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Prospector.jpg\")
Also, theres plenty of intra-urban trains (some will, in certain areas say, not enough), rural trains such as the Prospector that runs between Perth and Kalgoorlie, the XPT service between Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane (11 to 14 hours) and some other destinations, and the world famous Indian-Pacific…which takes 65 hours to travel Perth to Sydney.<\/p>\n
If one was to drive, non stop, it’s somewhere in the order of ten to eleven hours. from Sydney to either other city. So why don’t we have a fast train option yet? Firstly though, in order to be considered a fast train in this context, the rolling stock must reach 200 kmh. There’s the well known bullet train in Japan, the 320 kmh TGV in Europe and a trial, of sorts, here in Australia, with a\u00a0Tilt train reaching 210 kmh.<\/a><\/p>\n There’s been numerous studies, as it happens, since the early 1980s. In 1979, the “Premiers Meeting” suggested the electrification of the rail network between Sydney and Melbourne. “Oddly enough”, it was rejected\u00a0 on economic grounds, which appears to be the reason why all such subsequent proposals have been shelved. One proposal in the early ’80s, from the CSIRO, was costed at $2.5 billion dollars, with then estimated revenue at $150 million per year whilst operating costs were estimated at around $50 million. However, the construction costs were allegedly found to be $1.5 billion under what the purported true cost would be and the project was binned. In 1986, a VFT (Very Fast Train) project was investigated. The route would have been from Sydney to Melbourne via Canberra, with stops at locations such as Goulburn and Albury-Wodonga. The estimated train speed would have been 350 kmh. Construction costs then were estimated at $6.6 billion but would take just five years to be built, being based on existing trackwork. However, the Australian Democrats and Australian Conservation Foundation raised objections, focusing on the coastal corridor plan that was put forward as part of the route. Again, cost, amongst other reasons was cited.<\/p>\n As journalist Dominic Knight noted recently: “Just try travelling from Sydney to Newcastle, a route that inexplicably begins the trip to Newcastle, which is north-east of Sydney, by travelling due west to Strathfield, and you’ll get a sense of just how absurdly archaic our train network is.” And: “Australia’s the only first world country I’ve ever visited where intercity trains, with their dedicated traffic-free corridors, are reliably slower than driving.”<\/p>\n It’s also why certain road journeys are quicker than taking the train. A driver can comfortably cover the distance from Kalgoorlie to Perth in six hours or so; the Prospector is over eight hours in duration. There’s also the time of travel to the airport, then checking in….and checking out via the baggage pickup at the destination. Assuming the airline got your baggage there…<\/p>\n Driving also needs breaks; for a reast, food, a toilet break. All of these can be done on the train. And it’s clearly not an issue of building a trainline from scratch between the cities.<\/p>\n So when will a government bite the bullet and start now before the real cost becomes so much it’ll be cheaper to build a carbon fibre space elevator? And safer than driving a car long distance? Sadly, don’t hold your breath…![\"bullet](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bullet-train.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"S-M](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/S-M-HST.jpg\")
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