2011: The year airlines failed us.

Sure, top speed is flashy. But won't there be a large backlash in a few years if actual trip times don't change much? Especially if fare go up to cover the higher cost train sets? Seems like an odd focus.

Speeds of freight trains would be overall speeds, not top speeds. And, in addition, are likely slower than the lighter passenger trains. I don't see how that helps with increasing the top speed of passenger trains, at all. UNLESS what you meant was the freight lines were doing the nitty gritty work of reducing curves, so Albo doesn't get burnt as badly by his misplaced focus. but that's not what it sounds like what you meant.

'scoured' I don't understand what you're trying to say here.

Labor doesn't have a few years, they have until September 2013, when they get replaced by Liberal/National under Tony Abbott who loved roads.

Yes, freight train speeds are point to point however until the formation of ARTC in 1998 there was no body looking strategically ait rail infrastructure. ARTC initially had railways in western NSW, SA and WA but started acquiring long term leases on standard gauge rail in Victoria and NSW and by 2008 had a pretty large network. With a strategic view and a large network they began, within their budget, renovation of the lines to drop transit time of freight trains. For example a mere $121 million spent on the North Coast line gains 3-3.5 hours for freight trains.

As for scoured, standard gauge passenger trains are rare in Australia, Victoria are broad gauge and Queensland and one line in WA are narrow gauge which leave WA, NSW and Great Southern rail's "flagship" trains which are more iconic holidays rather than practical transport. The loading gauge in WA is big so their SG passenger trains are massive and unable to operate east of Parkes and the Great Dividing Range, besides Transwa has 3 trains working 2 routes so has none to spare. The NSW Countrylink fleet consists of 9 XPTs, 23 Xplorer railcars used for longer distance country routes in sets of about 3 cars but can have cars added for peak periods and 28 Endeavour railcars which are used in the outer Sydney area in 2 car sets. That leaves GSR with the Mel-Adelaide 'Overland', Sydney-Perth 'Indian Pacific', Adelaide-Darwin 'Ghan' and the 'cruise' train 'Southern Spirit' which conducts land cruises around the SG network like a ship does pleasure cruises around the south Pacific or whatever. If the 9 XPTs are appropriated by the Federal Government this is the pool of SG trains that replacement services for 3 country NSW routes will have to be found until the 4 new trains are delivered in about 2014-15.
 
Collisions don't come under the heading of 'weather'.

Part of it is going to be cost. You have to find a way to keep costs down. Here in the US (at least on the East corridor between Boston and Washington, DC), travelling by AMTRAK isn't much cheaper than flying.
 
Part of it is going to be cost. You have to find a way to keep costs down. Here in the US (at least on the East corridor between Boston and Washington, DC), travelling by AMTRAK isn't much cheaper than flying.
Only because they're allowed to share airports. I bet if each airline had to maintain its own airports flying would get really expensive really fast.
 
Only because they're allowed to share airports. I bet if each airline had to maintain its own airports flying would get really expensive really fast.

Not to mention airlines only pay for about 70% of the FAA and an even smaller amount of the TSA. Airlines are cunning, ticket prices are taxed for the FAA etc, but airlines have dropped the price of tickets and then smacked everything like baggage as a separate charge outside of the ticket, reducing the amount they have to pay to support the FAA and the like. It's really unfair on AMTRAK, which gets so much hate by people who benefit from vast subsidies on other forms of transport.

Anyway, here is the ARTC network built up between 1997 and 2008, its the only national network we have.

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The new train service were launched on the anniversary of the first ash cloud airport closure, 12 June, to as much hype as the government could muster and on the face of it there was a lot of change. The biggest news was the huge increase in service between Melbourne and Adelaide, going from three return services per week to two services per day, the Melbourne and Sydney route was expanded from two to three services per day and the Sydney Brisbane route remained and two services per day. There was improvement in times but like so many things the devil was in the details.

In order to make the 9 XPT trains available NSW CountryLink was given the use of three locomotive hauled trainsets from Great Southern Rail and despite the spin that CountryLink passengers were enjoying the amenities found only on Australia's iconic rail journeys these trains and an increase in coach services were a poor substitute for the hardworked XPTs. To cut time from the running schedule without any improvement in infrastructure meant reducing stops, going from 20 to 4 between Brisbane and Sydney, 13 to 3 Sydney to Melbourne and 8 to 3 Melbourne to Adelaide. This reduction in service was opposed by various groups, but this political cost was considered worth the gains given that regional conservative voters wouldn't vote Labor anyway and the concession users which constituted much of the affected groups were 'rusted on' Labor.

This was a start but Albo and the PM were planning further announcements in the not too distant future to milk this for all that they could.

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