Article: Westlander is back on track

[ozbob]

From the Western Star, Roma  22nd February 2013

Westlander is back on track

Westlander is back on track

THE Westlander Rail service reopened last night and services should now be running as normal. The service was due to reopen later but Queensland Rail acting chief executive officer Jim Benstead said a combination of hard work and inventive thinking paved the way for the railway line to reopen.

"The real challenge behind repairing the track on the range was to find a way to do the job as quickly and safely as possible on the range was to find a way to do the job as quickly and safely as possible," Mr Benstead said.

"Engineers said the land slip between Spring Bluff and Ballard was similar in size to damage sustained on the Toowoomba Range during the 2011 floods."

The land slip near Toowoomba washed away about 9000 cubic metres of landfill, the equivalent of about 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

"After conducting thorough assessments of the site at Spring Bluff, Queensland Rail engineers - together with Golders and Thiess - decided it would be faster, safer and more economical to move the train line three metres towards the cliff-side."

Mr Benstead said there was a further 10km of track along the Western Line which was also damaged in the floods, but these affected sites were in isolated locations scattered over hundreds of kilometres.

"We divided our resources between repairing the track around Glenmorgan, Thallon, Goondiwindi, Warwick and Laidley, and tackling the land slip damage at Spring Bluff." he said.

[ozbob]

From the Western Star, Roma 15th February 2013 page 1

Get priorities back on track

Get priorities back on track
Rebecca George

THE state government has just come out and said taxpayers are forking out tens of thousands of dollars for a service no one uses -The Westlander.

I have concerns the next step will be to shut the passenger services altogether, writing it off as a failed enterprise.

On the face of it this seems to make complete sense.

It could even be justified as a pro-active cost cutting measure.

A spokesperson for Scott Emerson, the Minister of Transport and Main Roads, said there has not been a review in almost six years and the way people travel has changed.

True, but a change in transport attitudes is not the real reason for hardly anyone using the Westlander.

The real issue is the trains only run twice a week and take 17 hours to get from Charleville to Brisbane. Who would want to ride on that?

But if the service were to be upgraded, if the tracks were improved and faster trains employed, people then would use it.

If a train ran once a day and could take you from Roma to Brisbane in the same time or less than it takes to drive, I am betting a lot of people would take it.

The state government should not use the rising costs as an excuse to close down passenger train services to the west.

[Old Northern Road]

It would cost billions to upgrade the rail line to make it competitive to driving.

I'm a realist not a gunzel and the reality is that the Westlander service should have been scrapped long ago. No where else on the planet do they run a rail service through such a sparsely populated area. Victoria doesn't even run trains to Mildura anymore and Mildura is a lot closer to Melbourne than Charleville is to Brisbane not to mention Mildura has around 10 times the population.

As usual Queensland is a few decades behind the rest of Australia.

[Gazza]

^No no no, don't say that, it's a train so therefore it automatically has a positive cost benefit ratio and you cant touch it no matter what 

If a train ran once a day and could take you from Roma to Brisbane in the same time or less than it takes to drive, I am betting a lot of people would take it.

Lol nope.
QANTAS CTL>BNE $210 

[ozbob]

I really expected these services, both the Westlander and Inlander to be removed last year.  Rolling stock is now approaching 60 years of age and is rusting.  Not DDA compliant so if you want a final ride, be quick.

For many years, particularly when the freight was attached they were very useful services.  The western line will probably close I guess anyway, west of Roma.  The GNR is heavily used compared to west of Roma.

[minbrisbane]

Me too!  I've still to take to Inlander, but took the Westie last year. (Your posts about it inspired me to do it, or regret it!)

[Gazza]

Realistically, how useful is a train to the middle of nowhere anyway?

Charleville, has what, under 3500 people? How much travel and freight demand does it generate to and from Brisbane?

[ozbob]

Charleville was once a lot more than today.  Interesting to walk around the town as we did last year.  Obviously a lot more activity in past years than today.  When I was in  Charleville I spoke to a number of folks, business people and residents.  They really were upset at the loss of the freight service particularly.  The 5 or so freight wagons on the Westy were well used, and it was regular.  Goods arrived without damage. Since the wagons were removed (post 2011 floods) the goods they need come by road, irregular and often damaged.  There was a lot of local concern with the trucks and road damage as well.

The loss of the Westlander is inevitable, there isn't the population base out there as there once was. It will be missed out west.  More cattle on the roads as well.

The line is in poor condition west of Roma.  Roma to Toowoomba is good, that will probably remain.

[Gazza]

How does the cost of damaged goods compare to the cost of maintaing hundreds of kilometers of perway...versus a bit of extra bubble wrap.

[Stillwater]

When freight was carried on the train, the mechanic at the garage knew, almost to the hour, when the part he needed to repair a vehicle was due into town.  He could reliably tell his customer when the truck would be fixed and ready.  Today, the freight truck comes when it has a full load.  It may not come at all if the road is flooded.  The Retravision man can't promise his client that the fridge they ordered will be in town on a certain date.  The new arrangements have resulted in a poorer service to the town, and extra costs of doing business.  In turn, this affects the local economy.

[SteelPan]

How does the cost of damaged goods compare to the cost of maintaing hundreds of kilometers of perway...versus a bit of extra bubble wrap.

What's the cost to govt - that is the community, of maintaining a host of public services.  From countless kilometers of barely used roads, to schools with at most a handful of students, to hospitals for far-flung communities, to numerous other services.  Rail, being a particularly crucial one.

Australia is a great country, huge in scale and we rejoice in it and the wealth it holds, we have a lifestyle equal to any and far superior to most, but it does come with some real costs and the provision of services to remote, lowly populated areas is one of them.

Australia IS MORE than its increasingly over-populated east cost and the truth is, in the 21stC, we must show that to the world, we must get Australians thinking beyond cost hugging and that's not easy, because we don't do strategic development of our great land well and I do not claim to know all the answers to it, but I do know the removal of major regional rail corridors can never be a smart step forward.

My one suggestion for enhancing QR Traveltrain (or whatever name it now enjoys) is the same one I made some years ago, QR must look to partner with tourist marketing firms and perhaps a private tourist train operator to develop strategic growth plans for all its Traveltrain assets

Think of this, we live in a rapidly aging country, a country with the perfect target market for Traveltrain product - look at the MASSIVE growth in the cruise industry worldwide, including Australia, this is just the type of market Traveltrain also chases - QR must get involved with real experts in targeting this rapidly growing and indeed often well-heeled market sector!

The opportunities are considerable!

For example, my 10yr strategic plan for Traveltrain would be, no train undertakes a corridor transit without obtaining say 75% PLUS passenger usage!

[Gazza]

My thoughts are along those lines.
If you want a train to the middle of nowhere,  why cant it run unsubsidised like the Ghan, Indian Pacific etc.
The government subsidies should go towards the faster passenger coaches.

[Gazza]

When freight was carried on the train, the mechanic at the garage knew, almost to the hour, when the part he needed to repair a vehicle was due into town.  He could reliably tell his customer when the truck would be fixed and ready.  Today, the freight truck comes when it has a full load.  It may not come at all if the road is flooded.  The Retravision man can't promise his client that the fridge they ordered will be in town on a certain date.  The new arrangements have resulted in a poorer service to the town, and extra costs of doing business.  In turn, this affects the local economy.

What a sob story!

Yes, I get that trains are better than trucks....Everyone knows that.

Just the same as train along the Centenary Highway from Mt Ommaney to the CBD would sure beat the buses, and a subway to UQ direct from my suburb would sure beat the bus>train>bus arrangement I currently go through. But ir would be over the top, so we have to compromise.

But the point is, is the expense of running the train and maintaining the perway warranted just so Charleville etc get a better standard of freight service than other outback towns would.

I just wish people would get back to first principles as to why you build a railway.
Hint: It's no so you can transport one wagon load a week to a small settlement.

Keeping marginal railways on life support has very few net benefits, but the worst thing is it actuallly takes money away from areas that need it more.

If say the sunshine coast line is short of the funds needed for upgrades that freight is spilling onto the roads, meanwhile the line west of Roma is hardly seeing much use at all, yet keeps getting money, that to me is an unfair misallocation of resources.

Also, train lines flood too, so why is that in your post?  :conf

What's the cost to govt - that is the community, of maintaining a host of public services.  From countless kilometers of barely used roads, to schools with at most a handful of students, to hospitals for far-flung communities, to numerous other services.  Rail, being a particularly crucial one.

But there's no alternative to providing a school, or a hospital, or a postal service.
In this case, what we are talking is winding up an expensive rail service and having a cheaper coach service instead.

[SurfRail]

I see little reason why the line itself would need to close, particularly if cattle traffic is continuing.  I don't think there is much of a future for the Westlander. 

For crying out loud, I had an entire sleeping carriage to myself...

[Gazza]

^True, but cattle trains would be more of a seasonal thing, and not necessarily at a regular set interval right?

You're not going to attach freight wagons to it, which is what people were lamenting the loss of.

[SteelPan]

But there's no alternative to providing a school, or a hospital, or a postal service.
In this case, what we are talking is winding up an expensive rail service and having a cheaper coach service instead.

Not so, you don't "have" to provide a school in a remote community - kids used "school of the air" for generations and better technology makes the remote sharing of such information increasingly the norm not indeed the exception.

You don't "have" to provide hospitals in regional communities, some have closed, but "mobile" medical services could perform many of the more routine type services with air evacuation available for emergencies.

And the postal service, certainly re the traditional letter, is fast moving toward the history books in any case.  Funny though, the increasing use of the postal system for parcel delivery of web made purchases, provides a positive commercial outlook for freight services, including potential for rail - particularly to remote regions for [non-time-critical] parcels.

Don't even get me started on the cost to all the community of sealed roads in remote regions - but I say it's far enough, as an Australian community we want a certain standard.

But, rail is just an easy target for short-sighted, road centric, double speak pollies - the Western line (and others) should have been and still should be partnered with commercial investors with the goal of developing a revenue focused path forward, not a mere shut-down mentality from bean-counters hidden away in George St!

[Old Northern Road]

Australia IS MORE than its increasingly over-populated east cost and the truth is, in the 21stC, we must show that to the world, we must get Australians thinking beyond cost hugging and that's not easy, because we don't do strategic development of our great land well and I do not claim to know all the answers to it, but I do know the removal of major regional rail corridors can never be a smart step forward.

The reality is that Australia is 80% desert and with global warming things are only going to get worse. These rural towns will continue to decline. It's completely unfair to the people living in the five largest cities that such a huge amount of money is spent on these tiny towns. And Australia's east coast is massively underpopulated.

[ozbob]

When The Westlander train arrives in Charleville, it has to turn around to come back to Brisbane. This is how they do it in 2014.

[Stillwater]

Prediction that Westlander and the Inlander will be gone by the end of the year:

http://www.stjamesrail.org/1405-Queensland%20Brochure.pdf

[Stillwater]

Maybe time for another RailBot excursion out west, maybe not as far as Charleville, but Roma perhaps.  Toowoomba and back via rail would be a possibility also.