ABC National Radio Background Briefing - Trains do it better

[ozbob]

Trains do it better

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2010/3023627.htm

All political parties agree that trains do it better, but who will make it happen? Meanwhile, thousands of trucks are about to churn up the roads trying to get a huge wheat harvest to city ports, and two million tourists choke Byron Bay with cars. The rest of the world - even France - is joining its regional areas with high speed trains, and it works. Reporter Ian Townsend.

[#Metro]

http://www.toot.org.au/

Interesting. Perhaps a diesel, high speed light rail tram-train service can be implemented?
If the gauge is the same, then it may be possible to connect it into the Gold Coast Light Rail System.
It is possible to get high speed light rail - 100km/hour

http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/karlsruhe/
http://www.bombardier.com/en/transportation/products-services/rail-vehicles/light-rail-vehicles/flexity-light-rail-vehicles/saarbrucken--germany?docID=0901260d8000cc1b#

Karlsruhe tram-train operations have continued to expand such that distant centres such as Heilbronn, Pforzheim and Bad Wildbad have become part of the system, with main line running commonplace. The AVG's longest run is now a 210km (130 mile) S4 service from Öhringen through central Karlsruhe to Achern, south-west of Baden-Baden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail

[BribieG]

A Gold Coast to Byron Bay section of a revived Northern NSW network could just have a third rail added, as with the XPT line to Roma Street and run the current type of Inter Urban sets? Lease the trains to Mexico for the time they are on their system.
However as the lady in the interview said, they are so Sydney-Centric it would probably never happen. Their bad.