Article: Commuters set to flex muscles

[Fares_Fair]

Article: Commuters set to flex muscles
Maroochy Journal, p10
Friday February 3, 2012
by Sherine Conyers

[aldonius]

Nice. Now, if only the major papers would pick up on how the NCL affects the entire north coast of Qld, not just the southeast!

[Fares_Fair]

Nice. Now, if only the major papers would pick up on how the NCL affects the entire north coast of Qld, not just the southeast!

Yes indeed, Aldonius,

When the Beerburrum works were opened in April 2009, QR feared that there could be food shortages caused up in North Queensland by the length (4 days) of the commissioning changeover.
It stated that the freight trains supply food chains up north.
A freight window was created to prevent this occurring, and an extra locomotive put on stand by to prevent freight trains stopping and blocking the tracks.

It is in a Ministerial Briefing Note I received under Right to Information (RTI) request.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

3rd February 2012

Commuters set to flex muscles

Greetings,

Background on the Sunshine Coast Line and its neglect

-->  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6647.0

The policy vacuum that is the political process is appalling.  If I was paying for the so called advice and advisors I would want my money back.

Enough of cloistered focus groups.  Get out and address the real needs of the community, the state and the nation for the future.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org


Article: Commuters set to flex muscles
Maroochy Journal, p10
Friday February 3, 2012
by Sherine Conyers

[Fares_Fair]

 

Great story, great summary, well done !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Stillwater]

The woman who switched seats at the last election because she felt she would not win the Glass House Electorate (and she was right) is about to abandon the good ship Bligh.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/moreton/pine-rivers-mp-carolyn-male-quits-politics/comments-fn8m0yu3-1226261779103

While Carolyn Male takes a parliamentary pension, the people of Glass House ponder why the Beerburrum-Landsborough duplication (through the seat of Glass House) was halted suddenly less than a month after the election of a LNP candidate to the Glass House seat in a parliament with Labor having government.

[Stillwater]

Not all that long ago, probably less than a month, the LNP would have reacted to media exposure of the SCL temporary platforms by firing off one of those top of the head media releases along the lines of .....

"The tired 20-year-old Bligh Government has betrayed the people of the Sunshine Coast by reneging on a promise to duplicate the SCL to Landsborough by 2012, and by installing a number of plywood platforms that will involve costly repairs until the line is duplicated to Nambour by 2031."

The media release would ramble on for a few paragraphs and would end with something like this ....

"Only an LNP Government will get the SCL moving again.  An LNP Government will get Queensland back on track with our plan for targeted infrastructure investment."

Only we won't see that media statement.  The LNP has realised that all the opprobrium attached to Labor over a lack of action on the SCL, a good deal of it generated from the LNP itself, will now be directed to a new LNP Government.  What will be their response?

[ozbob]

[achiruel]

 

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

5th February 2012

Congestion looms ... Re: Commuters set to flex muscles

Greetings,

Sound familiar?  Brisbane is a worse position, and a failure to properly utilise the rail network is going exacerbate the looming congestion crisis.

A failure to give buses proper priority on the road network is a curious policy of the BCC don't you think?  Loudly trumpeting their committment to bus transport but failing to give it priority?

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

===============

From the Herald Sun click here!

Brace yourself, highways to hell coming

Brace yourself, highways to hell coming

    by: Alex White
    From: Sunday Herald Sun
    February 05, 2012 12:00AM

MELBOURNE is on the road to a congestion crisis, with an extra 101,500 cars forecast to clog the city's freeways within five years.

VicRoads' official traffic projections, released exclusively to the Sunday Herald Sun, show an enormous influx of cars on five major Melbourne thoroughfares by 2016.

Traffic experts have warned the projections - which do not include trucks or motorbikes - exposed the growing threat of city-wide gridlock.

RACV spokeswoman Thanuja Gunatillake said the State Government had no strategy in place to deal with the growing chaos on Melbourne's freeways and said the future was "dire" for motorists commuting to the city.

The Eastern Freeway, Western Ring Rd, Tullamarine Freeway, the West Gate Bridge and the Monash Freeway all would be flooded with thousands of extra cars every day by 2016, according to the VicRoads figures.

The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal:

THE Monash Freeway between Forster Rd and Huntingdale Rd will be the worst affected with more than 37,000 extra cars per day.

UP to 1610 of the extra vehicles per hour will join the city-bound morning peak hour, causing further delays on the already packed route.

THE West Gate Bridge, one of Melbourne's biggest traffic trouble spots, will be pushed to the limit with 18,469 extra cars crossing daily.

DRIVERS on the Tullamarine Freeway will jockey with 20,831 added cars per day.

MOTORISTS on the already clogged Eastern Freeway between Springvale Rd and Blackburn Rd will battle an extra 500 cars in the morning rush.

THE Western Ring Rd between Princes Freeway West and Boundary Rd will increase by 12 per cent, reaching 134,400 cars per day with 5488 cars flooding the road during morning peak hour.

The data was released by VicRoads under Freedom of Information laws after a four-month campaign by the Sunday Herald Sun. Statistics on trucks were not available for all roads, but the data indicated an extra 1223 trucks would use the West Gate Bridge, taking the daily freight traffic to almost 13,000.

The RACV estimated congestion cost the Victorian economy $3 billion a year and would continue to sky-rocket as roads became more jammed.

"The picture is pretty clear. We cannot waste any more time," Ms Gunatillake said.

"Congestion affects everyone. We tend to think of people in cars, but 85 per cent of the public transport system uses the same network," she said.

"This shows a dire need for investment in transport."

Ms Gunatillake called on the Victorian Government to invest now in key projects including an 18km project that would incorporate a tunnel linking the Eastern Freeway to the Western Ring Rd with connections to the Tullamarine Freeway.

She also called for a better public transport strategy in Melbourne's growth suburbs.

Minister for Roads Terry Mulder said the State Government had applied to Infrastructure Australia for $30 million to build the controversial East-West road link, which will require significant private investment.

"The Coalition Government's new East-West Link is a once-in-a-generation project that will transform the way people move around Melbourne in a way not seen since CityLink and the city rail loop were built," Mr Mulder said.

"The improved East-West Link will provide an alternative to the M1 corridor, remove traffic from Melbourne's inner arterial roads, particularly at Hoddle St where the Eastern Freeway ends abruptly, and link industry in Melbourne's north, east and west." No time line has been given for the project or state funds committed.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen slammed the Government's strategy and said building more roads was not the answer.

"We have seen massive expansion on the freeways in the past decade and we still have chronic congestion," Mr Bowen said.

"The Government is putting some money into the rail system but some suburbs will never have rail and it is inevitable they will drive cars. We need to expand the public transport network."

Drivers were also shocked about the potential delays.

Motorist Judy Guardiani feared longer waits meant more stress for many Melbourne drivers.

"There are too many angry people on the road already, something needs to be done," she said.

VicRoads director of network and asset planning Robert Freemantle denied there would be congestion chaos in the future.

"Melbourne's freeways have been designed to operate efficiently while carrying the bulk of the daily traffic volume and heavy vehicles, and they will continue to do so into the future," he said.

"With increasing traffic volumes due to population growth, VicRoads continues to implement an ongoing program of road improvement projects designed to accommodate this trend."

Sent to all outlets:

3rd February 2012

Commuters set to flex muscles

Greetings,

Background on the Sunshine Coast Line and its neglect

-->  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6647.0

The policy vacuum that is the political process is appalling.  If I was paying for the so called advice and advisors I would want my money back.

Enough of cloistered focus groups.  Get out and address the real needs of the community, the state and the nation for the future.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org


Article: Commuters set to flex muscles
Maroochy Journal, p10
Friday February 3, 2012
by Sherine Conyers

[#Metro]

"The picture is pretty clear. We cannot waste any more time," Ms Gunatillake said.

"Congestion affects everyone. We tend to think of people in cars, but 85 per cent of the public transport system uses the same network," she said.

"This shows a dire need for investment in transport."

This is what I am seeing:

1. The situation seems to be getting worse
2. The PT network is already saturated
3. There really isn't any money and the cost of new infrastructure is astronomical

Solutions

- any new major roads must be tolled
- PT needs to be re-organised for high efficiency
- Melbourne needs to get a subway - either by cutting off a line or two from the existing rail network or building an entirely new system running along major arterials.
- PT must be prioritised on roads

[O_128]

Why is the cost of new infrastructure astronomical? As countless people on here have quoted much cheaper costs in other developed countries. Solution? Import labour and import materials, When it costs 450 million to build 1 km of road you know there is something seriously wrong.

[Mr X]

BUS LANES!!!

cue the whingers...

[Matt]

Why is the cost of new infrastructure astronomical? As countless people on here have quoted much cheaper costs in other developed countries. Solution? Import labour and import materials, When it costs 450 million to build 1 km of road you know there is something seriously wrong.

And to really rub salt into the wound, it's not even good road, falls to bits when it rains