Article: Trams in rail mix

[ozbob]

From South East Advertiser 27 August 2008 Page: 9

Trams in rail mix

Trams in rail mix

By JULIAN KENNEDY

THE State Government was "very serious" about a subway train station at the Gabba, the train users advocacy group, Rail: Back on Track, says The State Government was investigating the idea, but Rail: Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said it was the only realistic option for the Government.

However Transport Minister John Mickel said he would also consider trams returning to Brisbane's streets if the call was huge enough. Mr Mickel says he is prepared to reintroduce a ram-style light-rail system "if there was a huge call for it". A study into inner-city ail capacity was announced last year after the Government admitted inner-city rail lines would reach capacity by 2016.

The study by consultants Maunsell Parsons Brinkerhoff was due out this year, but Mr Dow's group has already predicted the findings.
Mr Dow said there was not enough room to duplicate the Merivale Bridge line to South Brisbane above ground. Because a tunnel was the only option, it might as well be from the city to Woolloongabba and form a loop system that would benefit outlying areas, he said.

"I think it's a very serious option," Mr Dow said. "The inner-city rail will reach capacity by 2015 or 2016 and they'll probably reach a point where no more trains can run through that inner-city axis."

Although there have been calls to expand rail links to outlying areas first, Mr Dow said the inner-city was an essential precursor to any expansion further out. The Government has allocated $7.5b in the South-East Queensland Infrastructure Plan for inner-city rail over the next 20 years, but Mr Dow predicted the figure would increase to cover the cost of construction.

[stephenk]

I don't think a "loop option" would suit Brisbane. A new cross-city line linking with existing Northern and Southern routes would be the ideal and most effective option.

[ozbob]

I think the line will be from around Park Road, Gabba, Central with branches to north and exhibition if built.

It will in fact be what you suggest Stephen, with a loop capability as well as needed.  Trains could easily run Beenleigh Park Rd, Gabba, Central, Park Road Beenleigh for example as well as providing another north south route.  The Beenleigh Gold Coast line will continue to demand a lot more capacity in time.

Light rail might well be needed as well for surface transport.  In any case there is a need for more inner city heavy rail capacity and I guess the underground line is one way of getting it.

[#Metro]

Bah! We've heard all this before.

FOUR "really serious" light rail projects have been proposed for Brisbane (also include the Greens proposal at the last elections).
Yet there has been no real look into whether or not the old system, still buried beneath Brisbane's major roads, can be re-used to lower construction costs... or perhaps that would "take lanes away from" the inefficient, almighty car. Perhaps it is forgotten that the focus should be on moving PEOPLE not vehicles...

Please define what they mean by "really serious". I don't believe this is a government technical term... The number of never-fulfilled light rail proposals for Brisbane is a real joke, so much so that some academic actually wrote a research paper on it! And if you note carefully, the Brisbane City Council Mass Transit Report basically lifts out some of the report, but does not reference it. Also very interesting is the reference to light rail being similar to light metro... funny that these exact words actually appear on Wikipedia!!!

http://trb.org/publications/circulars/ec058/15_03_Turner.pdf

[ozbob]

The Government has  commissioned a feasibility study looking at the inner city rail capacity and a possible underground extension.  A number of millions of dollars have been put aside for that, clearly they are serious this time.

[stephenk]

The Government has  commissioned a feasibility study looking at the inner city rail capacity and a possible underground extension.  A number of millions of dollars have been put aside for that, clearly they are serious this time.

Not only does money need to be set aside for the underground tunnel, but also on improving infrastructure on the lines that feed it, so that the tunnel can be used to it's full potential.

[mufreight]

The connecting lines have sufficent capacity for the forseable future but the present bottleneck is through the CBD.
The construction of the undergroung link between Dutton Park and the Exhibition loop solves the capacith restraints on the Merivale Street bridge and through the CBD as well as providing a rail link to the Gabba, Gardens Point and Royal Brisbane Hospital,
Because of the position of the existing lines and layout of the city an underground loop is not a practical option compared with the benefits that the proposed connecting underground line would present for the CBD and commuters.

[stephenk]

The connecting lines have sufficent capacity for the forseable future but the present bottleneck is through the CBD.

Whilst the bottleneck is through the CBD, there are many branches which are already running close to maximum capacity. The extra capacity provided by the new tunnel would definitely require infrastructure enhancements around the network.