Cross River Rail Project

[#Metro]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_McDonald#/media/File:Iglesias_Ronald.jpg

[ozbob]

Instead of fluffing around with video promotions and glossy propaganda booklets the Minister should be starting on construction from the state budget.
A good starting point would be to build the station at the Gabba and offset the construction costs by selling the air rights for the private sector to build over the station footprint.  A building of say 15 to 20 stories with the lower levels being retail then commercial and the upper floors residential, a good money making mix that would be attractive to the private sector to build and the Government gets the station built and is seen by the man in the street to have made a start and actually done something.
As the money becomes available the work could start on the tunnels back towards Dutton Park and the connection to the existing Beenleigh/Gold Coast line.
Doing this would ramp up the pressure on the Commonwealth Government to provide some funds for the project.

This previous post makes one wonder how long the Queensland Government of both persuasions are going to keep procrastinating before someone get going on this project.  All levels of government acknowledge the increasing urgency of this project but they all want someone else to foot the bill, the Queensland government could at the present time force the issue by making an actual commencement of work prior to the Federal election, neither the LNP or Labor could then refuse at least a major contribution that would allow work to progress.
Time Mr Hinchcliff to dust off the plans and get a shovel in the dirt, if you dont the probability is that the next election will see the LNP as our state government as surely as if Mr Turnbull does not make a meaningful contribution to this essential piece of infrastructure he will lose seats in South East Queensland and in all probability, government.

[ozbob]

Here is a job for the Treasurer, Mr Pitt, or his Boy Wonder shadow minister, Mr Emerson, recycled from the shadow transport portfolio.  Not building CRR is going to cost $69 billion.  What would be the cost of the state government borrowing $6-7 billion to build it, even if that cost includes a downgrading of Queensland's credit rating across all its borrowing?  And is that figure less than $69 billion?  If it is, then the project is worth funding totally from borrowings.  (Bear in mind that interest rates are the lowest they have been since Elvis joined the Army.)

It is easy to see why the state government is reluctant to do anything that would make public transport more attractive and cause more people to use trains.  It would bring forward the crisis point of which Mr Hinchliffe speaks.  This is a government running from the success that a more efficient and innovative SEQ public transport network could be. It can't quite bring itself to financing a big SEQ project ahead of the Townsville Stadium, for fear of a political backlash and criticism that it is favouring the South-east over the North.  The North has its own (federally-funded) Northern Australia Development Fund.

Also, this is a government that says its No.1 top priority is jobs for Queenslanders.  Mr Hinchliffe estimates that there will be an extra 450,000 jobs in the region by 2031.  Extra!  Imagine the difficulty those people will have getting to and from work.

We are heading for a congestion and pollution nightmare, with considerable impacts on lifestyle, yet all governments can do is scope the problem, not find a solution.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane Cross River Rail business case will be given to Qld government in June

The 25-chapter business case for south-east Queensland's transformative Cross River Rail project will be finished and given to the Queensland government next month, a senior public servant has confirmed.

That would mean it could be with the national infrastructure prioritisation body, Infrastructure Australia, and then the federal
government before the July 2 federal election date.

Building Queensland chief executive David Quinn - who is in charge of preparing the business case for the third iteration of Brisbane's much-needed underground rail project - said June 2016 was his deadline.

"The commitment is to deliver the business case to government by mid-2016 and on that basis that effectively means June," Mr Quinn said.

"It will be up to the government to consider the next steps from there."

He said considerable information was being used from planning from Cross River Rail Mark 1 and from the LNP's BAT tunnel project.

"It would be very inefficient of us to just park that information and start again from scratch."

Building Queensland is an independent infrastructure planning body put in place by the Palaszczuk government to assess and prioritise large Queensland projects.

Mr Quinn said it was wrong to say Cross River Rail had slipped as a high-priority case for Infrastructure Australia.

"The reality is they just haven't seen the business case yet," he said.

"People should not look at that as a negative, it's just part of the process we go through."

The senior public servant agreed there were considerable costs to Greater Brisbane if the project did not go ahead.

"So if the city is going to continue to grow and develop as forecast, we need to look at another city river crossing," he said.

"And clearly Cross River Rail is it."

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe on Wednesday morning told conference delegates that congestion and lost productivity costs in south-east Queensland would slice $69 billion from Brisbane's economic output by 2031 if Cross River Rail did not go ahead.

Mr Quinn repeated concerns raised by Minister Hinchliffe on Wednesday morning that the city's sole inner-city rail bridge was built in 1978.

"And of course the last significant piece of rail infrastructure rail network was the four-tracking of the inner city rail network in 1996," he said.

"So again there is 20 years. There is a significant period of time - a bit over 20 years now and we need to develop that further."

The 10-kilometre long rail corridor with six kilometres of rail tunnel from Boggo Road near Moorooka to the Exhibition Grounds at Bowen Hills is Queensland's No.1 infrastructure project on all state and federal infrastructure lists.

The route has been shifted back to run under Albert Street to Roma Street, despite Albert Street being flooded in the 1972 and in 2011.

Mr Quinn said planners were able to deal with the rare flood issue and Albert Street was a "better catchment for public transport".

"Albert Street Station is seen as a more central location, it's going to provide a better catchment for people as a public transport
option."

It will provide 24 train services each hour at peak hours, he said, providing more rail services to the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

"Which is key," he said.

^ 1974 was the flood year, not 1972.  I was there.

The Government said on being elected (Feb 2015) that their priority was CRR, it is a measure of the policy paralysis that grips the George Street push that the business case is still not complete, particularly with the wealth of information from previous ' plans ' studies etc.

In short UNACCEPTABLE, absolutely.  I doubt if at this late stage the business case will really have much immediate impact, dial in another 5 years I reckon, that is if the LNP doesn't wrest back control, in which case the business case will be tossed and we might get a combined bus and mono-rail tunnel or something equally perverse.  You are routed Queensland!

Whoa, Queensland, the failed state!

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

12th May 2016

Cross River Rail Business Case still not completed and submitted ...

Good Morning,

So the business case for Cross River Rail still not completed.

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane Cross River Rail business case will be given to Qld government in June

Hardly acceptable is it.

The State Government said on being elected (February 2015) that their priority was CRR, it is a measure of the policy paralysis that grips the George Street push that the business case is still not complete, particularly with the wealth of information from previous ' plans ' studies etc.

The present administration cannot deliver simple things like fare reform or bus network reform. Not much hope for the big things hey?

We doubt if at this late stage the business case will really have much immediate impact in the Federal election context, dial in another 5 years we reckon, that is if the LNP doesn't wrest back control in Queensland, in which case the business case will be tossed and we might get a combined bus and mono-rail tunnel or something equally perverse.

Hopeless really.

Best wishes
Robert

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

Sent to all outlets:

10th May 2016

RAILBoT invites the ABC's Utopia To Come to Queensland

Greetings,

RAIL Back on Track calls on Working Dog Productions to consider coming to Queensland
and doing an episode on Cross River Rail for the acclaimed ABC TV series Utopia.

After seven years, this is what the Queensland Government has come up with. Three video
animations! Not a single piece of track has been laid.

While in Queensland, perhaps they could also look at Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's 'Quack' Metro,
which we have conclusively shown would actually reduce busway capacity! Or bus reform,
which is cost neutral and proven effective overseas, but seems to be about as popular as
chickenpox at both State and Council level. Our busways are full... of half empty buses!

Videos

1.  Cross River Rail 1  >

2.  BaT (Cross River Rail 2 effectively) >

3.  Cross River Rail 3 >

Welcome to Queensland.  The land of plans!!

Best wishes
Robert

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

[Stillwater]

Why does the state government see CRR in a political context?

What was the 'No.1 top priority project' when state Labor was elected fell into the mire of bureaucratic mediocrity, probably because of its likely cost, with the state hoping that the Tooth Fairy would fund it.  That delay, and the delay caused by the LNP government proposing the twin-tunnel BAT that it admits was never going to be built, we now know will cost Queenslanders $69 billion in lost productivity and economic growth.  Sixty-nine billion!

Now bureaucrats are being flogged to meet a June deadline.  Why June?  Because it is before July, and 2 July in particular, the date of the federal election.  Just watch ... Queensland will hand the feds the long-delayed business case for CRR MkIII a week or days before 2 July (all 25 complicated chapters), with Hinchliffe and Trad et al calling on the feds to immediately hand over billions for its construction.  The business case for a project of this size and complexity would take at least six months to assess, and most probably longer.

So the deadline for Queensland to prepare the business case is long passed.

But watch how State Labor will turn this into a political fight ... saying how Malcolm Turnbull is going to cost Queensland $69 billion by delaying an injection of federal cash into CRR.  This will become the key plank of a political stoush over the Seat of Brisbane, which is likely to change hands in the upcoming election (possibly to be won by The Greens).

Shamed by their own inaction on CRR, the state government will run a million miles, saying it is the feds' fault.

As a state, we have to overcome the mindset that sees infrastructure projects as 'gifts' from politicians to voters who vote the 'right way' (ie. for one political party or another).  CRR is required for all Queenslanders, irrespective of how they vote, or where they live.  In their Brisbane vs the rest of Queensland political gamesmanship, are the Katter Party members, who hold the balance of power in the state Parliament, naïve enough to believe somehow that a $69 billion financial impost caused by CRR not being built on time will be felt in SEQ, solely, without consequential impacts on the North and elsewhere?

Just watch the finger-pointing on this one.  Meanwhile, CRR remains unfunded and not built.

[#Metro]

'No.1 top priority project'*

* Number 1 after Townsville Stadium. Numbering may be using strange non-standard number system, such as binary, hexadecimal, Roman, Babylonian or other system where 1 isn't the first number in the number sequence. Political statements may contain forward-looking statements which are neither true nor false but either way cannot be delivered on. Just vote for us. 

[ozbob]

Meanwhile .. elsewhere in Oz ..

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

Twitter

Daniel Andrews ‏@DanielAndrewsMP 4 minutes ago

Here's your exclusive first look at what the Metro Tunnel station at Parkville will look like. #springst

[ozbob]

Your new CRR station  ...

[ozbob]

'No.1 top priority project'*

* Number 1 after Townsville Stadium. Numbering may be using strange non-standard number system, such as binary, hexadecimal, Roman, Babylonian or other system where 1 isn't the first number in the number sequence. Political statements may contain forward-looking statements which are neither true nor false but either way cannot be delivered on. Just vote for us. 

Uh ... oh ...   

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

Twitter

Mark Ludlow ‏@M_Ludlow 5 minutes ago

"The documents Bill Shorten doesn't want you to see" Townsville stadium a dud. #auspol #ausvotes #qldpol

>> http://www.afr.com/news/politics/election-2016--townsville-stadium-doesnt-stack-up-20160511-gosd8y  $

[ozbob]

Excuse me ... 

[#Metro]

Townsville Stadium is rubbish, just as we all suspected. And it has been politicked as well with the timings.

It is incredibly frustrating to have to see this. Just fix things! Do their jobs!


Election 2016 - Townsville stadium doesn't stack up

The new 25,000 seat stadium in Townsville - which would only have an estimated 13 event days a year for home games for the North Queensland Cowboys - received a rating of 0.214 in the Queensland government's business case to Infrastructure Australia, obtained by The Australian Financial Review.

(13 days / 365 days a year) x 100 = 3.5% usage.

The negative BCR would explain why the Palaszczuk Labor government submitted the information on the Townsville stadium to Infrastructure Australia late last year, but did not ask the federal government body for a formal assessment.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/news/politics/election-2016--townsville-stadium-doesnt-stack-up-20160511-gosd8y
Follow us: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook

[Stillwater]

That's Queensland alright ... put all the effort and energy into preparing, ahead of the CRR business case, the business case proposition for a Townsville Stadium project that will deliver 21 cents for every $1 of taxpayer money spent on it.  The CRR figures?  Six billion cost (we won't know until the business case is finished) and $69 billion cost if it is not built or delayed.

Oh, lets go with the negative BCR project.  Only in Queensland.    

Meanwhile, another shovel ready project pulled due to political games, the SCL duplication, is having another business case prepared for it.  That business case won't be ready until June 2017.  When it comes to building major projects, Queensland is having difficulty filling out the withdrawal slip for the Commonwealth Government Bank of Malcolm/Bill.

Fare reform?  Nope, but we have done the homework, just too frightened to make a decision.  Ticketing systems?  Nope.  Just extend the contracts and kick the problem down the road.  Bus network reform?  Hands in ears ... all singing la,la,la.

[verbatim9]

Similar to the Syd underground stations out to Ryde

[ozbob]

That's Queensland alright ... put all the effort and energy into preparing, ahead of the CRR business case, the business case proposition for a Townsville Stadium project that will deliver 21 cents for every $1 of taxpayer money spent on it.  The CRR figures?  Six billion cost (we won't know until the business case is finished) and $69 billion cost if it is not built or delayed.

Oh, lets go with the negative BCR project.  Only in Queensland.    

QLD Government is an utter shambles, LNP is no better, mediocre opposition mediocre Government.  Not much of a future for Queensland is it?

[#Metro]

(insert unpublishable swear words here)

Gaaah!!

It is really diabolical. And what we are asking is not hard - open the back of the bus door. Fix up the existing bus networks. Make sure business cases are prepared with good time etc.



Townsville Stadium  - another script for ABC TV's Utopia drama series.

[Gazza]

How did they come up with $69 billion?
Missed decimal point?

The Qld floods had an economic cost of $30 b http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-18/flood-costs-tipped-to-top-30b/1909700

[SurfRail]

The figure they've picked (which is for the period 2015-2031) sounds to be in the same ballpark as the total interest bill on the state's debt for the same time - slightly greater from memory.

Assuming it is accurate and it would be alleviated even fractionally by the project being delivered, then the marginal cost of extra borrowing is absolutely justified.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 36s

Cross River Rail Business Case still not completed & submitted

> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.msg173884#msg173884 ... #qldpol #ausvotes #auspol

[Stillwater]

The political process is making a farce of the integrity and charter of Infrastructure Australia.  IA is charged with assessing the business case arguments and finances around proposed major new infrastructure projects, and with advising governments of those projects that represent value-for-money; weeding out the duds.  The Townsville Stadium is a dud.  By denying IA the business case for CRR, the Queensland Government is trying to manipulate the process - and it just might succeed.

It has submitted the Townsville Stadium business case to IA in order to satisfy the cross bench, which holds the balance of power in the Queensland Parliament.  State Labor Ministers can stand with hand on hearts and say: "The Townsville Stadium business case has been submitted to Infrastructure Australia."  This is a statement of fact.  The Fin. Review reveals that Queensland has not asked IA to evaluate the business case because, as has been shown, it would return only 21 cents for every $1 the taxpayer (fed or state, it doesn't matter) invests in it.

So, what are we to deduce from this?

Queensland has chosen the political path to get projects over the line -- not good planning and innovative financing.  And it has worked, with Bill Shorten at least.  Federal Labor says it will stump up a matching $100 million for the Townsville Stadium to see it built.  This puts pressure on Malcolm Turnbull to match Labor's promise, and the white elephant stadium gets up that way.  Political promises for the stadium are a slap in the face for IA and make a nonsense of its role and function.  The precedent would be set for the Federal Government to contemplate lame projects with negative BCRs, bypassing the advice from IA.

In effect, Queensland will be killing off IA because it is not prepared to put the dollars and effort into arguing a solid case for infrastructure funding, as other states do.  Queensland sees 20 per cent of any bucket of federal money going (roughly its 'fair share') as its own money, even when that money is held by another level of government (the feds).  Submissions to IA are mere formalities, so the Queensland political thinking goes.  Better to shout SHOW US THE MONEY.  The feds, on the other hand, want to get more bang for their buck.  It is a national government, seeking the best possible national outcomes, with IA's guidance.

What should happen?  If the feds want to fund the Townsville Stadium, the money should come from some other funding bucket than Infrastructure funding.  Perhaps they could deduct a sum of money from the Infrastructure Fund and put that sum into a 'sports development fund'; call it what you like.  That way, the feds preserve the IA process, not corrupt it.  IA gets off the hook and is not compromised.

Perhaps IA should wait until after the federal election (it would be wise to do so, and can't act anyway under caretaker conventions) and do the evaluation on the Townsville Stadium, revealing it as a crock of poo.  That way, the pollies are fully accountable for what they have done.

Clearly, by not asking IA for the Townsville Stadium business case evaluation and yet putting $100m on the table towards its cost, the Queensland Government, in effect, is placing a bet that political expediency will win out in the end.  If you like, the BCR calculation from a Queensland Government perspective is a $100m state outlay for a $100m return by way of federal grant.  That is a good 'political BCR'.  That is the crude political thinking and a tame state public service must facilitate it.

Here is an idea, with prospects of a bigger 'political BCR' return to Queensland for as project that will generate a positive and genuine BCR.  Clearly Queensland has $100m to spare, and to burn (the stadium money).  Should IA reject the Townsville Stadium funding bid and Malcolm Turnbull resist the temptation, State Labor can tell the Katters that they tried their best.

The $100m 'bet' should be switched to a new horse - one of the favourites.  The Sunshine Coast Line.  $100m would pay for three new stations, carparks, road deviations extra bridges and all major relocation of underground services associated with the SCL duplication Beerburrum to Landsborough North.  Roughly, the total project cost is $600m (no business case yet, though).  By paying for all the 'non-rail' components of the SCL duplication, Queensland would be acting in a way consistent with federal policy for investment in rail.  The SCL is on the National Transport Network, which the federal government funds.  The proposition could be put that the feds pay only for the rail duplication to Landsborough North.

Indirectly, that joint state-fed investment in a project with a proven positive BCR (based on past analysis) would benefit freight operations from Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns.  These are all seats the LNP and Labor want to hold onto or win at the 2 July election.

This mirrors the situation where Paul Pisisale, the Ipswich Mayor, is pushing for widening of the Ipswich Motorway outside his city (between Rocklea and Darra), because he knows the investment will improve transport efficiencies between Ipswich and Brisbane, bringing direct economic benefits to Ipswich.

If Malcolm Turnbull wanted to snooker Queensland Labor, he should offer $300m for the SCL duplication as an 'election promise', subject to the business case to be lodged in mid-2017 confirming a positive BCR, AND provided that the state government and the private sector came up with the rest, including $100m from Townsville.  He could play the Queenslanders at their own game.  There is ample evidence to argue the case for positive economic and job spin-off for North Queensland.

The SCL duplication would provide more construction jobs than the Townville Stadium would and it would stave off investment in the Bruce Highway widening, for which the feds are being set up to pay.  A good bit of political jive dancing.

[kram0]

The reality is all these projects need to proceed without delay for various reasons. With this current useless governement, I don't hold much hope.

[ozbob]

FYI esteemed observers ...



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

12th May 2016

Media Release
Minister for Disability Services, Minister for Seniors and Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland
The Honourable Coralee O'Rourke

New Townsville stadium a game changer for North Queensland

Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland Coralee O'Rourke has increased pressure on the Turnbull Government to fund the Townsville stadium, telling State Parliament today the project is vital to kick start growth, opportunities and jobs in the north.

"Like other North Queenslanders, I was absolutely gutted on Budget night to see there was no Federal funding for the Townsville stadium - despite overwhelming community support," Mrs O'Rourke said.

"And in another blow, today's Townsville Bulletin is reporting that our beloved Cowboys may have to pack up and leave if we don't get a new stadium.

"Jonathon Thurston called out the Prime Minister for his inaction on grand final night, and he's done it again in today's local paper.

"There's no more excuses. Townsville needs this stadium because it will do more for our city than holding sporting events.

"Initially, it will create up to 700 jobs during construction. But the real, long term benefits will come after the stadium is built.

"This vital project will completely revitalise Townsville's CBD. It will allow us to host bigger and better events.

"This will attract more visitors to our region, from within Queensland, interstate and overseas, who will stimulate our local economy, staying in our hotels, dining in our restaurants and visiting our local attractions.

"This is more than just a stadium, it is the boost Townsville needs to create growth and opportunities."

Minister O'Rourke said the Palaszczuk Government had presented the stadium business case to the Turnbull Government five months ago. 

"There was plenty of time to ensure funding for this vital project was included in the Federal Budget, but the Federal Member for Herbert has failed the people of Townsville," she said.

"Ewen Jones has refused to fight for our city, he's turned his back on this game changer for Townsville.

"The Federal Budget is more proof the LNP aren't serious about the north, jobs or regional growth.

"It's the same thing we've seen from Queensland's new opposition leader, who issued a press release last weekend outlining Queensland infrastructure projects – but there was no mention of the stadium.

"Despite the lack of support from both State and Federal LNP, the Palaszczuk Government's $100 million commitment towards the stadium remains rock solid and this has been matched by Federal Labor and Bill Shorten.

"We will continue to work closely with Townsville City Council, the NRL and rugby league fraternity, as well as the community to make this project a reality."

[Stillwater]

Predictable.  So, the political imperative is for a particular resident, a Mr J. Thurston, to remain a resident of Townsville?      

Labor not so much concerned about JT, but their own political fortunes.  Townsville Stadium has become a 'political football'.

Malcolm Turnbull's suggested comeback: "May I remind you that construction o a new Townsville Stadium was a promise made by State Labor.  They should get on and build it if that is what they believe should happen.  My government will have its own plan for revitalising the Townsville economy and will be revealing that closer to the election.

"Mr Shorten has fallen for the state Labor trick.  He wants to help out his Labor mates by paying half the cost of a new stadium.  What this episode has shown is how irresponsible Bill Shorten is with your taxpayer dollar.  He wants to put money into a project that will return taxpayers only 21 cents for every $1 invested.  State Labor wants me to emulate his foolishness.  At the end of the day, whatever happens to the Cowboys and the team's relationship with the city boils down to commercial considerations.

"Labor didn't want to put a cent into the Queensland Nickel Refinery, yet it want to subsidise the NRL, which isn't short of a quid, let me tell you.  The NRL can't afford not to have a franchise and presence in North Queensland, believe me.  And it could be that a new team forms in Central Queensland, in the seat of Capricornia.

"What the Coalition is doing is sensible and defensible .... it is investing in the SCL duplication, which will have positive benefits for North Queensland freight and help link this great state.  The SCL duplication offers a positive BCR -- it will make money for taxpayers.  If you like, I am offering JT a career beyond Rugby League.  With his great skill and obvious leadership, he will be an excellent workforce manager and motivator on the construction team building the duplicated track.  More jobs will be created than on the Townsville Stadium, and more benefits will flow for Queenslanders."

[ozbob]

Jobs jobs jobs ... (1958)     Lots of jobs in real infrastructure, not so much in plans hey?   

[Stillwater]

With apologies to the late Sir Winston Churchill: 'Never in the history of bureaucratic endeavour has so few results been achieved by so many.'

[James]

And this is how it ends. Hundreds of millions being p%ssed  away on a stadium with a NEGATIVE NPV and a BCR less than 1, while the SCL languishes. Let's not even start on CRR.

Welcome to Queensland. Queensland is on Palaszczuk time. Please wind your clocks back 1 hour and 20 years. Money can be p%ssed  away using the toilets provided in the airport.


Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

13th May 2016

Re: Cross River Rail Business Case still not completed and submitted ...

Good Morning,

It is a very serious situation when projects with negative BCRs  are pushed by a State Government in political panic, while urgent projects such as Cross River Rail, and the Sunshine Coast Line upgrade languish.

The State Government has submitted the Townsville Stadium business case to IA in order to satisfy the cross bench, which holds the balance of power in the Queensland Parliament.  State Labor Ministers can stand with hand on hearts and say: "The Townsville Stadium business case has been submitted to Infrastructure Australia."  This is a statement of fact.  The Fin. Review reveals that Queensland has not asked IA to evaluate the business case because, as has been shown, it would return only 21 cents for every $1 of the taxpayer. Hypocrisy of the highest.

Not much hope for Queensland.  Transport failure will be the hallmark of this failed State.

The State Government labours with the simple things for example the SEQ fare review, SEQ bus network reform.  Can we expect them to do the real hard yards?  Nope!

It is a fact that most voters actually reside in SEQ.  Continuing neglect of this constituency will result in political annihilation.

Best wishes
Robert

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

[Attached: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.msg173884#msg173884 ]

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 58s

Latest: 'Transport failure will be the hallmark of this failed State'

> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.msg173933#msg173933 ... #qldpol #ausvotes

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Federal Labor hints at Cross River Rail

After a first week of the federal election campaign bereft of major announcements for the battleground state of Queensland, Labor has given the unsurprising hint that Cross River Rail will form part of its platform in the state.

Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh, in Brisbane on Monday to campaign in the marginal Bowman, Blair and Bonner electorates, gave the hint during a sit-down interview with Fairfax Media. ...

That's nice.  I feel warm and fuzzy in my tummy now.  Pity the business case is still on a late mail train .... fukwits!

[kram0]

Typical Labor, spending money on a project when they have not received a business case, and this tosser wants to be Prime Minister? God help our great countries finances if Bill gets in.

[tazzer9]

They may not have received a business case for this version of CCR, but we all know what the general result will be.   CCRv1 and BAT both had very positive investment returns.   May as well throw money at it now.

[petey3801]

Typical Labor, spending money on a project when they have not received a business case, and this tosser wants to be Prime Minister? God help our great countries finances if Bill gets in.

That's a bit of a stretch to call it 'Typical Labor', when Abbott was going to throw multiple billions of $$ at the East-West Link road tunnel in Melbourne without the business case being finalised, and was still happy to do so when said business case came back with an abismal BCR (0.4, or something along those lines by memory?). At least CRR is going to have a positive BCR (going by the other business cases that have been done for it), unless they royally screw it up by having it as, for example, a single, uni-directional track as the whole project or some such rubbish.

[Stillwater]

Other states don't redesign major and complex infrastructure projects three times.  On this one, there is a reasonable chance of a positive BCR, based on CRR MkI.  But what I don't comprehend with this story is whether there is a story at all, in the first place.  An underling to one party has given a 'hint' that something might happen.

It is extremely annoying that pollies want to deal, always, with the unsubstantiated promise -- especially before an election.  After the election they can say "We never promised anything.  We were looking at it, but we await the business case analysis first."  Of course, we would have put them No.1 on the ballot paper in the meantime.  Fooled again!

It will be interesting to see whether federal Labor makes a concrete promise, unless it has been given a heads-up by state Labor about what is contained in the business case, given that it is about a month away from coming off the glossy brochure printing machine.

It is dangerous stuff though.  A nice round figure would be $1 billion. 'Labor pledges $1b for CRR'.  Well that may not be enough to see it built.  So it becomes a promise where the sum on offer is never drawn down.  Offering a 50:50 split is dangerous in the extreme.  It is half of what, and what if the cost estimates blow out?  Best to make a commitment to a figure, say $2 billion, but that might not be sufficient to get the project over the line.  It could signal to the private sector that governments are serious and not just window shopping for infrastructure.  So it could have an effect that way. 

Governments will not want to be too generous with their contributions if the name of the game is to extract the maximum sum from the private sector.  The missing-in-action business case will show what's in and what's out -- shopping centres and high rise above stations, or entertainment complexes above Roma St Station etc. that will mitigate against the costs of what's underground.

[ozbob]

Mumbles and Bumbles will promise anything as the polls tighten and time becomes short.

And Quirky will be competing for funds for the multi-billion $$ metro as well hey?  (Poor chap still doesn't realise the real cost) 

All in all, shaping up as a major cluster-fuk as we used to say in the green machine!

I don't think anything will get built in the end ...

so best to settle back and listen to good songs on youtube ...

[kram0]

As I tax payer I would be happy to goto into extra debt to build CRR1 with NO corners cut. We need to think long term with these projects.

[SurfRail]

Other states don't redesign major and complex infrastructure projects three times.

Oh yes they do!  NSW wasn't always the state getting on with building things.  Remember how around 8 years ago or more we could point down south and say "at least we aren't those guys"?

[tazzer9]

Other states do change things all the time.   Thornlie line only exists because of a major design change after serious infrastructure was built.   sydney metro hasn't even finalised the city and south section yet, and the north west and epping-chatswood had a few changes.  Sydney light rail  has gone through how many versions.   Adelaide is always tossing and turning between full gauge standardisation and full electrification.  NSW has taken how long to start the replacement/extra procurement for the XPT.  Melbournes Regional rail link was shortcutted to bits, and because of it, killed half the regional trains.

The difference is that they do actually build them eventually.   Look at the eastern suburbs line.  Nearly 30 years of construction, and the bondi junction turnback was still bungled up. 

[#Metro]

Oh yes they do!  NSW wasn't always the state getting on with building things.  Remember how around 8 years ago or more we could point down south and say "at least we aren't those guys"?

Yes, it was really really bad. It was like there was a new premier each month.

39 Robert John Carr   ALP 04 Apr 1995 - 03 Aug 2005
40 Morris Iemma         ALP 03 Aug 2005 - 05 Sep 2008
41 Nathan Rees   ALP 05 Sep 2008 04 Dec 2009
42 Kristina Kerscher Keneally   ALP 04 Dec 2009 - 28 Mar 2011
43 Barry Robert O'Farrell   Liberal 28 Mar 2011 - 17 Apr 2014

http://australianpolitics.com/states/nsw/premiers-of-nsw-since-1856

Everything that came after Bob Carr was a mess!
The situation mirrored in Queensland as well with Beattie. Everything that came after him was also a mess!
Same thing at the Federal level. Anything after Howard was a mess!

Is there a pattern here?

What changed? Potential theory is the rise of social media and the spin cycle. Facebook etc did not arrive until around 2007-2008, twitter etc.

[kram0]

Yes there is a pattern. While the Libs are far from perfect, it's generally Labor that Fu&k it up!!

[Gazza]

There is no pattern...Both Coles and Woolworths have had their share of success and failure in public transport.