Article: Govt shuts door on rail corridor

[ozbob]

From the Northern Star click here!

Govt shuts door on rail corridor

Govt shuts door on rail corridor

Saffron Howden | 28th April 2009

THE NSW Government has all but dashed local hopes the Casino to Murwillumbah railway will ever operate again ? at least under its watch.

The much-awaited, final report of the Cross Border Transport Taskforce was released with little fanfare yesterday by NSW Transport Minister David Campbell.

Its five pages, which have taken three years to come to light, left little room for doubt.

?Additional work on the question of a commuter rail line is not recommended,? the taskforce concluded.

?Additional studies will not change the need to replace life expired infrastructure, in particular timber bridges and sleepers, or the fact that the population densities are not sufficient to support the patronage required for heavy rail.?

No submission to the task force challenged the ?significant? financial costs associated with trains servicing the region, it said.

It also rejected the idea of a rail link between south-east Queensland and the NSW North Coast.
?It would appear ill-conceived to spend public money on a study on the potential linking of the Queensland railway to a section of line in NSW, the operation of which will not be sustainable at any time in the foreseeable future,? the report reads.

The taskforce said new bus contracts in the region were operating to best suit local needs.
Finally, it recommended an assessment to allow traffic to cross the rail line at a second point in Byron Bay to alleviate congestion in the town.

Mr Campbell said it was now time to move forward.

?Some public submissions advocated the restoration of the Casino to Murwillumbah train service, however, the report found that the greatest need for residents in the area is for intra-regional connectivity and local transport,? he said.

Trains On Our Tracks (TOOT) president Karin Kolbe was not surprised with the findings and vowed to fight on.
?They?ve completely ignored the needs of tourists,? she said.

?They are condemning everyone to use the congested Pacific Highway.?

Ms Kolbe said the taskforce misrepresented projected population growth in the region, had ignored the reality of how residents were dispersed across the area and had neglected to consider climate change.

?The population is dispersed around the railway line because the railway line came before the people did,? she said.

TOOT would now instead seek support and assistance from Federal and local governments.

[WTN]

The article mentions heavy rail.  If it is too much to justify, why isn't light rail being considered?

[ozbob]

From the ABC North Coast News click here!

The Greens say the New South Wales Government's cross-border transport report is a sham and an insult to people on the north coast.

The Greens say the New South Wales Government's cross-border transport report is a sham and an insult to people on the north coast.

The report found that restoring the train service between Casino to Murwillumbah was not viable and that no further work was needed on potential rail links between northern NSW and south-east Queensland.

Greens' MP Lee Rhiannon says to produce a five-page document over three years is a joke.

She says the Commonwealth should step in to provide the infrastructure funding.

"The NSW Government has turned its back on rail in northern NSW and we don't have an election until 2011 and there is a role for the Federal Government here because transport is a key issue at the moment," she said.

"It's a way to actually revive flagging economies during the recession. It's clearly needed to respond to climate change and that's where we should be putting our money and our effort."

Meanwhile, the federal Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, says she is not giving up hope of getting a rail network operating on the north coast.

She says business and community groups must join forces to come up with a comprehensive transport plan for the region.

"Look, nothing is dead and buried because we don't have an integrated transport plan for the Northern Rivers and that's what I'm on about and getting that prepared. We need a proper plan," she said.

[Jon Bryant]

This report like many (if not most) before demonstrates a major flaws in our planning approaches, namely:

1. Public Transport usage has an upper limit or around 12-15% and this we must allow for 80+% or more road/car parking space;
2. That the provision of a fast and efficient rail service would not attract people away from driving.
3. If a person has a car they will always pefer to use it over rail;
4. Public tarnsport systems provide no economic benefit (the main justification for most roads).

These assumption will always makes the study self serving as the answer will always be its not sustainable.

PS. I really want somebody to explain to me how the the provision of a rail service (hat gans some revenue) is somehow less sustainable than a free 4 lane freeway?