Caboolture-Beerburrum duplication - why?

[somebody]

Why did they ever duplicate to Beerburrum only?  There was no operational reason to do so.

When CityRail duplicated the remainder of the Cronulla branch in Sydney, there didn't seem to be much reason to do so either.  However, the timetable implemented within weeks of its commissioning explained all.  They were concerned about removing single seat journeys from people not taking the whole trip.  (Whether or not this is appropriate isn't my point.)  This did not occur in QLD, and it seems that there is no discernible reason for only going as far as Beerburrum.  Extend to Glass House Mountains and an hourly timetable to Landsborough could be constructed, without needing to cross.

It just seems that it never made any sense whatsoever.  Maybe I should move on.

[Golliwog]

I don't know much about the duplication but did Cab-Beerburrum straighten out the track at all? I know the next set of duplications has that planned.

Also, it might not have provided a benefit to passenger services, but there are freight trains that use the line and it may allow them to pass easier or something.

[somebody]

I don't know much about the duplication but did Cab-Beerburrum straighten out the track at all? I know the next set of duplications has that planned.

Also, it might not have provided a benefit to passenger services, but there are freight trains that use the line and it may allow them to pass easier or something.

It did straighten the track.

I'd think that the limiting section for freight would be somewhere between Landsborough and Nambour.  But I could be wrong.

[Arnz]

Average speed between Caboolture and Beerburrum on the old alignment was about 90km/h (140km/h stuck with 70km/h curves inbetween).  

The new alignment which got rid of the curves raised the average speed inbetween stations to 140km/h for MUs, 160km/h for Tilts.  So a "few" benefits for passenger services (however the "promised" service improvements were very little to none).

[ozbob]

Caboolture to Beerburrum was the first stage of duplication to Landsborough.  Drought, now flooding rains appear to have stalled it.  The fact that the north coast  line has not been upgraded and duplicated 10 years ago is a testament to the mediocre performance of the Department of Transports over the years, the railways themselves for not being more aggressive and Governments for a complete lack of vision.  The north coast line is a major infrastructure deficit now on any level and needs urgent attention.  Far more pressing than roof insulation that self-immolates or glossy brochures proclaiming high speed services on goat tracks.

The failure to even tinker with the interurban timetables, and the embarrassment of waiting to burn up gained minutes at Elimbah station on many services is absolutely farcical to say the least.

The good thing is that it at least reduces the amount of work needed now to upgrade further north, as at least that section is done, even if 10 years too late.

[somebody]

Caboolture to Beerburrum was the first stage of duplication to Landsborough.  

Sorry, but there is no point at all in duplication stopping at Beerburrum.  The re-alignment had a point.  They would have been better off in re-aligning a longer portion of line and duplicating a meaningful section later on.  Or at least that's my opinion, maybe I am being wise after the fact, but I don't think so.

At least Mitchelton-Keperra had a point in eliminating a precision cross at Keperra (in theory, again they have failed to adjust the timetables).  Cab-Beerb did no such thing.

EDIT: clarity

[ozbob]

You are missing the point, CAB to Beerburrum was only the first stage the works were to continue to Landsborough but got stopped at Beerburrum.  The drought panic was a major factor.  There was no original intent to just do 'Caboolture to Beerburrum, and then  pack up the bongos and go home ..  it just happened with chronic fiscal incompetence of what purports to be government in this fair land ...

"Passengers  Customers we will wait here at Elimbah for a few minutes to get back on timetable, so we don't arrive at Caboolture too early. Sorry no toilets here either or on the train, just keep those legs crossed for a wee bit longer .."  and so another train heads south on the smart state basket case express ...

[somebody]

The whole concept of doing these things in stages doesn't make any sense.

[Fares_Fair]

Caboolture to Beerburrum was the first stage of duplication to Landsborough.  Drought, now flooding rains appear to have stalled it.  The fact that the north coast  line has not been upgraded and duplicated 10 years ago is a testament to the mediocre performance of the Department of Transports over the years, the railways themselves for not being more aggressive and Governments for a complete lack of vision.  The north coast line is a major infrastructure deficit now on any level and needs urgent attention.  Far more pressing than roof insulation that self-immolates or glossy brochures proclaiming high speed services on goat tracks.

The failure to even tinker with the interurban timetables, and the embarrassment of waiting to burn up gained minutes at Elimbah station on many services is absolutely farcical to say the least.

The good thing is that it at least reduces the amount of work needed now to upgrade further north, as at least that section is done, even if 10 years too late.

Exactly right, ozBob, it was never meant to stop at Beerburrum.

They duplicated and realigned the track from Caboolture to Beerburrum and were supposed to continue on to Landsborough, and then ran away with the bucket of money to complete it.
End result was a useless piece of infrastructure that produced no single improvement on that section of track. No gain in time nor gain in speed of services which it had promised to do.
Saving somewhere between 3 and 8 minutes (from memory) was touted as achievable - but was never realised.

Mark my words, this section of Sunshine Coast track is heading for a crisis!
The infrastructure continuation MUST occur (even if only segmented as per my previous staged post) in order to improve the volume (read frequency) and speed of services.

In fact, IMO it has already arrived - 52% of services being rail bus services from Caboolture to Nambour are testament to that.
The limited timetable improvements that we saw in the draft are also testament to that.
Compare us to the Gold Coast fully duplicated line (except for the 6 min. Coomera to Helensvale stations track), new trains and many more services (per capita) than the Sunshine Coast.

It's indeed an indictment on the present State Government and their fiscal ineptitude towards the Sunshine Coast region.

Regards,
Fares-Fair.

Corrections shown in italics.

[somebody]

Compare us to the Gold Coast fully duplicated line all the way, new trains and many more services (per capita) than the Sunshine Coast.

Not quite correct.  The section from Coomera to Helensvale is still single track.

[Fares_Fair]

Ok I stand corrected,
the Coomera to Helensvale section of track which are immediately adjacent stations is single track for 6 minutes ...

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[somebody]

BTW, I don't think I was missing any point.

Compare us to the Gold Coast fully duplicated line all the way, new trains and many more services (per capita) than the Sunshine Coast.

This is a good point.  The Sunshine Coast isn't much different in population to the Gold Coast.  Perhaps it is less dense?  Even if so, the Gold Coast line depends on feeder services as well as park 'n' ride, rather than walk up patronage.  So this would be less important.

[mufreight]

Why did they ever duplicate to Beerburrum only?  There was no operational reason to do so.

When CityRail duplicated the remainder of the Cronulla branch in Sydney, there didn't seem to be much reason to do so either.  However, the timetable implemented within weeks of its commissioning explained all.  They were concerned about removing single seat journeys from people not taking the whole trip.  (Whether or not this is appropriate isn't my point.)  This did not occur in QLD, and it seems that there is no discernible reason for only going as far as Beerburrum.  Extend to Glass House Mountains and an hourly timetable to Landsborough could be constructed, without needing to cross.

It just seems that it never made any sense whatsoever.  Maybe I should move on.

The Sutherland - Cronnula line does not carry freight or long distance passenger services which makes the comparison less than relevant but you note that it proved necessicary to meet the constraints the single track sections imposed on increased frequencies needed to satisfy commuter demands.

The need of the freight traffic alone dictate that there are insufficent paths for commuter services hence 52% of commuter services north of Caboolture are presently operated by bus.  Imagine the uproar from the Gold Coast if 52% of their services were operated by bus.
The urgently needed infrastructure to enable improvements to commuter services and the increasing demands of the freight traffic to the north of the state are more than overdue and some work needs to be undertaken as a project of National importance even if only to improve the cost effectiveness of the freight services.
To gain any effective benefit from the duplication between Caboolture and Beerburrum the duplication needs to be extended from Beerburrum to Ghasshouse and the Palmwoods to Eudlo section needs to be realigned and duplicated, these works would effectively double the capacity of the Caboolture to Nambour section and reduce the transit times while allowing the majority of commuter services to be operated by rail without interference with either freight of long distance passenger rail.

[somebody]

That plan would work out well for passenger as well.  Although not enough to have a half hourly service to Landsborough (by the time you take into account the constraints caused by the middle road to Lawnton) and it would be better to have the duplicated section Eudlo-Mooloolah for pax service.  There may be freight reasons to have the duplicated section Eudlo-Palmwoods.  I'm not sure.

Looking at it in detail, I can see that the Caboolture-Elimbah section was 9km going by kilometrages.  Longest single track section now is Beerburrum-Glass House @ ~7.2km.  Next longest is Beerwah-Landsborough @ 5.6km.  So it did get a small* increase in capacity for 7xx metre freight trains, and a larger increase for 1km trains which can currently only cross at Palmwoods.

I've read in an ARTC document, that they consider that once loop spacings get to 8km or less full duplication becomes appropriate, which also removes train length as a constraint.

* assuming Elimbah and Beerburrum had ~800m passing loops.

[colinw]

I've read in an ARTC document, that they consider that once loop spacings get to 8km or less full duplication becomes appropriate, which also removes train length as a constraint.

I've seen that somewhere in ARTC documents. I think it might have been their planning documents for the Ulan and Gunnedah / Boggabri coal routes.  In particular the Ulan line is looking like it needs passing lanes and infill of loops which brings it very close to the threshold for full duplication (expensive with the long tunnels on the line - Cox's Gap & others).

By the ARTC criteria we're long overdue for duplication to Nambour, and maybe even Gympie North, with loop extensions all the way to Gladstone.

[Derwan]

The Sunshine Coast isn't much different in population to the Gold Coast.  Perhaps it is less dense? 

I would definitely describe the Gold Coast population as dense! 

[#Metro]

The population around the gold coast rail line IMHO is not dense at all, overall ~1000 persons/km, not that different to say Canberra (~1100 persons/km).
Brisbane is around 900 persons/km and Sunshine Coast is around 800 persons/km.

The crucial insight here is that density really is a proxy measure for patronage, and the unspoken assumption is that you are going to build a system and run it like
a bus, which just picks up most of its passengers as walk-up passengers from a 400-800m around the station. And of course, if you run a system this way if is not
going to have patronage!

If you put a bus on to the train station, you can ferry patrons in and overcome the density by making most passengers come in by car (park and ride) and by bus, and
this is exactly how train patronage is gathered on the Gold Coast. There are no high density towers around Gold Coast train stations, there is only one TOD
I am aware of at Nerang, which is so small that even if you assume everyone in those houses caught the train, it would barely fill one carriage IMHO.
 
It is very easy to assert that the Gold Coast is more dense by looking at the skyscrapers that line the Gold Coast Highway. But it must be remembered
is that many of these would be apartments and short term hotels etc. There is a very large urban spreading heading out west and that is just standard
sprawling suburbia. The train line itself if much further from the main strip.

I do not believe that there is any convincing reason as to why the Sunshine Coast line services cannot be upgraded in frequency and why the service cannot be
extended to Caloundra initially. There is already a case for expansion purely on freight capacity grounds as well, making any argument about passenger services
helpful but redundant.

There probably is a need for park and ride at these distances, duplication to allow more train services and extension into Caloundra as a first step. Getting to
Caloundra will boost patronage hugely IMHO, because the buses can feed into there are boost patronage.

[Fares_Fair]

Urgent, what month did construction work start on these works, it was 2007, what month please ?

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Stillwater]

May 2007?

http://www.trackstar.com.au/PDF/Construction%20Contractor%20submission%20May%202007%20word.pdf

This says 'mid-2007', so May would be about right.

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

[ozbob]

Yes, the official project approval of the Target Cost Estimate by the Queensland Government's Cabinet Budget Review Committee was in April 2007.  It started then in effect.  Was certainly well under way by June.

[Fares_Fair]

Thank you ozbob, thanks Stillwater.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[skippy]

The new Sunshine Coast timetables have a number of trains that daily cross on the new duplicated section, including
- Inbound 5.25am from Nambour and Outbound 5.21am from Roma St
- Inbound 6.57am from Nambour and Outbound 6.33am from Roma St
- Outbound 4.00pm from Roma St and Inbound 4.30pm from Nambour

There may be others.

The new timetable has even more trains that need to cross on the single line passing loops between Beerburrum and Landsborough. This is inherantly unreliable therefore the timetable has several minutes added to minimise the probability of an otherwise 'on-time' train from being delayed, causing the whole system to be unstable. If the duplication is extended to Landsborough, the following benefits will be realised;
1. precision crosses elimintated (for at least 10 trains per day)
2. journey times reduced
3. reliability improved
4. improved PT patronage due to 2 and 3
5. better rollingstock and crew utilisation
6. Improved freight efficiency = increase in rail freight mode share = less trucks on Bruce Hwy

[Stillwater]

Questions:

Mufreight:  Will the limited duplications you propose (Beerburrum-Glasshouse Mtns and Eudlo-Palmwoods) allow for all railbus services on the Sunshine Coast Line to be eliminated entirely?

Fares Fair:  Are you able to post here the advice to the Minister that duplication to Beerburrum only would not be effective unless the dual track was extended to Landsborough?  The consequences are demonstrated eloquently by Skippy (see above).

It appears that QR and TMR are providing sound advice to the Minister, as evidenced also by the Productivity Commission submission.  Maybe one or two higher up in political circles need Cochlear implants.

[mufreight]

Questions:

Mufreight:  Will the limited duplications you propose (Beerburrum-Glasshouse Mtns and Eudlo-Palmwoods) allow for all railbus services on the Sunshine Coast Line to be eliminated entirely?

Fares Fair:  Are you able to post here the advice to the Minister that duplication to Beerburrum only would not be effective unless the dual track was extended to Landsborough?  The consequences are demonstrated eloquently by Skippy (see above).

It appears that QR and TMR are providing sound advice to the Minister, as evidenced also by the Productivity Commission submission.  Maybe one or two higher up in political circles need Cochlear implants.

In theory yes, probably in practice no, not untill the Mooloolah - Eudo section is also duplicated also which would enable a 30 minute frequency to Nambour and the duplication and realignment of Eudlo - Mooloolah is a logical and practical continuation of the Eudlo - Palmwoods realignment and duplication works.

[Fares_Fair]

Questions:

Mufreight:  Will the limited duplications you propose (Beerburrum-Glasshouse Mtns and Eudlo-Palmwoods) allow for all railbus services on the Sunshine Coast Line to be eliminated entirely?

Fares Fair:  Are you able to post here the advice to the Minister that duplication to Beerburrum only would not be effective unless the dual track was extended to Landsborough?  The consequences are demonstrated eloquently by Skippy (see above).
It appears that QR and TMR are providing sound advice to the Minister, as evidenced also by the Productivity Commission submission.  Maybe one or two higher up in political circles need Cochlear implants.

Hello Stillwater,

I have the document and can quote from it verbatim if required, it's a Briefing Note from:
Dept. of Transport and Main Roads,
Estimates 2009
TOPIC: Caboolture to Beerburrum Track Duplication Project
Prepared for: Minister for Transport

As it was obtained under an RTI application I am unsure if I can publicly post it here.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[SurfRail]

As it was obtained under an RTI application I am unsure if I can publicly post it here.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

I don't believe there is any such restriction, although I would be cautious as a matter of courtesy if the documents disclosed contained any personal information (whether intentionally or by accident).

[Fares_Fair]

Questions:

Mufreight:  Will the limited duplications you propose (Beerburrum-Glasshouse Mtns and Eudlo-Palmwoods) allow for all railbus services on the Sunshine Coast Line to be eliminated entirely?

Fares Fair:  Are you able to post here the advice to the Minister that duplication to Beerburrum only would not be effective unless the dual track was extended to Landsborough?  The consequences are demonstrated eloquently by Skippy (see above).
It appears that QR and TMR are providing sound advice to the Minister, as evidenced also by the Productivity Commission submission.  Maybe one or two higher up in political circles need Cochlear implants.

Hello Stillwater,

Briefing Note from:
Dept. of Transport and Main Roads,
Estimates 2009
TOPIC: Caboolture to Beerburrum Track Duplication Project
Prepared for: Minister for Transport

As it was obtained under an RTI application I am unsure if I can publicly post it here.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Briefing Note from:
Dept. of Transport and Main Roads,
Estimates 2009
TOPIC: Caboolture to Beerburrum Track Duplication Project
Prepared for: Minister for Transport

Excerpts only.

The results are reduced travel time and increased capacity for
additional passenger and freight services. The benefits of
increased capacity will not be fully realised until the next stage
(Beerburrum to Landsborough) duplication is undertaken.

Increased capacity will cater for future freight and passenger
demand as the population boom continues on the North Coast.

The Sunshine Coast is expected to grow by 60% over the next 20
years.


Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

Briefing Note from:
Dept. of Transport and Main Roads,
Estimates 2009
TOPIC: Caboolture to Beerburrum Track Duplication Project
Prepared for: Minister for Transport


The results are reduced travel time and increased capacity for
additional passenger and freight services. The benefits of
increased capacity will not be fully realised until the next stage
(Beerburrum to Landsborough) duplication is undertaken.

Increased capacity will cater for future freight and passenger
demand as the population boom continues on the North Coast.

The Sunshine Coast is expected to grow by 60% over the next 20
years.

Exactly what we have been banging on about for the past few years.  Thanks for sharing ...

[somebody]

Questions:

Mufreight:  Will the limited duplications you propose (Beerburrum-Glasshouse Mtns and Eudlo-Palmwoods) allow for all railbus services on the Sunshine Coast Line to be eliminated entirely?

Fares Fair:  Are you able to post here the advice to the Minister that duplication to Beerburrum only would not be effective unless the dual track was extended to Landsborough?  The consequences are demonstrated eloquently by Skippy (see above).

It appears that QR and TMR are providing sound advice to the Minister, as evidenced also by the Productivity Commission submission.  Maybe one or two higher up in political circles need Cochlear implants.

In theory yes, probably in practice no, not untill the Mooloolah - Eudo section is also duplicated also which would enable a 30 minute frequency to Nambour and the duplication and realignment of Eudlo - Mooloolah is a logical and practical continuation of the Eudlo - Palmwoods realignment and duplication works.

Mooloolah-Glass House Mountains is a 16 minute section.  You cannot have a half hourly frequency in both directions to Nambour without a precision cross with no works in this section.  Although you could have it to Landsborough.

Duplicating Beerburrum-Glass House would allow a half hourly frequency to Landsborough, but you wouldn't even get a two hourly frequency to Nambour without a precision cross without significant further works.

[Stillwater]

We may have cracked the case for the prosecution.  The government now has some explaining to do.

In May 2007, it began what was announced at the time as the duplication of the Sunshine Coast Line between Caboolture and Landsborough -- in keeping with departmental advice.  This was confirmed subsequently in the Paul Lucas media releases, where funding was guaranteed and promised.  A firm undertaking was given to the community that duplication would occur to Landsborough and a timeframe for construction was given.

Contrary to the departmental advice it received and its public undertaking, the government stopped works at Beerburrum, inexplicably.  Some have drawn the conclusion that this was a political decision in response to the defeat of the ALP Member for the seat of Glasshouse, Ms Carolyn Male, in a general election.  The significance of the Glasshouse electorate is that the proposed duplication to Landsborough falls entirely within its boundaries.  This being the reason for work ceasing must remain speculation.

What's not open to speculation is the advice from the department to the Minister in 2009.  That advice was read by the Minister and the ministerial advisors.  It said: "The benefits of increased capacity will not be fully realised until the next stage (Beerburrum to Landsborough) duplication is undertaken."

What did the government do?  It ignored the departmental advice and cut short duplication at Beerburrum, thus bringing about the constraints that the department warned against ... the non-realisation of the 'full benefits of increased capacity' because the full project, as envisaged originally, was never finished.

We have Skippy to thank for an assessment of the consequences of the full benefits not being realised.

He states that the new timetable requires more trains to cross on the single track passing loops between Beerburrum and Landsborough.  "This is inherently unreliable, therefore the timetable has several minutes added to minimise the probability of an otherwise 'on-time' train from being delayed, causing the whole system to be unstable."  By not extending duplication to Landsborough, as it promised, the government has caused unnecessary extra travel time to be added to the new timetable and risked the whole system becoming unstable.

Furthermore, Skippy quantifies what the 'full benefits of increased capacity' (the department's advice to its minister) would be, and he documents them thus:

If the duplication is extended to Landsborough, the following benefits will be realised:

the requirement for precision crosses will be eliminated (for at least 10 trains per day)
journey times will be reduced
reliability will be improved
PT patronage would go up due to the factors above
furthermore, he predicts better utilisation of rollingstock and train crew
finally, improved freight efficiency would follow due to a resultant increase in rail's share of the freight task (i.e. fewer trucks on the Bruce Highway.

We also know via the QR submission to the Productivity Commission that a $300 million investment in the North Coast Line (Brisbane-Cairns) would bring about substantial benefits for passenger and freight rail.

Due to the inadequacies of the Sunshine Coast Line, QR must operate rail buses for more than 40 per cent of 'rail' services between Caboolture and Nambour, with the buses taking 50 per cent longer than the trains over the same distance.

Witness Murfreight.  He states that, rather than extending the duplication to Landsborough, duplication between Beerburrum and Glasshouse Mountains stations, and also between Mooloolah and Eudlo, would eliminate the use of rail buses on the Sunshine Coast Line and open up the possibility of 30 minute passenger train frequency to Nambour without affecting the functionality of freight services on the line.

There is evidence to suggest that the department is considering a solution along these lines.  The question is what will be the government's response?  Will it still hold out funding any further substantial track upgrade until beyond 2031, which is its current position?  And why would it continue to deny the 'full benefits of increased track capacity' in the light of firm and consistent advice from the relevant department and QR?

The benefits to the state, economic and otherwise, of even a relatively small investment (as documented in the QR submission to the Productivity Commission) would be substantial.

Finally, the 2009 briefing note to the then Minister warned that the Sunshine Coast would grow 60 per cent over the next 20 years.  A substantial part of that growth is due to the state government's mandated development of a city the size of Gladstone at Caloundra South (50,000 extra people), in addition, a city the size of Warwick will go ahead at adjacent Palmview.

Yet the government strategy is to resist for the next two decades any substantial upgrading of the Sunshine Coast Line to Nambour (forget CAMCOS for a moment), despite its own actions to increase  the region's population and, together with other developments, there being a 60 per cent growth in the Sunshine Coast over those same 20 years, as outlined in the departmental briefing.

Why does this government continue to ignore consistent and sound advice from its departments and agencies -- that advice being consistent with what the freight transport sector and RailBOT are saying also?

This is serious, folks.

[somebody]

the requirement for precision crosses will be eliminated (for at least 10 trains per day)

Not quite.

Precision crosses will still be required Landsborough-Nambour, but the Nambour trains will require one precision cross, rather than two at present.

[colinw]

Yet the government strategy is to resist for the next two decades any substantial upgrading of the Sunshine Coast Line to Nambour (forget CAMCOS for a moment), despite its own actions to increase  the region's population and, together with other developments, there being a 60 per cent growth in the Sunshine Coast over those same 20 years, as outlined in the departmental briefing.

To me this issue indicates two things.

1. This Government has sunk to similar depths of bastardry & incompetence as the late, unlamented NSW ALP Government.

2. The poor state of transport reporting & analysis in the QLD media.  The Government are getting away with this kind of thing unchallenged, with groups like RailBOT as lone voices in the wilderness.

In Victoria, something like this would almost certainly have attracted the attention of a dedicated transport writer in The Age.

Ditto in NZ, where the NZ Herald has a writer who seems to be very much across the issues and has kept the pressure up over the political games surrounding the Auckland electrification.

In Brisbane - nothing!  The Courier-Mail seems to treat public transport & rail as an item of derision, and appears to have no interest in highlighting issues like this.  They would rather tell us how horrible QR is.

[O_128]

Yet the government strategy is to resist for the next two decades any substantial upgrading of the Sunshine Coast Line to Nambour (forget CAMCOS for a moment), despite its own actions to increase  the region's population and, together with other developments, there being a 60 per cent growth in the Sunshine Coast over those same 20 years, as outlined in the departmental briefing.

To me this issue indicates two things.

1. This Government has sunk to similar depths of bastardry & incompetence as the late, unlamented NSW ALP Government.

2. The poor state of transport reporting & analysis in the QLD media.  The Government are getting away with this kind of thing unchallenged, with groups like RailBOT as lone voices in the wilderness.

In Victoria, something like this would almost certainly have attracted the attention of a dedicated transport writer in The Age.

Ditto in NZ, where the NZ Herald has a writer who seems to be very much across the issues and has kept the pressure up over the political games surrounding the Auckland electrification.

In Brisbane - nothing!  The Courier-Mail seems to treat public transport & rail as an item of derision, and appears to have no interest in highlighting issues like this.  They would rather tell us how horrible QR is.

Unfortunately in Queensland we only have the CM and not another professional paper

[Stillwater]

The message needs to be recast to government -- with the argument switched to the freight side of the North Coast Line.  A politically-charged government of 20 years would listen to a case for investment in the line based on a premise that the expenditure would support industry and expansion around Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns and the efficient movement of goods between those centres and Brisbane.  Labor holds power in these provincial cities and would want to shore up its support in the context of a tight election next March.

[mufreight]

The message needs to be recast to government -- with the argument switched to the freight side of the North Coast Line.  A politically-charged government of 20 years would listen to a case for investment in the line based on a premise that the expenditure would support industry and expansion around Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns and the efficient movement of goods between those centres and Brisbane.  Labor holds power in these provincial cities and would want to shore up its support in the context of a tight election next March.

Again Stillwater you have it right on the money, the problem is that the current government is hopelessly incompetent and delusional to boot.
There are considerable ecenomic advantages for improving not only transit times but train lengths for freight services over the NCL.
As far as Gympie there is an increasing demand for passenger services and the infrastructure improvements esential to provide for this increased commuter traffic also have considerable benefit for the operation of freight services not only in terms of transit times and operating costs as a consequence of better alignment but also in allowing the operation of longer trains.
The more cost effective and time efficent rail becomes the less freight will be moved by road to and from the north of the state but instead we have a government that finds it more in its own self interest rather than in the interests of the residents of Queensland to encourage freight to be moved by road on a failed highway system made even more dangerous to Mr average motorist who pays for it by allowing monster rigs such as A Double and B Tripple on to a road system unsafe for conventional single semi trailer rigs.

[Fares_Fair]

Hello All,

Does anyone have a link to the "QR Submission to the Productivity Commission" produced by QR Limited and dated 5 July 2006 ?
I have the original report but cannot find the internet link to it.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Stillwater]

Pretty sure it is here, FF:

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/48943/subdd100.pdf

[Stillwater]

Or maybe here:

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/48577/sub053.pdf

[Fares_Fair]

Or maybe here:

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/48577/sub053.pdf

That's the one SW, thank you.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Fares_Fair]

Freight Statistics from QR Submission to Productivity Commission 2006

I contacted QR this week and they confirmed that this study is the latest (last?) submission to the Productivity Commission.

Brisbane - Cairns records second highest predicted growth in freight.
Table A.3  Rail and Road expected average annual growth rates, selected Auslink corridors, 1999 to 2025
Corridor  Rail Road
Sydney - Melbourne  0.0 3.7
Sydney - Brisbane  0.5 4.1
Sydney - Adelaide  -0.1 3.3
Sydney - Perth  4.4% 3.0%
Sydney - Dubbo  -0.7 3.7
Melbourne - Adelaide  0.4 4.0
Melbourne - Brisbane  3.7 3.3
Melbourne - Perth  3.7 2.3
Melbourne - Mildura  2.6 8.0
Adelaide - Perth  3.0 1.6
Brisbane - Cairns  4.2% 4.0%
Townsville – Mt Isa  1.7 5.3
All Corridors  1.8 3.6

Source: BTRE (2006), Demand Projections for Auslink Non-Urban Corridors: Methodology and Projections, Working Paper 66, Table 2.16.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.