The Sunshine Coast Case : Rail duplication Beerburrum to Nambour

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Commuters demand Labor match LNP rail duplication promise

COMMUTERS have demanded a Labor Government match the LNP's commitment to a long-overdue duplication of the rail link between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

The LNP promised rail duplication between Beerburrum and Landsborough, which would give the Coast an extra 150 train services a week.

But the rail promise is in limbo with the strong possibility of Labor forming government.

As Member for Nicklin Peter Wellington met with both political parties yesterday, social media came alive with calls for him to use the rail upgrade as leverage with any Labor Government.

The Daily has launched a campaign to have the rail duplication commitment honoured, using the hashtag #ontrackSCD.

Rail users were quick to get behind the push and took to the Daily's Facebook page and Twitter in support ...

[#Metro]

SAVE SUNSHINE COAST RAIL!   

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Door left open for train line but no commitment yet

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> "Annastacia, end our four hours of torture!"

[Stillwater]

Poor Andrew Powell, the Member for Glass House.  Most of the unduplicated stretch of SCL track lies inside the boundaries of his electorate -- the final stretch south of Nambour in the electorate of Nicklin (Peter Wellington).

Mr Powell entered Parliament in 2009, in Opposition, calling on the then Labor government to duplicate the SCL to Nambour.  It had to be done 'immediately', he said.  He and his mate, Mr Emerson, the transport minister in a Newman state government, played the politics around the project mercilessly until the last minute, in 2015, when they had to cough up some money to do part of the task that in 2009 Mr Powell said had to start right away.  That is six years of inaction for something that needed to be fixed 'immediately'.

If Labor gains power this time around, Mr Powell in 2018 will be right back where he started almost a decade earlier -- in Opposition, calling for an 'immediate' start on duplication.  That is almost 10 years of calling for an 'immediate start on duplication'.  SC voters have seen this project drag out for years.

The LNP have suffered huge swings against it in Glass House, Caloundra and the other LNP stronghold seats on the Sunny Coast.  Those seats are now vulnerable, as are the matching federal seats.

For the LNP to shore up that support, it behoves Mr Powell and his colleagues not to harp on about how state Labor should fund the duplication to Nambour, but to lobby the Coalition at a federal level to deliver a vital piece of transport infrastructure for all of Queensland.  Thus the LNP, and not Labor, can be seen to have delivered for the people of the SC -- with the means of delivery being a conservative government at a federal level, possibly led by Malcolm Turnbull.

For Mr Powell and his colleagues to go to the next election rabbiting on about the need for duplication of the SCL only serves to highlight their ineffectiveness.  The need to go to the election with a solution or, better still, work from Opposition at a state level to achieve an outcome at a federal level where, presumably, they have some influence with the likes of Wyatt Roy, Mal Brough, Warren Truss and Co.

Oh, btw, Mr Truss happens to be federal infrastructure minister.  Mr Powell and his friends should not consider they are 'off the hook' in Opposition.  They are very much on the (butcher's) hook.

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Wellington puts faith in Labor rail pledge

INDEPENDENT Member for Nicklin Peter Wellington trusts Labor more than the LNP to achieve duplication of the North Coast rail line and has greeted Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk's promise to investigate the matter with enthusiasm.

With five seats still undecided after the election a week ago and Katter's Australian Party's two candidates yet to announce which major party they will support, it remains unclear which party will form Queensland's next government.

Last week Mr Wellington provided conditional support to Labor. Rail duplication was a priority identified in letters between him and Ms Palaszczuk.

"The (Labor) government is actually going to have an investigation of the benefits from the duplication of the railway line," he said.

"They're saying it'll be considered on its merits.

"This is an opportunity for the (Sunshine Coast) council and the community, together with myself and the other re-elected Sunshine Coast members, to put forward the reason why the railway duplication is worthy of being prioritised as a nation-building project.

"We can then go down the road for federal funding."

Mr Wellington said a member of the LNP had tried to woo him with promises that were impossible to deliver.

The LNP, unlike Labor, committed to duplication of the railway line publicly before the election.

But Mr Wellington said it was unrealistic to expect a state government to fund the project as it would be too expensive.

"The LNP know that the duplication of the railway line requires federal government funding because it's so expensive, and it's completely unreasonable to expect the state government to fund it all by itself," he said.

He vowed to use his unique position to continue pushing for rail duplication and other issues important to his constituents, such as the need for more transparency and accountability in government, and better parking for Nambour General Hospital.

[pandmaster]

So another study is needed?

[HappyTrainGuy]

So another study is needed?

I'll commission a study before I make a comment. 

[James]

So another study is needed?

My thoughts exactly. Just build the damn thing already! The delays on this project have gone on far too long.

[#Metro]

Welcome back Gloss-Shifting!!
 

Just awaiting the announcement that the project WILL be funded and definitely COMMITTED for the year 2099. 

Federal funding is going to take YEARS and Abbott says NO to rail automatically. Then there's the CRR/BaT/BUTT tunnel (Brisbane Underground Train Tunnel).

If one or two of the power stations, which are NOT monopoly assets, were sold off, you'd have the cash to build the rail line. You could also borrow, which is not a bad option given the ridiculously low interest rates, but politicians are keen to keep AAA credit rating hence there will be a limit to that. Plus even state credit card needs to be paid off eventually.

Perth's New Metro Rail cost around $1.6 BN, and I don't think any of that was federal funding. Sunshine Coast council should contribute some funds as they get a more concentrated benefit and the upgrade will affect land values.

[Arnz]

Correction.  Abbott said he won't be funding 'Urban Public Transport'

However, the freight argument may hold up as a 'nation building project'.  The 'PT' part of the rail (the stations, rollingstock and car park) would be the state's responsibility per Abbott's statement.

It's the same reason why the feds weren't funding BaT.  It's a 'Public Transport' project, throw a highway on top of the BAT in a 3-deck tunnel and it may have attracted fed funding.

[Stillwater]

I have been told, but can't verify, that QR spends approx. $281 million a year on the NCL, sufficient to maintain the track, but not improve it significantly.  The deal that was in train (excuse the pun) was for the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to take over the lease of the track for a period of time (60-99 years??) and for the state to save $281 million, which could have gone to paying off debt or spending on trackside infrastructure, car parks and buildings etc.

Leases are poison now, off the agenda.  Asset sales are poison for both sides of state politics.

If the feds are to put money into freight components of the line, what would be their equity buy-in?  The buy-in for an ARTC takeover would be to collect money from operators who would run trains over the track to pay off any investment in line improvements, or augmentation.  Presumably that would include a payment from the state government to operate Tilt Train services and the SOTO over a track leased to the ARTC; or the lease arrangement would allow QR long distance passenger trains to operate for 'free' (an adjustment to the lease fee).

The ARTC is owned entirely by the feds, but operates as a private company.  It is an 'asset' that could be sold off by the federal government at some stage, should the feds want to go down that path.  Any lease of qld track would be an asset within any sale of the ARTC.

It would appear that the deal being contemplated now in some circles is a direct cash injection from the feds in circumstances whereby QR (state government) continues to own the track.  It would remain separate from the ARTC, which is a nation-wide operation, managing train movements more efficiently across state borders on track it has leased from state governments.  That would appear to defeat the purposes that the lease to the ARTC would have achieved.

Before the state election, we were told that QR and the ARTC were examining the feasibility of an ARTC lease takeover.  A new state government should tell us where that situation is at.

As to another inquiry about the SCL - geez, how many are needed?    Someone with about a week to spare would be able to go through all the previous reports and extract the relevant bits to write Report Mark XXVI.  Governments usually call inquiries when they want to delay making a decision on matters such as these.  Journo: 'Minister, when are you going to duplicate the SCL?'  Minister: 'The government is having a serious and thorough inquiry into this matter and it would be irresponsible for me to make any comment until all the facts are in and the experts in transport have had a good look at them, and advised me accordingly.'  And thus, another three years pass. 

[Jonno]

Hand overt to ARTC is not in the same boat as a sale or a lease to private entity.  It is hand over to Federal Govt for investment and greater Aust coordination.  Very smart thing to do!!!

[Stillwater]

^^ Don't disagree, Jonno, it just needs to be sold the right way in light of the debate around privatisation and asset sales/leasing.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Hand overt to ARTC is not in the same boat as a sale or a lease to private entity.  It is hand over to Federal Govt for investment and greater Aust coordination.  Very smart thing to do!!!

Bahahaha. Just as an FYI since the QR split Aurizon still maintains to the best of my knowledge quite a lot of MTCE contracts with the ARTC.... and they do love a profit now that it's a private company. I still find it amusing that the Federal Government was paying nearly 100 million the Queensland Government for rail MTCE contracts in NSW. Even more amusing was that the West Australian, Victorian and Tasmanian Governments were also paying the Queensland Government for rail MTCE contracts.

[#Metro]

^^ Don't disagree, Jonno, it just needs to be sold leased the right way in light of the debate around privatisation and asset sales/leasing.

http://blog.healthkismet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/hysteria.jpg

[ozbob]

Twitter

View News ‏@viewnews 39 minutes ago

Jamieson to Wellington: seize the moment on rail duplication. #2tracks #sunshinecoast #qldvotes #qldpol http://youtu.be/t7fAyA3C7HI?a

[dancingmongoose]

Gold Coast didn't have a railway line in 1988, let alone duplication

[Fares_Fair]

Correct, Gold coast line opened in 1996 from Beenleigh to Helensvale


Source: Wikipedia

The Beenleigh railway line opened in 1885[2] before being extended as the South Coast Line to Southport in 1889.[3] A branch line to Tweed Heads, New South Wales was opened in 1903. Due to the increasing popularity of the motor car, and political interests in road transport, the Tweed Heads branch closed in 1961 and the line from Beenleigh to Southport closed in 1964.

The new Gold Coast railway opened on a different alignment from Beenleigh to Helensvale in 1996, Nerang in 1997, and Robina in 1998. In 2009, the line was extended to Varsity Lakes.[4]

[Fares_Fair]

Twitter

View News ‏@viewnews 39 minutes ago

Jamieson to Wellington: seize the moment on rail duplication. #2tracks #sunshinecoast #qldvotes #qldpol http://youtu.be/t7fAyA3C7HI?a

I applaud his initiative.

[SurfRail]

And still not duplicated, albeit ours is now locked in and will be a fair bit cheaper to do (less than $200m).

[Fares_Fair]

Robina was 1998, not 1988.
Human error I'd say.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

13th February 2015

Sunshine Coast Line - crisis

Greetings,

Track amplification of the Sunshine Coast Line has been promised on and off for years.

Yesterday, Mayor Jamieson Sunshine Coast Council made these comments:

Jamieson to Wellington seize the moment on rail duplication >

We strongly support Mayor Jamieson. There have been enough studies, time for some firm commitments, timetables and funding.

Full background of the Sunshine Coast Case: Rail duplication Beerburrum to Nambour case can be found here --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6647.0

Work should commence immediately on the Beerburrum to Glasshouse Mountains section, and then continue in stages to Landsborough and eventually  Nambour.

Best wishes
Robert

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

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Transport body wants rail freight given priority

[Stillwater]

^^This opens up a new window into the SCL duplication debate.  Not only does the line have buses operating as trains (railbus) for much of the day, due to the single track and freight train operations, the freight industry is actively lobbying to give freight trains priority over passenger trains.  In fact, some submissions to government state that the meagre few passenger services should be cut back to allow for more profitable freight trains to run in their place.  No wonder QR doesn't want more passengers using the line!

The SCL is the most congested single track railway line in the nation.  Why do we accept readily that the most congested parts of the motorway and road network need duplication, but when it comes to the SCL, we call for yet another study?  Political ping-pong means duplication is on the planning radar, then off, then on again for a bit of the way -- and depending on which party is in power.  Why?  If a project needs to be done, as this one does, it needs to be done.  None of the parameters for assessing that should have anything to do with which political party governs, or which seats it holds.

Dr Michael makes the very interesting point that the RACQ also makes -- better and more efficient rail freight operations on the SCL will take trucks off the Bruce Highway.  We have seen several disruptive crashes of trucks on the highway in recent weeks -- almost one every day.  Congestion costs.  The congestion costs attributed to those crashes becomes part of the financial calculation for highway augmentation when it equally is a cost arising (on the road) out of a failure to invest in the railway.

Indirectly, an investment in the SCL is an investment in the Bruce Highway, as it extends the ability of the highway to cater to traffic volumes of an expanding state and puts off the need to invest in extra lanes.

The current indecision about the SCL duplication merely drives the process towards widening the Bruce Highway, with more dangerous goods on the highway.  The required investment is not somehow 'avoided', as governments would believe.  It is not a dodged bullet.  Any future calculation of benefit-cost ratios for Bruce Highway upgrades should not just look at the benefits and costs associated with the roadworks alone, but also make the comparison of road cost with the transfer of that investment to the north-south railway line.  It might be a better investment.  Even the RACQ acknowledges this.

We live in hope of a government mind shift, but we shouldn't hold our collective breath.

[ozbob]

Passenger trains are the priority on the Sunshine Coast, as much as freight, despite claims by the ' freight industry ' ..

Track amplification will solve both issues.

Queensland Rail is a strident supporter of the SCL upgrade, they don't run freight.

[Stillwater]

Debate on ABC Sunshine Coast drivetime show this afternoon about whether people would accept, and pay for over time, a toll road running parallel to the Bruce Highway between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

[Gazza]

I think certainly on the gold coast the intra regional transport corridor would work as a tolled alternative to the M1.

[pandmaster]

Debate on ABC Sunshine Coast drivetime show this afternoon about whether people would accept, and pay for over time, a toll road running parallel to the Bruce Highway between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

What a waste of airtime. Should be discussing the real issues.

[Stillwater]

The debate should be seen in its broader context - a grassroots agitation towards government about improved transport links between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.  This works in favour of the SCL duplication case.  The project delayed, the momentum for its construction is unstoppable.  Queensland ALP is putting jobs first.  SCL duplication is a job creator, an economic driver.  Any number of reports to government prove this, without doubt.  The politics are also right. 

[Stillwater]

The Minister for State Development, Anthony Lynham, was on ABC Sunshine Coast morning radio this morning, saying that the SCL duplication is back 'on the table'.  The minister said the project had come to the fore and 'probably' would be among the list of priorities likely to arise out of an Infrastructure Queensland evaluation process.  The Minister said two matters had influenced his thinking -- the drop-off in major infrastructure projects supporting the engineering and construction sector and the need to get the state economy moving again.

However, it seems that the SCL duplication is only 'on the table' for discussion with the Federal Government to provide the money.

Mr Lynham did not rule out state money going towards the project, citing the joint funding arrangements applying to GC light rail.

Meanwhile, ABC local news tells us that Mr Peter Wellington is backing Woombye residents in opposing a train stabling facility for their town.  He has called on the government to reveal the reasons why alternative sites were rejected in favour of Woombye.

[#Metro]

This is the reason why States need broader Taxing Powers. We should not have to go get Canberra permission every time something large and expensive needs to be built.

[Fares_Fair]

The Minister for State Development, Anthony Lynham, was on ABC Sunshine Coast morning radio this morning, saying that the SCL duplication is back 'on the table'.  The minister said the project had come to the fore and 'probably' would be among the list of priorities likely to arise out of an Infrastructure Queensland evaluation process.  The Minister said two matters had influenced his thinking -- the drop-off in major infrastructure projects supporting the engineering and construction sector and the need to get the state economy moving again.

However, it seems that the SCL duplication is only 'on the table' for discussion with the Federal Government to provide the money.

Mr Lynham did not rule out state money going towards the project, citing the joint funding arrangements applying to GC light rail.

Meanwhile, ABC local news tells us that Mr Peter Wellington is backing Woombye residents in opposing a train stabling facility for their town.  He has called on the government to reveal the reasons why alternative sites were rejected in favour of Woombye.

Does Mr Wellington not know that the train stabling facility is directly beside the future North Coast Line rail duplication alignment?
It will be elevated approx. 4m high at that location.

Fair enough asking the question though, there is room at Yandina but, as I understand it, getting there would cost more.

[Stillwater]

My understanding is that Yandina was not in the mix examined for the train stabling facilities and was ruled out at the outset (perhaps for the reasons you state FF).  A couple of sites at Nambour were looked at, but they would have been close to housing.  Woombye probably is the first bit of open ground sufficiently distant from houses where the new facility could be plonked, also having regard to the future operational functioning of the line along its new alignment.

FF, could earth berms be an answer at Woombye?  (Suitably landscaped to screen out noise and visual pollution and also to act as a flood mitigation measure.)

[Stillwater]

More grist for the mill -- information that supports investment in SCL.

Australia's shift to the roads has locked us into a freight system that is inherently more costly, more carbon intensive and more dangerous. Figures published by the federal government's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) show that the cost of moving 1 tonne of freight by road over a distance of 1 kilometre (known as cost per tonne kilometre) is 7.5 cents for road, more than double the 3.5 cents for rail. The greenhouse-gas emissions for road are more than triple those for rail: 52 grams per tonne kilometre versus 15.

-   From The Monthly magazine, December-January issue

[pandmaster]

This is the reason why States need broader Taxing Powers. We should not have to go get Canberra permission every time something large and expensive needs to be built.

Perhaps not powers as we will end up with a US-style race to the bottom. A certain cut of income tax, company tax or something like that. Some sort of defined revenue stream rather than going cap-in-hand to Canberra.

[hU0N]

More grist for the mill -- information that supports investment in SCL.

Australia's shift to the roads has locked us into a freight system that is inherently more costly, more carbon intensive and more dangerous. Figures published by the federal government's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) show that the cost of moving 1 tonne of freight by road over a distance of 1 kilometre (known as cost per tonne kilometre) is 7.5 cents for road, more than double the 3.5 cents for rail. The greenhouse-gas emissions for road are more than triple those for rail: 52 grams per tonne kilometre versus 15.

-   From The Monthly magazine, December-January issue

Does anyone know what trans shipment costs? Because I read somewhere that the cost of moving freight from one vehicle to another is the single most expensive part of shipping, such that a journey with zero trans shipments is always cheaper than a journey with one. Perhaps this is why profit focused businesses mostly use trucks?

[bcasey]

Does anyone know what trans shipment costs? Because I read somewhere that the cost of moving freight from one vehicle to another is the single most expensive part of shipping, such that a journey with zero trans shipments is always cheaper than a journey with one. Perhaps this is why profit focused businesses mostly use trucks?

You would need to take into account the costs of the land used to store the freight temporary until its loaded into the next vehicle, the costs of the infrastructure/machinery used to transfer freight from one vehicle to the storage area, then from the storage area to the next vehicle, and most importantly, the cost of employees required to perform all of the duties required to run the transhipment facility. There would also be the lost time cost that is incurred while the vehicle is waiting to be unloaded/loaded. This is why the efficiency of the transhipment moves (unloading/loading, storage process, etc) are very important. Many ports are now using automated machines to help reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of their operations (Patricks Terminal at Brisbane Port uses automated straddle carriers)

In order to counter those costs, the 2nd part of the journey would have to provide a net improvement in either cost or speed (depending on what customers need) in order for transhipment to be viable. For trains, you will typically have at least 2 transhipments, due to the 'last-mile'.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Sunshine Coast airport expansion opposed by Peter Wellington

... Sunshine Coast residents railing against an expansion of the region's airport, which will include a new east-west runway, have enlisted the support of Queensland's newly minted Speaker of Parliament.

The independent member for the neighbouring electorate of Nicklin, Peter Wellington, told Fairfax Media the $347 million would be better spent on the Sunshine Coast rail link.

But Mr Wellington, who was officially elected Speaker of Queensland's Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, said he had "no doubt" Sunshine Coast Airport at Marcoola would need to be expanded in the future.

For Mr Wellington, it was a matter of priority.

"I believe when dollars are so tight in Australia, if taxpayers' money is going to be used by either our local council, the state government or the federal government on infrastructure, there are more important projects on the Sunshine Coast than the airport," he said.

"By that I mean the continuation of the duplication of the railway line from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast that will drive growth and provide immediate benefits for residents on the Sunshine Coast once that project is completed.

"There is no doubt in my mind the airport will, in the future, be expanded, but I don't believe at the moment that is the highest priority for the allocation of taxpayers' dollars on the Sunshine Coast." ...

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/sunshine-coast-airport-expansion-opposed-by-peter-wellington-20150324-1m6skc.html

[Stillwater]

Duplication Beerburrum-Landsborough will eliminate the Caboolture-Nambour railbuses and allow for significant more services, with some travel savings.  Landsborough-Nambour duplication will save a further 17 minutes on the current travel time over the existing single-track alignment between those stations.

Question: With a duplicated and realigned track, short of Tilts, is there a super-doper (technical term there) train set that would squeeze the pips even further and operate at fast speeds to Brisbane, or would the margins be so small that it is not worth considering dedicated superfast trains on runs to the coasts?

I am reminded of Anna Bligh's promise back when the government told us we had a 'world clarse' transport network that commuters would be travelling to the Coast in 'about an hour'.  That was on the Trouts Road alignment, it turns out (in the case of Sunshine Coast residents). With cross-river rail being the focus in the interim, what form of signalling and souped-up rolling stock could be deployed to make train travel to both coasts fast and attractive?  There were further delays on the Bruce Highway again today during the morning commute.