4 ms·

Sydney <-> Melbourne (705km) is the second busiest domestic air route in the world, with 9 million passengers in 2017 [0]. It definitely deserves a high speed r

Sydney <-> Melbourne (705km) is the second busiest domestic air route in the world, with 9 million passengers in 2017 [0]. It definitely deserves a high speed rail link. Here's hoping it doesn't get caught up in some sort of greasy land/water buy back scam [1]. 0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_passenger_air_routes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_passenger_ai... 1: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-are-water-buybacks-and-how-did-we-get-here-20190423-p51gla.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-are-water-buyba...

fratlas 7y ago
I mean with those numbers, some napkin math: if even 50% of that travel was captured by a rail system with maybe $100-150 tickets, seems like it might pay itself off after a few decades. Sounds like a worthy investment, while providing jobs.
- cyphar 7y ago
  And reducing emissions massively, to boot.
- sifex 7y ago
  Where were you on the ballot paper?
A2017U1 7y ago
First sentence, yeah undeniable. Second sentence entirely ignores the reality of regional Australia and it's overwhelming influence on politics to make terrible decisions that is a burden on the nation as a whole. A single marginal electorate left out of the final station decision will mean it's a nonstarter. And I can name 3 right now. Also ignores how hard it is to build infrastructure in Australia today, the entire landscape is full of parasites. As much as I enjoy commenting about American lobbyists and it's negative outcomes, the reality is our lobbyists are infrastructure behemoths who probably do more damage to society keeping the status quo. The entir tender process is broken beyond a few million on offer. You simply can't build big infrastructure projects in Australia anymore, the entire process has been hijacked by corporations.
- piceas 7y ago
  A counterpoint - the inland rail project isn't exactly small.
  - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
    But it's focused squarely in freight, not passengers. https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/ https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/
rayiner 7y ago
A high speed rail line doesn’t even recoup its carbon footprint (I.e. the carbon output from construction outweighs the savings from fewer airplane trips) until 10 million passengers per year: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2011/11/how-green-high-speed-rail/492/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2011/11/how-green-hig...
- Taniwha 7y ago
  Besides it's Australia, the government is in love with coal, these are bound to be high speed steam trains fueled with coal
- fulafel 7y ago
  That references a study on a scenario where 10% of the distance is in tunnels. That's a lot of tunnel boring. Is the Sydney-Melbourne flat or hilly?
mcbain 7y ago
I’m pro-“fast rail”, but I’m even more pro-“just build a damn train between Melbourne Airport and Melbourne City”. Without the political will/ability to do that, I don’t see how a fast train to SYD/CBR is happening.

fratlas 7y ago

I mean with those numbers, some napkin math: if even 50% of that travel was captured by a rail system with maybe $100-150 tickets, seems like it might pay itself off after a few decades. Sounds like a worthy investment, while providing jobs.

cyphar 7y ago
And reducing emissions massively, to boot.
sifex 7y ago
Where were you on the ballot paper?

A2017U1 7y ago

First sentence, yeah undeniable. Second sentence entirely ignores the reality of regional Australia and it's overwhelming influence on politics to make terrible decisions that is a burden on the nation as a whole. A single marginal electorate left out of the final station decision will mean it's a nonstarter. And I can name 3 right now. Also ignores how hard it is to build infrastructure in Australia today, the entire landscape is full of parasites. As much as I enjoy commenting about American lobbyists and it's negative outcomes, the reality is our lobbyists are infrastructure behemoths who probably do more damage to society keeping the status quo. The entir tender process is broken beyond a few million on offer. You simply can't build big infrastructure projects in Australia anymore, the entire process has been hijacked by corporations.

piceas 7y ago
A counterpoint - the inland rail project isn't exactly small.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
  But it's focused squarely in freight, not passengers. https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/ https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/

rayiner 7y ago

A high speed rail line doesn’t even recoup its carbon footprint (I.e. the carbon output from construction outweighs the savings from fewer airplane trips) until 10 million passengers per year: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2011/11/how-green-high-speed-rail/492/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2011/11/how-green-hig...

Taniwha 7y ago
Besides it's Australia, the government is in love with coal, these are bound to be high speed steam trains fueled with coal
fulafel 7y ago
That references a study on a scenario where 10% of the distance is in tunnels. That's a lot of tunnel boring. Is the Sydney-Melbourne flat or hilly?

mcbain 7y ago

I’m pro-“fast rail”, but I’m even more pro-“just build a damn train between Melbourne Airport and Melbourne City”. Without the political will/ability to do that, I don’t see how a fast train to SYD/CBR is happening.