High Speed Train link - Can't Berra to Sydney
 

And they doubted Nostradamus - next question is - just where in Goulburn the next International Airport will be sited. Perhaps a check of where the local real estate agents and councilors are buying tracts ?:ok:

Don't worry - its the NSW labour govt. They can't afford to even think of the idea let alone paying to implement it.

Won't happen till someone with ability is voted in.

Hahaha! This one gets dusted off every now again. I wonder could they build a rail link and still offer a $49 fare to compete with the planes that service the route, and for which infrastructure is already in place? Canberra is building a fancy new air terminal which says to me they expect air traffic to grow not diminish over the foreseeable future.

Have you seen the size of the parking lot? :eek:

"Have you seen the size of the parking lot? http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...milies/eek.gif"

You mean Windshear Generator!! :ugh:

Seeing as the NSW Govt just flushed half a billion dollars of tax payers money down the toilet on a rail line that was scrapped before it started, I think we can rest assured that this is a pipe dream...

East Hills line currently being duplicated - fact - please explain ?:cool:

CAAC says....
 

China Southern, China Eastern and Air China are all now scrambling after the Chinese Govt announced in Feb 2010 that it was building a VFT ( Very Fast Train >280km/hr ) in a grid pattern linking Beijing in the north, Guongzhou in the South, Shanghai in East and Shenzhen in South East.

In other words ...." we are going to smash the Domestic Aviation market in China and you guys better get your act together and be Regional ( Asia) airlines....asap " !!!!

The VFT will be completed by 2016. Thats right 5 years to build :D

Minus a few villages , Bell Frogs, Panda's etc......but hey thats progress !

Meanwhile back in Petticoat Junction.....the Govts are still TALKING about the SYD-CBR run.

Hello..... is any one out there. ?????

Sure we may not have China's population to fuel this. But maybe some of the $$$$ from the Pink Batts could of at least turned over the soil.:rolleyes:

Well that's achieveable, when noone is going to sue you when you forceably remove them from their land. Having very little in the way of Environmental laws also helps the cause.

Achievement

PEK PVG 682 mi
PEK CAN 1166 mi
PVG CAN 747 mi

These distances in China, between Beijing, Guanghzou and Shanghai, in mile, do not look all that train-friendly to me, if the train has a top speed of 280omph, 150mph.

If anyone had the will power to do it in 1986, the VFT was hoping to give three hours SYD-BNE, three hours SYD-MEL, one hour SYD-CBR and two hours CBR-MEL. As a seven year project the VFT could have been running by 1995. The Channel Tunnel, which was a far more ambitious project happened.

Interesting subject.

Shanghai Maglev Train - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Non-contact rail is already in operation. The Shanghai Maglev link is only 30.5klms long, therefore the top speed is wound back to maximum normal operation speed of 431 km/h [268 mph].

Transrapid, the German designers of this technology have demonstrated a normal operating speed on long distance sections of over 500km/h [310+ mph] :ooh: Transrapid have also proven how smooth and safe this form of transport is.

When you factor in the 'zero speed' [before airbourne on course, and after landing/wheels on] component of air travel, the relative difference in 'cruise' speed becomes small when considering the overall.

To build, big bucks even in China, over the life of the service, and all other factors taken into account, you get the picture ;)

We can't even get highspeed broadband in this country, much less a maglev train...:E

:} True AirborneSoon, True :ok:

Here is an interesting story from the US on Maglev.

Backers of maglev train say Chinese bank prepared to fund project - Las Vegas Sun
Sounds like a similar fit Sydney - Canberra :E

It is the most sensible solution. However, if they can't get their act together to find a suitable site for a new airport, or fix the nsw transport system...etc

I can not see this project happening for many many years

Yes, but who wants to go to Canberra for Dinner?

:} no one :E

But there would be thousands in Canberra who would like to do dinner in Sydney :}

Mind you if anyones giving out free maglevs Syd-Mel could use one and so could Adl-Per. You know just in case any maglev magnates need some ideas...:}

Maglev [magnetic] Magnates :D love it :E

Maglev ADL-PER? Tell him he's dreamin! They can't even put a powerline over the Nullaboar (which is just as well, I might add :*).

The Chinese Train is not "competing" with airlines
 

AlanGirvan: I am not sure the Chinese are intending to compete with air transport over those distances. As you rightly point out, the distances are a bit too large.

I think their main consideration is the cost of fuel in an oil-depleted world, and the train's ability to serve multiple destinations along the way. One noticeable difference between China and Australia is that while there's nothing much between our major cities, in China there are LOTS of cities of around a million people on the run from CAN to PEK :-)

I think the Chinese Government has rightly concluded that it will soon run out of fuel and airspace to move 1,400,000,000 people around!

The high-speed rail from Guangzhou to Wuhan (519 miles / 835 km) takes 3 hours exactly at an average speed of 280 km/hr. By air, it's also a three-hour trip, assuming one hour in the air, an hour to get to the airport and check-in, and an hour to get your bags and a taxi to your destination. Rail wins, because both stations are near the middle of town and the rail fare is about RMB 210, the air fare about RMB 1,100.

The train to Beijing is aiming to go 100 km/hr faster: they're testing at 420 and aiming to average 380. A seven-hour journey by train, as opposed to five-and-a-half by air.

I have traveled on the MagLev at 431 km/hr. Trust me, you would not describe it as "smooth". And the cost (including operating cost) has dissuaded even the Chinese from wanting to build any more of it. They will extend it to the other airport at Shanghai, and call it quits.

Brisbane/Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne should certainly be built: for exactly the same reason the Chinese are building CAN/SHEN/PVG/PEK.

My $0.02

John

Interesting. Not a smooth ride! :ooh:

How does it compare with wheeled rail [at that speed i.e. French TGV], and via air? from a 'smooth' perspective.