Introduction The apparent aim of the SkyRail Metro railway viaduct project is to increase public transport capacity for 200,000-400,000 new settlers in the fringe Melbourne suburbs of Cranbourne, Berwick and Packenham, and to remove level crossings, mainly between Caulfield and Dandenong. Why was the SkyRail viaduct adopted? Largely, it seems to be as it is […]
Critical Influences – a Summary
There are issues on which you may wish to influence others and they may wish to influence you. There is out-of-date and mistaken conventional wisdom of which you may need to be aware. Introduction There is general acceptance amongst politians, businessmen, and technical experts that the Australian population will double from 24 m to 48m […]
The West Coast Indian Railway
The story of the new railway built along the west coast of India is fascinating in view of the need to estimate the construction time of High Speed Rail (HSR) along the Australian east coast. In the Labor Government’s 2013 HSR Report construction of HSR between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane was to take 35 years […]
High Speed Rail Patronage
Introduction One of the beliefs that some people count against High Speed Rail (HSR) is that the population and rail patronage in Australia are too small for HSR to be viable. They are mistaken. The Australian population has increased remarkably quickly, trebling since WW2 and growing substantially in the latest 25 years. It is projected […]
Sydney Airports Link by High Speed Rail
Badgerys Creek Airport and interstate High Speed Rail are mutually supportive and necessary. The HSR Project would connect Badgerys Creek Airport and Kingsford Smith Airport quickly and directly into Sydney CBD at Central Station. It would be by HSR loops to the airports from the interstate mainline and on to Central. HSR would connect to […]
Southern Cross High-Speed Rail Terminus
The Victorian Government is requested to lower the road surface of Wurundjeri Way by 10 metres in the section adjacent to Southern Cross Station to facilitate construction of the High Speed Rail (HSR) terminus next to and connected to the Southern Cross Station and Collins Street above Wurundjeri Way, as a small part of its […]
A Third Airport for Melbourne?
Eventually, the population of Victoria will double. A third airport will be necessary. The question is when and where? A third airport is not needed yet. The two existing airports are not nearly operating at full capacity. The third airport should not be at Koo Wee Rup (nor at Tooradin for the same reasons). There […]
Future of Australian Cities-Lessons from Overseas
The experience of China’s major cities now is a foretaste of how Australian major cities will be in 3-4 decades time on present planning. It is what the proposed VFT2 concept is designed to avoid today. China is having a massive internal migration from the country to the cities, which have increased in size and […]
Further Critical Influences
This is a follow up to the “Critical Influences” notes written six months ago. Several developments have occurred since which you may find others wish to influence you about or you may wish to influence others. It is prudent to be aware of out-of-date conventional wisdom. The issues should not be dismissed lightly. Introduction The […]
Property Value Effects of Railways
Railway tracks at ground level in towns and cities destroy value of adjacent property because of the sight, sound and smell (diesel fumes) of trains. (In the country, they may destroy property value by cutting across rural properties.) In cities, property values are reduced for up to half a kilometre on both sides of the […]