Could not have said it better myself @woodford
In fact I would argue it is even worse than that. I would argue the rot is so badly ingrained into Australian policy making (especially in the rust belt states) I cannot see a carbon reduced future at all for Australia.
Moreover, I cannot see how Australia can improve on the cost efficiency of its transport networks without a policy shift to rail or at least away from road transport as a panacea. It is a race or slide to the bottom. Railways in Australia lack innovation.
When having coffee with a friend last week who is a model rail roader, talking about the benefits of electrification to Bacchus Marsh (and even Ballarat) he stated when asked about his thoughts on the project "it would not be economically viable". Interesting view from someone without a finance background.
The economic rationalists have tainted public policy and ingrained into the mind of the average Australia that all projects must have a positive cashflow return. (As for NPV let's leave that alone for now as social and environmental benefits should also be considered in an NPV calc.)
My response was (if you are interested) what is the cost of not doing anything and should we now stop innovating as a country?
My response was (if you are interested) what is the cost of not doing anything and should we now stop innovating as a country?
As regards to Rail, we could not innovate our way out of a Paper bag!!! Passenger Rail is the responsibility of the States. Here in Victoria it has never been taken seriously. Look at Project planning. For roads, a group of experts model traffic flow and based on that draw up Projects for submission and they are sent to DoI. For Public Transport, there is a link in the PTV Website allowing members of the Public to have their say. Good old paralysis by analysis. Running Railways is a complex operation, how would Joe Public have the faintest idea about what improvements can be made!!!
Compare Victoria to NSW when it comes to Train Procurement. When NSW orders trains they order lots of them, 78 8 car trains for the latest tranche. What do we do in Victoria, 5 hers, 6 there 7 here. Of Xtraps, a design that is well obsolete and basic or Velocities a DMU with a maximum speed of 100mph at an eye watering $6.5 Million per carriage. The new High Speed Class 801 EMU's in the UK come in at $5.5 Million per carriage and they can do 140mph!!!
When the Coalition won office in NSW Gladys Berejiklian head hunted Howard Collins, a man with over 40 years service with London Underground. In Victoria for the Bendigo Rail Project, they put the local MP for Ballarat West in charge.
In Victoria, nothing will happen. The judgement is out about Melbourne Metro Rail, because we do not have the expertise.
Michael