The same ones who used the BG up to now - and hopefully some new business will stand up.
huge amount of money being spent on a conversion of the Mildura line but who will use it post conversion and where will the benefits to customers come from?When I read your post this morning I thought you were trying to wind us up and to a degree you have.
there is also the problem of Ballarat for freights, it will be faster for trains to go via ararat to geelong as there are only a few paths through ballarat. those windows are getting smaller as v/line are adding more services.I don't know the numbers but surely there are a large number of paths available for freight services that up until now had used the BG lines to get to Melbourne and Geelong?
I know the Mildura area well and have for years photographed the decline in rail access. A few commentsConsidering the cement is still on the train IIRC (loaded in containers and trucked from Somerton by Blue Circles choice), and Oil was killed off by Shell going nope we don't wanna have the ONLY SERVICEABLE RAIL LOADING POINT FOR EVERYONE.
The question more in my mind relates to how would the SG conversion facilitate the building of freight on the line. There is really only two places to load freight Donald and Merbein. Merbein is a private siding. There is a lot of freight opportunity in Mildura which v/line wound down under Kennett. There is a ton a Irymple and much much more at Redcliffs with several large customers in the area.
There is grain from Yelta and the opportunity for oil and cement again. The cement could come from Somerton on SG and be attached to the 9101 and 9102. How much of the project budget for example is catering for intermodal at Redcliffs?
There is also no intermodal access at Geelong which is a shame and the ability for more gypsum traffic out of Ouyen?
Donald could load more containers if the capacity were available.
I guess that there's a reason nobody has mentioned the possibility of extending the line to Broken Hill after the conversion to SG.The proposed link to the Interstate East - West mainline is in fact from Yelta to Menindee, as this would be the shortest route. That link alone certainly justify the conversion of the line to SG, bringing with it the possibility of double stacked container trains from the West coming directly into Victoria. [And Visa Versa!]
The transcontinental link is a weird one.Yes, I agree, building a link from Mildura through Burra to Crystal Brook will never happen, as it's over 400Km across pastoral and farming land as opposed to the much shorter 200Km link through to Menindee. This link would cross relatively flat semi arid plains, with the biggest hurdle being the construction of the bridge across the Murray River.
Go look at a map and have a think about whether it truely is an efficient link into the East/west market.
A better link (for Perth traffic) would be to head west from Mildura, through the Riverland to Morgan, Burra and then join up somewhere near Crystal Brook. Sydney traffic i doubt would move. But a better route for this would be Mildura-Hay and then link into the inland that way. Plus open new corridors that have traffic potential.
IMO the TCon is really about getting minerals from Western NSW and diverting them to Melbourne instead of the current route to SA.
Id seriously doubt it would ever happen.
Could it be cheaper to upgrade the line between Murrayville and the main line between Melbourne and Adelaide? This to me seems the best approach and then finish the line west of Hay into MIldura with an interchange yard in Mildura creating jobs and a cross roads between east and west and into Melbourne?Apparently the single 2km long double stacked trains can't come to Victoria directly via the Adelaide Hills route and have to be broken down into 4 smaller single stacked trains to then progress on to Victoria. All that extra handling costs in lost efficiencies.
I know the Mildura area well and have for years photographed the decline in rail access. A few comments
The question more in my mind relates to how would the SG conversion facilitate the building of freight on the line. There is really only two places to load freight Donald and Merbein. Merbein is a private siding. There is a lot of freight opportunity in Mildura which v/line wound down under Kennett. There is a ton a Irymple and much much more at Redcliffs with several large customers in the area.
There is grain from Yelta and the opportunity for oil and cement again. The cement could come from Somerton on SG and be attached to the 9101 and 9102. How much of the project budget for example is catering for intermodal at Redcliffs?
Cement traffic and Oil traffic being returned to rail have been killed of by PN. Mildura had 4-5 vans a day into the freightgate which was profitable traffic. Again killed by PN. There is scope for SCT style operation in Mildura as loading does go to places other than Mildura.
Under Vline Mildura had a daily 9101 and 9102. Then it became alternate days under PN. I am told Iron Horse wanted more train capacity but was not given it with excuse after excuse.
There is also no intermodal access at Geelong which is a shame and the ability for more gypsum traffic out of Ouyen?
Donald could load more containers if the capacity were available.
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