Defence HQ spurs on new rail pan

Indefatigable · Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:43 pm

S-Truck · Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:43 am

Bob Winnel of the village Building Company is behind the proposal. Frank Pangallo (mayor - Queanbeyan) told the Jerrabomberra Residents Association last night that he is now against the plan.

The current travel time between Queanbeyan and Bungendore is 30 minutes by train. The Defence HQ is about halfway between the two, so lets say it would take 15 minutes to get there. Then add another 10 minutes to Jerrabomberra. About the time it takes to drive between the two. Of course you dont have to commute to to a train station first. I doubt that light rail could do the trip as easily.

Of course, you would want to maximise the number of people using the train from Jerrabomberra to the HQ. So you would run maximum load trains, once a day from Jerra. How many of the 750 staff who will work there would a) start at the same time in the morning and b) choose to live in Jerra? 50?

Defence is buying 350 properties in the Gunghalin area to house these new staff needed, with 150 properties spread around the rest of the ACT: hardly any in Jerrabomberra. Would make better sense to fix Macs Reef Road.

The NSW Government has stymied any further residential development around the Jerrabomberra area.

And if they payed a non-subidised fare it would cost them about $10 one-way (based upon the Countrylink website).

More from the Canberra Times 5/10/06 on this proposal can be seen on the business pages.

Goninan Rider · Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 8:04 pm

Wow, the best news us ACT Rail Gunzels have heard for about a hundred years (since Canberra was connected in the early 20's)!
Regardless of whether this is viable or not, if it does end up going ahead, it will set off a chain reaction leading to suburban rail travel in Canberra (hopefully).

S-Truck · Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:30 pm

Indefatigable · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:46 am

Yeah, I strongly doubt the plan getting off the ground under its current allignment. It'd be nice, but I don't think it would happen.

As for other rail links in the ACT, the transport corridors are already in place for most areas that would qualify for light rail, such as Woden, Civic, Belconnen, Tuggeranong etc. (and you thought those nature strips were just there to look pretty), and suburban rail had featured in Walter Burley Griffin's original plans for Canberra.

M636C · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:11 am

There are a number of light diesel rail cars in current production in Europe that could be obtained for this service relatively quickly and cheaply.

If they are thinking of spur lines into Jerrabombera and the Defence centre near Bungendore (HQAST), it might be possible for many of the users to walk at both ends.

When personnel are transferred from Sydney or Melbourne to Canberra, many families have only one private car and public transport coordinated to Defence work times might be well received, particularly if Defence met the costs.

I don't think running a service to Kingston would be much use, but about twenty five years ago I checked out the old rail alignment across the Dairy Flats, and the ballast (such as there was) and sleepers were still there, along the line of the power cables that cross the same area.

The line appeared to pass through the old Brambles forwarding area alongside the present ARHS ACT Museum. If that line was restored as far as the edge of the lake/river, this would be walking distance from Russell Hill Offices if a pedestrian footbridge were put across the river (and possibly across the road as well). This could be made a stop on the existing Defence shuttle bus service (every ten minutes from Russell to Campbell Park) and a viable service from Jerrabombera to Russell and Russell to HQAST might exist, justifying maybe three or four trips a day at shift change times.

There has been a further power line put across Dairy Flats since I checked out the line, so some or all of the right of way may now not be available. Does anyone know?

M636C

S-Truck · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:20 pm

Goninan Rider · Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:11 pm

xplorer2501 · Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:24 pm

Royalla would be fine, there is a growing population there. But maybe not enough to sustain its own rail service. Tuggeranong Station is wigt on the edge of Tuggeranong, and not really in anyones way. More or less, it would be out of the way for people to travel to get a train from Tuggeranong Station to anywhere. Take me for example, I am in Monash (I can see where Tuggeranong Station is from my house), but to get there, even with a bus connection would recquire me to get one bus to Tuggeranong, another bus to the Station, get the Train from there to where ever the hell I need to go. At my destination I would probably need to get another bus or a Taxi to my location (unless I was at defence HQ). If I was working in Kingston or Civic it would be quicker to get a bus straight to that location from Monash. If I was going to Queanbeyan, I would be better off going to Woden and getting a Deanes bus to Queanbeyan.

"Who is this man?!" Major Hochsetter

Goninan Rider · Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:33 pm

I guess you are correct in saying so, xplorer2501.

In that case, the only posssible option for this to go ahead would to be to open a station closer to the Lanyon Dr overpass. Then, if Bus companies were to intervene, then a viable connection would be drawn out of that.

M636C · Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:52 pm