Modification of present rail system to reduce freight costs and increase productivity. With the added advantage of reducing overall fuel consumption by up to half Billion litres of diesel each year.

Initial submission

Introduction

There is a need to provide genuine competition in transporting goods between the major cities on the Eastern sea board. This need should be satisfied by reducing product handling and integrated distribution. A fast freight rail system transporting the existing trucks (Truck Transporters) on a point to point basis at a cost of the present fuel used by the trucks to cover the same distance is the logical goal.

Its being done already

The cross channel tunnel England to France transports trucks every day through the channel tunnel. A system is in place in India on the Konkan Railway for 1,000 km from Mumbai to Mangalore. The model used in India is the truck is charged at the same cost of the fuel it would have used to cover the same distance. So why not extend the idea of a RO-RO Road Rail system and do it here in Australia.

Initial Basics

Taking the Newel highway as an example there are 25,000 truck movements every day. If this was taken off the road and put on the trains and assuming 20:1 energy efficiency of rail over road and the average distanced travelled being 1500 Kms there would be a saving of 1000 x 20,000 litres less 5% per day approximately 20 million litres per day.

The truck driver drives on to the train puts his/her feet up and when at the destination drives off and makes the final delivery.

The cost of the trip would be fixed at the same rate of the diesel cost. The train company would earn approximately $25 million per day or about $0.5 Billion each year.
The trucking company would still keep their clients and could still provide the point to point service, no loss of income.

Similar costs would apply for the Hume Highway.

Economic Benefit

The rail line would be all new track and alignment it can be wide gauge or any gauge, the target speed would be 200 Km/hr with average speed including start stop being 120 km/hr. This is easily achievable

A minimum of three parallel rail lines would be need Standard up line and down line, with a third line for high speed through traffic.

Cost to build is about $1 million per Km and total length of track say 5,000 kms. So the cost to build is $5 Billion.

Our green house gasses will be reduced as most of our diesel is imported this would save $0.5 billion per year in foreign dept. 
The construction project would drive a GDP growth in rural Australia.
It would increase completion rather than keeping long haul transports in the hands of the larger companies

John Higgs

1st July 2006