We in Newcastle live on the end of the Central Coast line and I will more often than not opt for a train trip to Sydney or the south coast by train. It is very cheap, quite scenic and I can read or sleep but it is slow. It is also statistically safer by far than road.
The carriages are more often than not virtually empty except in rush hour and it has always had me flumoxed why it is that we don't think outside the square. Most Newcastle to Central trains consist of eight carriages. Anyone who has seen them will appreciate the weight of the whole thing. The energy required to scoot them up and down the line must be astronomical, particularly when you take into account that more often than not they are well below their full capacity.
It occurred to me one day that you could revolutionise the system at the same time as making it econmical by reducing the actual size of the train down to one carriage and adapting the carriages to enable them to drive on the road. The railways already have an astonishing array of machines that move up and down the lines including cars with retractable rail wheels. It would not take a rocket scientist to design a coach/bus that could achieve speeds of 150 ks per hour on rail. Less weight more efficient braking. Lots of them and lots more jobs and less conjestion on the roads.
There are endless kilometers of unused lines throughout Australia which are capable of carrying traffic highly efficiently and it is frightening to think of the time effort and money that has gone into it seeing it left derelict.
