Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

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simonl
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by simonl »

Is there any reason you'd prefer an Albury train rather than a third Melbourne XPT?
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by Transtopic »

simonl wrote:Is there any reason you'd prefer an Albury train rather than a third Melbourne XPT?
Yes, it allows an earlier turnaround for a morning departure from Albury (and Griffith) to Sydney. If the afternoon service from Sydney proceeded to Melbourne (whether XPT or whatever), then it would have to depart Melbourne at an ungodly hour to provide an early morning departure from Albury to Sydney.
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by Transtopic »

Just to add to my earlier post, I have a friend who regularly catches the Northern Tablelands Explorer from Quirindi to Sydney and return. It appears to be a very popular service, departing regional areas in the morning. The early morning Bathurst Bullet has been a popular service for similar reasons. There is currently no early morning service from Albury and Wagga to Sydney, apart from the extremely early overnight XPT service from Melbourne. Hence, my suggestion to reinstate the Riverina Express to provide this service, also providing a daily service to and from Griffith. If rail services are provided at convenient hours, then people will use them.
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Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by Mitch »

The issue with those examples, though, is that there are no other passenger services running on those lines than what those services offer. Whereas with the Sydney - Melbourne line, it's already covered by the XPT service. Whilst yes the times aren't adequate, those who need to catch the services are going to catch them regardless of what time in arrives into the station.

I can see the need for having a Wagga to Albury service, even so far to say Albury to Junee although I'm not sure of how popular the service would be from Wagga to Junee. It's like the Melbourne to Geelong route; a major railway service between two major cities. But reinstating an entire service from Albury to Sydney is just duplicating a service that already exists.

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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by circleroute »

boronia wrote:Might be difficult because V-Line trains are broad gauge?
Vline passenger trains to Albury have been using the standard guage for a year or two already Boronia.
The sensible thing to do would be to run any new Wagga service all the way down to Melbourne (and return) starting from Wagga (or Junee) at a sensible hour - say between 6am and 7am with the return service departing Melbourne between 4.30 and 5.30. This would be a really attractive option instead of the crazy times for Wagga-Melbourne travellers who currently have to use an XPT in the middle of the night. ... just my humble opinion Image Image Image Image Image

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simonl
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by simonl »

Transtopic wrote:Yes, it allows an earlier turnaround for a morning departure from Albury (and Griffith) to Sydney. If the afternoon service from Sydney proceeded to Melbourne (whether XPT or whatever), then it would have to depart Melbourne at an ungodly hour to provide an early morning departure from Albury to Sydney.
Perhaps departing at an ungodly hour would be the go. It's deemed Ok for the Brisbane XPT.
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by boronia »

circleroute wrote:
boronia wrote:Might be difficult because V-Line trains are broad gauge?
Vline passenger trains to Albury have been using the standard guage for a year or two already Boronia.
The sensible thing to do would be to run any new Wagga service all the way down to Melbourne (and return) starting from Wagga (or Junee) at a sensible hour - say between 6am and 7am with the return service departing Melbourne between 4.30 and 5.30. This would be a really attractive option instead of the crazy times for Wagga-Melbourne travellers who currently have to use an XPT in the middle of the night. ... just my humble opinion Image Image Image Image Image

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Thank you for the clarification, I've lost track of what happens south of the border.

While the idea of a day return to Melbourne makes operational sense, I wonder what the actual demand for it would be?
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by circleroute »

boronia wrote:
circleroute wrote: Vline passenger trains to Albury have been using the standard guage for a year or two already Boronia.
The sensible thing to do would be to run any new Wagga service all the way down to Melbourne (and return) starting from Wagga (or Junee) at a sensible hour - say between 6am and 7am with the return service departing Melbourne between 4.30 and 5.30. This would be a really attractive option instead of the crazy times for Wagga-Melbourne travellers who currently have to use an XPT in the middle of the night. ... just my humble opinion Image Image Image Image Image

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Thank you for the clarification, I've lost track of what happens south of the border.

While the idea of a day return to Melbourne makes operational sense, I wonder what the actual demand for it would be?
No worries. My bet, given the populations of Wagga and Albury, coupled with a probable feeder-effect from not-too-distant towns to Wagga and intermediate stations along the route to Melbourne is that this would be a clear winner. I've had to visit Wagga from interstate many times over the past few years and due to the badly timed arrivals and departures of XPTs at Wagga I've had to fly on either an inbound or outbound leg - expensive and annoying given the fact that I prefer trains or coaches to flying. Hopefully the powers that be come to their senses, man-up and make the obvious decision.
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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by Mitch »

I would probably say that a midday service from Melbourne to Wagga/Junee would be more feasible than a mid-afternoon service to cover what the morning and afternoon XPT services don't. Even more so when the XPT services can stop at the towns in between Albury and Wagga (Culcairn, Henty and The Rock) if required. It would be better to extend the existing V/line service from terminating at Albury to terminate at Wagga, as there are already midday and evening services from Melbourne to Albury.

That being said, it's not the most reliable of services and more often than not is replaced by road coaches.

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Re: Wagga Wagga - Albury commuter-train wish

Post by circleroute »

Sounds good Mitch. Thankfully though, the coach replacements to cancelled trains is nowhere near what it was two or three years ago. It was chronic. You'd think that such an important line would be better managed for track possessions than it's subsequent record (for whatever reasons).

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