On the drive back I thought that the Rainbow Festival met many of the desirable values for this country including those being promoted by Malcolm Turnbull and other politicians on Australia Day. A virtual town is made and serviced, with an emphasis on design that deliberately fosters creativity, in music of course, but also in art, sculpture, dress, children's play, balanced with quiet presentations such as permaculture and meditation, and a great variety of healthy food stalls (and no beer tents in sight!). The organisers must have worked hard to develop the strong bonds of inclusion with the local Ballarat and Beaufort communities- police, ambos, SES, and the local indigenous communities.

I was impressed with the kindness and positivity of the staff, the volunteers and participants I met, a very multicultural crowd, and the way in which drug and alcohol testing was offered on site to prevent risky driving. No doubt there is some drug taking in a community of partying young people, as anywhere, but I felt totally safe and relaxed unlike most main streets in and around Ballarat or Melbourne on a Saturday night where aggressive behaviour is common! Altogether, a wonderful example of what being an Australian can be, such hope for our country's future! Unfortunately media coverage to date seems biased towards the negative and does not do the festival justice.

Dale Halstead, Mornington

When the excellent VLocity railcars are operating properly, Geelong now has a 3 trains per hour service from Southern Cross. The Ballarat line deserves similar half hourly frequency. With a clever timetable, it would not be necessary to instal double track all the way to achieve this. The line out to Melton from Deer Park will need double track soon for the badly needed suburban service. Ballarat trains would benefit from this.  

The Ballarat to Warrenheip section of line could also be returned to double broad gauge track quite cheaply. Only 7 kms of new second track is then needed to reach the western end of the Bungaree Loop, where the loop plus the new straight alignment would mean complete double track between Ballarat and Gordon Junction; leaving single track with passing loops only between Gordon Junction and Melton. 

Astute timetable design would avoid any trains passing each other in this section. The brand-new Regional Rail Line should improve the on-time operation of all Ballarat trains as well.

John McPherson, Collingwood

I am as yet to see a plausible explanation reported as to the cause of the wheel problems that are grinding the VLine trains to a halt. Is it premature wearing of the wheels as a result of the rail wheel interface caused by a gauge problem or a tracking problem or is it a metallurgical problem in the manufacture of the wheel causing defects and premature aging of the wheel.  It would also be of interest to know the cause and frequency of VLine trains not activating level crossing protection. Light passenger trains such as the Velocity have a propensity for not operating the track circuit resulting in not being detected and consequently not operating signals and level crossings, for which there is a fix.  More detailed reporting of the VLine issues would perhaps be reassuring to the traveling public

Tony Lynch, Gordon