Time to sort out the rail gauge mess history has left us

By Letters to the Editor
Updated November 23 2017 - 8:23pm, first published 10:06am

Time to sort out the gauge mess

While work progresses  on passenger broad gauge rail the ongoing problem of standard  which carries much of the freight is yet to be worked out
While work progresses on passenger broad gauge rail the ongoing problem of standard which carries much of the freight is yet to be worked out

Recently the State and Federal Government announced a major project to standardise the rail track in Western Victoria. This was a most welcome decision. However, this means that the major regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Swan Hill will not be connected to the National Standard Gauge system. When will the Federal and State Governments announce that these major regional cities are connected to the Standard Gauge System? On a recent visit to Victoria, I observed there had been new concrete sleepers laid on some of the broad gauge train lines connecting these cities, but none of the new sleepers were made gauge convertible so that when inevitably these cities are connected to the standard gauge system, these broad gauge-only concrete sleepers will have to be replaced at considerable extra cost. At the very least, the Victorian Government should not replace broad gauge sleepers with concrete sleepers unless they are made gauge convertible. Gauge convertible sleepers mean a further clip is inserted on the sleeper so that in the future a rail from the broad gauge clip can be moved to the standard gauge clip at minimal cost without the need for a completely new concrete sleeper.

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