Posts by James Butler
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Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to richard goldie,
I recognise trains’ place, my hesitancy is twofold- 1) trains trains trains that’s all we hear- they have a place for sure, but I don’t like the fact that they are seen as a cure all
I haven't heard anyone suggesting that trains are a cure-all for Auckland's transport woes - a larger fraction of the pie would be ideal, but no-one ever asked for the whole pie.
I think the reason it feels like everyone is speaking out in favour of rail investment is that massive roading investment is so built into the thinking of those in charge that it simply never needs to be spoken of - roads are built by default. In contrast, the amount of outcry needed to get rail projects even considered must seem deafening.
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Hard News: Media 2011, in reply to giovanni tiso,
To you renditioning and torturing Assange would be WAY worse than arresting and torturing Manning? How so?
I only read him as implying it would be more likely to look bad to more people. Arguable, but very different to actually being worse.
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Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
I got to help photograph the Addington Rail workshops when they were decommissioned and then demolished
Are your photos online anywhere?
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Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
From that article...
RMTU general secretary Wayne Butson told NZPA there were concerns about the locomotives because "they look bloody heavy".
and:
KiwiRail's mechanical general manager Lloyd Major said the locos had been weighed and were 105 tonnes, which was lighter than the electric locos (EFs) that currently run between Hamilton and Palmerston North (108 tonnes) and similar to the existing DX fleet.
I think the real issue is this:
If the locomotives had been built in New Zealand they would not have had any issues, he [Butson] said.
Without wanting to get too deep into this debate, I'm touched by Butson's faith in local industry to magically produce highly sophisticated, specialist equipment without "any issues", when entire new mainline locos haven't been built here for decades.
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Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Oh exactly. The other great irony is that the last big capital rail investment in NZ, the NIMT electrification in the mid-80's, coincided exactly with the deregulation of the transport industry which left the railways without the monopoly-enforced customers with which the electrification was meant to cope; so the central section of the line has run for the last 20+ years at a fraction of its (freight) capacity.
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Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Bart Janssen,
It's a bit more nuanced than that. Railways overseas built to a similar gauge to New Zealand's routinely carry very large loads (South Africa, parts of Australia) and/or achieve high speeds (Japan, although not the Shinkansen which is standard gauge).
However, the use of narrow gauge in New Zealand has enabled lines to be built with tight curves and small clearances to fit into our interesting geography with the least earthworks, which is what limits the speed of our trains in the end - the North Island Main Trunk being a case in point. The same goes for using overseas rolling stock - the overall size is more limiting than the track gauge. So trying to change the track gauge of our entire network would be pretty futile - but the expensive bit, realigning routes, building new tunnels and bridges etc., would be of benefit on heavily-trafficked lines regardless of gauge.
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The thing that stands out for me is the almost unanimous framing of the Auckland public transport issue (from people all over the political spectrum) in terms of “pick one type and stick with it”. Thus investment in rail apparently must be at the cost of investment in roads and vice versa. Rail is seen as an alternative to buses, not a complimentary service.
I don't think I've seen that from advocates of the CBD rail loop... where has anyone advocated ripping up Auckland's existing bus lanes and putting down rails?
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We already have heaps of bus infrastructure; these are called ‘roads’.
While it might be "heaps", it's not enough. Consider the CBD Rail Loop business case (pp. 30-31):
Without the CBD Rail Link, Auckland CBD would require twin or triple bus lanes (both sides of road)
on most corridors and, in the absence of these, constraints on inner city network capacity would
occur as follows:
Fanshawe Street between Beaumont and Hobson Street, would be at capacity in 2019;
Symonds Street between Karangahape Road and Wellesley Street, would be at capacity by
2014;
Symonds Street between Khyber Pass Road and Karangahape Road, would be at capacity
by 2019;
Albert Street southbound, between Customs and Wellesley Streets, would be at capacity by
2016; and
Albert Street northbound, between Customs and Wellesley Streets, would be at capacity by
2020.Note that "twin or triple bus lanes (both sides of road)" in the CBD means precious little sharing with any other transport mode.
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to Matthew Littlewood,
And in response, David Frum conflates Wikileaks with Anonymous. Perhaps this little misunderstanding explains some of the US establishment's fear and rage. If all this information had in fact been leaked to 4chan, I would be much more worried.
[twitter pros - noob question - how do I get a link to an individual tweet?]
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Hard News: Wikileaks: The Cable Guys, in reply to giovanni tiso,
my, well, er, usual source
Please continue - I am far from tired of having my attention drawn to this wonderful writer.
"Blogs that from a long way off look like flies" indeed!