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I do not know what happened this weekend. I am out of town in Far North Queensland and news from NSW is always scarce. The cane trains and air filled with fresh molasses from the mills is very satisfying. The DMU carsets on the Canberra service date from 1984 and are based on Swedish ICE3...

Over the 3 days of the Queens Birthday weekend a major transport heritage event was held at Central station, Sydney. It was organised and operated by member/volunteers of the New South Wales Rail Museum. The rolling stock displayed included 3 steam & 4 heritage diesel locomotives along with a...

The Black & Orange is corporate G&W colours. They have been operating in Australia for some decades and can be seen in most states. I believe that the local Freightliner locomotives have all bee repainted G&W. More recently they purchased the business of Glencore and are busily repainting those...

I have not seen this video before. The train is passing through the suburb of Holsworthy and is inbound to the city. I cannot tell whether the footage was taken on the saturday or sunday. The line in this area was closed for some hours on sunday at least. This was a busy weekend for local...

Sorry Steve; non of the above. Only one government is involved, Queensland. There is no corruption; if there was then that state's corruption commission would be involved. The situation comes largely from failures by several people at various stages of the procurement and construction...

The construction contract was totally botched. When the Queensland government called tenders they intended the contract to go to a local (Queensland) manufacturer. The manufacturer did not lodge a tender. I have heard 2 conflicting reasons why. I suspect that there is truth in both. The trains...

The ownership of the IP changed a couple of years ago. Serco sold to a private equity group. They have removed the sitting cars from services. Many non-railfan passengers find the long run over the Nullabor boring and uninteresting. Personally I love it. The fares are expensive and there is...

May I respectfully suggest that everybody calm down. An end to paper tickets is not the end of the world. Over 12 months ago Sydney Trains stopped issuing paper tickets. You now need either a smartcard "Opal Card" or purchase a single use smartcard from a TVM at the station. You cannot buy an...

I am NOT "out of the loop". My information comes from people inside Sydney Trains who are in positions to know. The C & K sets are currently undergoing their routine detailed inspections. Asbestos is NOT an issue of concern. The C & K sets will continue in service for many more years...

Please do NO use the term Red Rattler. It is derogatory and incorrect. The term was coined for Melbourne trains. There is a 4 car Heritage set available for special working. Another 2 cars should soon be added to the consist. It is my hope that further 2 or more cars may become available over...

C & K sets continue to work over the network. They have NOT been withdrawn. They will continue to operate over the network for many years to come. They are subject to routine 5 year detailed inspections. These inspections are currently being carried out. There are NO concerns about asbestos...

MarkyT has pretty much summarised the situation. It has been my opinion for a long time that the property developers want to build and/or convert existing commercial sites and buildings to expensive upmarket apartments. The subsequent residents do NOT use public transport. This will be the...

All old wives tales. T sets can work all lines on the network. The Illawarra/Eastern Suburbs line is exclusively T & H sets. The Olympic Park & Carlingford lines get whatever carsets happen to be available from Flemington Depot. You can get anything on these services. Sometimes the working can...

There are several pages of posts on an Australian railfan website about this matter. ALL have sympathy for the train driver and other railway staff as well as for the victims family. Otherwise, they are pleased that a service has been provided by ridding us of an unwanted vandal from the...

Please keep in mind that Townsville is in the tropics. Mid Nov is just before the begining of the wet season (the summer monsoon). It will be consistently hot with a likelihood of a heavy storm each afternoon. The cane harvest will be winding down. From Townsville there are a number of areas...

What are the dates of this event? Most of the car hire companies in Cairns have distance boundaries past which you cannot take the vehicle, usually about 60 miles. The drive between Townsville and Brisbane is a good drive provided you leave enough time. The distance is about 1200 miles...

I have been making regular visits to the Cairns area for over 20 years. Cairns itself is a tourist trap. In town it is impossible to avoid some of the overpricing. There is little to do in Port Douglas except lie on the beach; so long as there are no crocodiles around. It is a fashionable...

If you take your break in Brisbane I also suggest getting a GO card. This is good on trains, buses and ferries. In Cairns, the Kuranda Tourist Train is a must. There are 2 services each way every day. The Savanahlander is a 4 day trip. Over the next few months there should be no problems in...

A few months ago I had 2 failures with my Barclays debit card. I was using this from Sydney. With one booking it was with a hotel and they accepted my booking without payment. I later went back to the other at a different time of day and was successful. I concluded that during UK business...