NSW freight loco question...

[monkeysarefun]

In order to cater for the future transport needs of the  Tony Abbott  International White Elephant Airport at Badgerys Creek the NSW government in its wisdom is proposing an outer Sydney orbital transport corridor, consisting of an 8 lane freeway and dual track heavy freight line, to run around the outskirts of Sydney, and disconcertingly close to my house. 

 

Although the forecast build date is currently  decades away, the transport corridor is earmarked for gazetting later this year, meaning huge implications for affected residents who want to sell their homes or plan for the future.

 

The governemt is accepting submssions up until June 1st for the public to come up with alternative routes (ie do the governments work for them...). One suggestion that comes up is a tunnel through the southwest section which will reduce much of the environmental and visual issues. Transport for New South Wales 'experts' have dismissed this idea because they claim that tunnels are unsuitable for diesel trains due to emissions.

 

Now although I'm a member on this site my main interest is architectural modelling and I'm embarrassed to say that I have very little knowledge of anything tht runs on tracks, other than which platform to stand on when I want to go into town. Therefore I'm hoping there will be anyone (probably everyone here other than me!) who can shed a little light on this,particularly regarding the locomotives used as freight movers in NSW. Basically  - is a tunnel a viable option or was the NSW expert right for a change.

 

For bonus points, would there be any way of predicting the motive power to be  used by the NSW railways in say 20 years time - electric or whatever - when the line would actually possibly be open to operations. 

 

For interest, here is the proposed route - the blue one running through the west of Sydney:

 

https://www.collaborativemap.com/WesternSydneyCorridors

 

The envisioned tunnel  length would be around 15km.

Edited May 17, 2018 by monkeysarefun

[SRman]

There are many classes of freight locomotives used through NSW and Victoria on the standard gauge. Some are quite old, and would not meet modern emission requirements if they were marketed as new locomotives - they have the 'grandfather' rights as long as they remain on the tracks.

Tunnels can be ventilated to suit diesel power, but that would cost extra.

One other thing comes to mind against using the diesels in the tunnels, though, and that is the tendency here in Oz to use multiple diesels to haul very long, heavy trains, more like the American railroads do, rather than British railways which never use more than three locos in multiple. Add the emissions from four, five or six locomotives all under load in a tunnel, and it could become a very real problem.

p.s. Check out some of the videos posted on DavidB-AU's modern thread to see what i mean.

Edited May 17, 2018 by SRman