Single-track solution on rail

TRANSPORT

CONCERNS over light rail’s viability with a single track echoes a common misunderstanding (Letters, November 2). Frequent passenger rail services can function on a single-track railway, provided strategically located passing loops are installed. A 12 minute headway service is easily achieved between Hobart and Bridgewater by installing passing loops at stations at Macquarie Point, New Town, Glenorchy, Claremont and Granton. This is not unique, since other city rail systems (eg Brisbane, Melbourne, Wellington) also feature single track sections. I agree the Regatta Grounds would not be a viable Hobart terminus, that is why an extension beside Davey St to Mawson Place is proposed — close to the CBD and an interface point with buses and ferries. Hobart has a clear choice of stagnating as a big car park, or enabling growth whilst maintaining resilience and character with a smart and integrated transport system. varying amounts of passengers, has a regular speed capacity and can beach tourists straight up onto our golden sandy beaches to awaiting shuttles and Metro buses. We could easily eliminate the enormous costs of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars associated with purchasing clumsy ferries and expensive jetty infrastructure. cyclists. These whingeing motorists should advocate to have a proper raised cycle pathway for pedestrians and cyclists on sections of roads which have a heavy volume of traffic, rather than substandard paths painted on the road in green paint. The eastern end of the Bowen Bridge is a degrading example.

Raise the bridge

I THINK that the old Bridgewater bridge should be retained by raising the level of the causeway and lifting the whole bridge span so boats can sail underneath. The new bridge should be located between Old Beach and Austins Ferry with a train line included, to link both shores.

When reader Lewis Garnham stated that “dummies” should be hung off the old bridge did he actually mean politicians? No matter what concept people come up with, it won’t happen unless a politician can take credit for it.

Prison failure

BUILDING bigger prisons is an admission of government failure. Failure to halt intergenerational welfare dependence, to improve education standards, to create jobs and to instil a sense of shared community purpose. Today in Western capitalist democracies, it’s all about avarice and greed.

High standards

ONE of the big four banks is paying $118 million to customers who suffered shonky treatment. They say they are cleaning up things in the light of today’s standards. I’ve got news for them — standards of honest dealing are much older than today. Some of us remember when the local bank manager was a respected member of the community and aimed to help his clients not exploit them.

Not rocket science

HOW hard is it? If you were born overseas or have a parent or grandparent born overseas, all you need to do is check if you might have dual citizenship. It is not rocket science.