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Chris from Nailsea
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« on: March 29, 2026, 17:11:47 » |
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From the BBC» : Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices
Public transport in two Australian states will be made free to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.
Victoria, home to Melbourne, has said it will have free travel throughout April, while Tasmania has said commuters will not need to pay from Monday until the end of June.
However, other state governments have so far declined to follow suit, with New South Wales (in which Sydney is located) indicating it was reserving funds to meet increased demand for public transport.
Australia is among a host of nations that have seen fuel prices increase sharply since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The near-total blockade of international shipping in the vital waterway - through which around 20% of the world's oil and natural gas flows - has led governments around the world to begin implementing measures to conserve fuel.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought to reassure motorists on Friday following reports of panic-buying and petrol stations running dry.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan announced on Saturday that trains, trams and buses in the state would be free for all from Tuesday in a bid to drive down pressure on petrol pumps. "This won't solve every problem, but it's an immediate step to help Victorians right now," she said.
Meanwhile, the government of Tasmania - an island off the Australian mainland - announced people would be able to take its coaches, buses and ferries without charge for the coming few months. "We know the rising cost of fuel is impacting the family budget, and that's why we have again taken strong and decisive action to protect Tasmanians," its Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.
Tasmania's transport minister also noted that paid-for school buses would be made free, saving those who use them A$20 (£10.40) a week. But other Australian states have demurred from similar actions.
NSW transport minister John Graham told broadcasters his state was keeping its "powder dry" as "this situation will last more than a month".
South Australia said it was expanding the number of senior travel cards while absorbing higher fuel costs, and a spokesperson for Queensland pointed to it introducing a flat 50-cent fare last February in comments to SBS News.
Similarly, Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said his state had already reduced fares. "Rick Astley was top of the charts when fares were this low in Western Australia back in the 80s," he said.
The average price of petrol in Australia had risen to A$2.38 a litre as of last Sunday, up from around A$2.09 when the war began a month ago, according to figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum.
The Australian government says supply is not an issue - rather, sharp rises in the price of oil on the international market has had a knock-on effect on the price of fuels derived from it.
With only a trickle of cargo ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz without fear of being hit by Iran, there are concerns a prolonged blockage could have a wider impact on the global economy.
These rising costs have already led several other governments to implement fuel-saving measures.
Shops, restaurants and cafes in Egypt were told to close early from Saturday as part of a raft of measures that also included non-essential workers being told to work from home one day a week and increasing public transport fares.
At the same time, the Ethiopian government told state-owned companies and public institutions to place non-essential staff on leave so they would not travel into work.
On Tuesday, the Philippines declared a national emergency, with its government offering subsidies to transport drivers, reducing ferry services and implementing a four-day work week for civil servants.
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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grahame
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« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2026, 20:27:38 » |
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Brave decision / perhaps a good green choice. I do not know much about Austrlian public transport, but I would make an educated guess that doing the same thing in the UK▸ would be several orders of magnitude more expensive, and on a system which at some times is already overcrowded, perhaps making further problems.
But I do commend readers to use public transport. Their fuel costs also go up, but are a smaller proportion of the cost?
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Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
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grahame
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« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2026, 15:38:59 » |
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr9yr73xyeoFuel rations and free buses: How countries are responding to rising oil prices
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Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2026, 17:34:51 » |
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From the BBC» : What was the 1970s oil crisis, and are we heading for something worse?
The month-long closure of a crucial waterway for the global energy supply has sparked warnings the world is heading for problems worse than those caused by the 1970s oil crisis.
Lars Jensen, a shipping expert and former director at Maersk, told the BBC the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran could be "substantially larger" than the economic chaos seen in the 1970s.
His comments follow a warning from the director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, earlier this month that the world is "facing the greatest global energy security threat in history".
"It is much bigger than what we had in the 1970s, the oil price shocks. It is also bigger than the natural gas price shock we have experienced after the Russia's invasion of Ukraine," he told the BBC.
But while the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is disruptive to global supplies, others argue the world today is more resilient.
The 1970s oil crisis was "fundamentally different" from today's, as the first oil shock back then was "the result of a deliberate policy decision", economist Dr Carol Nakhle, who is also the chief executive of Crystol Energy, told the BBC.
In October 1973, Arab oil producers placed an embargo on a group of countries led by the US over their support for Israel during the Yom Kippur war. That policy came alongside a co-ordinated cut to oil production.
"The result was a near quadrupling of oil prices within a few months," Nakhle said.
This led to fuel rationing in major oil-consuming countries, and Nakhle said it triggered a "global economic and financial crisis" with lasting implications.
Dr Tiarnán Heaney, a researcher at Queen's University Belfast, said high oil prices fuelled inflation across the board, "meaning businesses cut back further and unemployment soared".
"This had massive knock-on effects that damaged the social fabric of many countries with widespread strikes, unrest, and increases in poverty as many households struggled to make ends meet," he said.
Both the US and UK▸ had recessions that lasted from 1973 to 1975, with the crisis contributing to the downfall of Ted Heath's Conservative government in 1974.
A second oil shock came in 1979, with the Iranian Revolution.
(BBC article continues)
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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Mark A
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« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2026, 18:13:27 » |
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Far worse and, depending on where you are in the world, people will see the population-destabilising burden of all this falling very unevenly - even before the various mad grandpas take more swings at individual countries. Since the scarcity pushes into other materials, and especially fertiliser, for good measure the crisis is about to deliver wild levels of food insecurity. Even on the energy front, if I had any sense I should immediately buy a biiiiig thermal throw and also a portable power bank/portable solar panel combination.
Mark
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grahame
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« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2026, 18:52:23 » |
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Far worse and, depending on where you are in the world, people will see the population-destabilising burden of all this falling very unevenly - even before the various mad grandpas take more swings at individual countries.
I looked at the BBC» article about countries affected by fuel shortage / concern - the UK▸ plus a dozen more. I noted that the article does not have sections about USA, nor Israel, nor Iran |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
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ChrisB
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« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2026, 18:57:35 » |
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According to a piece I read somewhere on the BBC» website this morning, the USA is a net energy exporter, so pretty much unaffected....no real surprise there otherwise Trump would defo be facing trouble at the md-terms.
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stuving
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« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2026, 19:21:42 » |
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According to a piece I read somewhere on the BBC» website this morning, the USA is a net energy exporter, so pretty much unaffected....no real surprise there otherwise Trump would defo be facing trouble at the md-terms.
He is - gasoline is now $3.50 or more in most places, up from around $2.00 not long ago - so that is a big issue for his voters and so for him. Being a net exporter does not in itself provide isolation from world prices; that's not how the oil market works. Oil and products of all kinds are traded between the USA and outside, at world market prices. In theory the USA's market could be decoupled from the world, but not simply, because of the number of things traded. Export controls might be the simplest way; export tariffs more flexible, but both difficult to do. Gas (LNG) is different, because there is one main product requiring special ships (you can't just squirt some in a tanker). Export capacity is strictly limited by the port installations, so domestic prices have risen by only a small fraction of Europe's. |
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ray951
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« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2026, 20:52:58 » |
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According to a piece I read somewhere on the BBC» website this morning, the USA is a net energy exporter, so pretty much unaffected....no real surprise there otherwise Trump would defo be facing trouble at the md-terms.
My understanding is that while the USA is largely self‑sufficient in crude oil, it still relies on imports of refined products. So any disruption would affect the US as well—perhaps more through higher prices than through shortages. |
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John D
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« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2026, 21:30:03 » |
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According to a piece I read somewhere on the BBC» website this morning, the USA is a net energy exporter, so pretty much unaffected....no real surprise there otherwise Trump would defo be facing trouble at the md-terms.
I worked in oil trading for few years, middle office, not an actual trader. But it hasn't been very well explained because USA is very much affected. Basically other countries are short, so a US refinery has a choice of shipping it to local gas stations, or exporting it and being paid much more. So the only way locals can get fuel is paying lot more to match the alternative export price. Nearly all the tankers affected by Strait of Hormuz are crude or dirty fuel (heavy fuel). Light ends (clean) tankers which carry petrol, kerosene, jet fuel etc are not stuck in Arabian Gulf. Thats part of the reason why diesel fuel is jumping in price lot more than gasoline, because its bulk transport is more restricted, the other reason is that it is end of winter (and diesel is close to heating oil) so stocks are seasonally at lowest. |
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broadgage
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« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2026, 09:19:25 » |
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Diesel is also in short supply in the UK▸ for another reason.
Many trucking firms maintain their own bulk tanks for filling their vehicles. If a shortage threatens, then drivers are instructed to fill up at retail filling stations, in order to conserve supplies in their private bulk tanks.
This tends to make shortages of diesel fuel more severe than petrol shortages.
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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU▸ is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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