"Maybe it was the responsible derivatives gambling which was...

"Maybe it was the responsible derivatives gambling which was $470 million in the red late last year?"

I believe that the "derivatives gambling" that you refer to is interest rate hedging, which couldn't be anything further from gambling i.e. it is the responsible thing to do. If interest rates fall when you have hedges in place, then your mark to market on those hedges makes a hit to your P&L, but your cash position remains the same because you are hedged. Just one of many reasons why accounting is not relevant for infrastructure securities.


"My question to fellow Hotcopperites is :How in flamin' Hades could even the most shameless ramper think that the Briscon tunnel could equal the volume of the ED, let alone surpass it by multiples?"

Without even getting technical, I have 2 points for you to consider.
1) For a start, the ED is only tolled in one direction (the Harbour Bridge/Tunnel picks up the opposite direction), so a road that is tolled in both directions will have double the number of tolled trips as one that has tolling in one direction only.
2) Have you ever been on the ED during peak hour - the traffic is terribly slow because there is traffic that enters from ramps on the right that has to quickly merge over to the left lane to exit. Airport Link has no such merges and has been designed to have a much faster travel speed - meaning that more cars can physically fit down the tunnel and that travel times will be faster.