NSW 2015 Election

[ozbob]

This board will be for posting railway/public transport policies, articles of relevance and discussion for the forthcoming NSW state election.

Representatives of any political party, or independent candidates, are welcome to send information or links for posting on our forum to Admin Rail Back On Track at admin@backontrack.org  If it relates to rail and/or public and/or active transport initiatives and policy it will be considered for posting.

RAIL Back On Track has no particular political affiliations and treats all such material on its merits.

Please note our terms of service here --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3.0

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Labor's transport policy: less of the same

[ozbob]

Twitter

Antony Green ‏@AntonyGreenABC 15 minutes ago

NSW Election calculator using Galaxy poll. Result would probably be worse than poll for Coalition http://ab.co/1B3hTlg  #nswpol

[ozbob]

Twitter

Antony Green ‏@AntonyGreenABC 20 minutes ago

Why the Baird government is vulnerable and why the polls have to be questioned http://ab.co/1M18rQU  #nswpol

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Gladys Berejiklian says no plans for further transport privatisation

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Labor attacked for unfunded promise of new rail links to Badgerys Creek

[ozbob]

The Telegraph --> State Election 2015: New and faster XPT fleet trains for country NSW

LONG-distance trip times to the bush will be slashed and tired train carriages will go under a Coalition promise for a new $1 billion XPT fleet.

Deputy Premier and ­Nationals leader Troy Grant will unveil the election commitment today at the National Party launch in Dubbo in a move that could cut the travel times to the North Coast by ­almost two hours and to ­Orange by almost an hour.

Mr Grant said the new fleet of trains would be run by NSW TrainLink, with the fares set by the government.

He said the fleet was over 30 years old and well below the international standard of distance trains.

"The new train fleet will transform tourism and travel along the North Coast, Central West and southern NSW," Mr Grant said. "The new trains will offer regional passengers and tourists unprecedented levels of comfort, convenience and reliability."

The train carriages are expected to have Wi-Fi and will serve regional food and wine.

"The new trains will provide passengers and tourists with modern and comfortable seating, dining, sleeping and entertainment options, including the potential for Wi-Fi, as well as enhanced security and ­better access for the elderly and people with a disability," Mr Grant said.

"We will also investigate ­relocating the maintenance ­facilities for the new trains ­outside Sydney to support local jobs and better timetables." ...

[Stillwater]

The Nationals are promising a Tilt replacement.  Twenty years ago, the father of the current Premier of NSW imported a Tilt Train from Sweden, modified a large number of platforms throughout the inter-regional rail network in NSW and ran it as a 'trial'.  There were photo opportunities at every whistle stop -- people were promised the train was a sign of things to come.  Nothing happened.

[ozbob]

I remember the demonstration at Roma St well.  Took my daughters in for a look.   Great expectations!

:bi < reality

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> NSW election: western Sydney councils call for public transport boost

[#Metro]

The cost and lead times for any rail construction project are too high and too long.
Upgrading the current rail network (i.e. signalling, trains with less seats etc) and renovating the bus network are cheaper, faster and effective.

[colinw]

The cost and lead times for any rail construction project are too high and too long.
Upgrading the current rail network (i.e. signalling, trains with less seats etc) and renovating the bus network are cheaper, faster and effective.

This approach also has the advantage that when the fare paying customers get sick of riding cramped old relics and horrendously uncomfortable buses, the service can then be ditched because "nobody rides it".

Although that list of demands from the mayors seems ridiculous, other than Richmond line duplication and extending the NWRL the final couple of km (look at a map, the line under construction almost connects through, terminating a couple of km short of a connection).

[#Metro]

This approach also has the advantage that when the fare paying customers get sick of riding cramped old relics and horrendously uncomfortable buses, the service can then be ditched because "nobody rides it".

Although that list of demands from the mayors seems ridiculous, other than Richmond line duplication and extending the NWRL the final couple of km (look at a map, the line under construction almost connects through, terminating a couple of km short of a connection).

Heavy infrastructure is expensive. Nobody is questioning that, it is fact. This is true of both busway class A and rail class A projects, and indeed, other modes like Monorail etc.

Under a fixed budget, the higher the price of something, the less quantity of that something there is to roll out.

For a fraction of the cost of 1km of fixed rail or busway (i.e. Stones Corner busway), the entire bus network could undergo major reno. There is probably major waste in the bus network also, so much of this is likely to be self-funding as well.

Busway, light rail (class A ROW) and heavy rail stations are generally spaced at 1km intervals, there is little to stop new longer distance services experimenting with something similar for a longer distance bus product.

Bus-Rail Interchange, Toronto.

[pandmaster]

The cost and lead times for any rail construction project are too high and too long.
Upgrading the current rail network (i.e. signalling, trains with less seats etc) and renovating the bus network are cheaper, faster and effective.

This approach also has the advantage that when the fare paying customers get sick of riding cramped old relics and horrendously uncomfortable buses, the service can then be ditched because "nobody rides it".

Although that list of demands from the mayors seems ridiculous, other than Richmond line duplication and extending the NWRL the final couple of km (look at a map, the line under construction almost connects through, terminating a couple of km short of a connection).

Not extending the NWRL to link up with the Richmond line is a joke! The local member out there has a lot to answer for!

[pandmaster]

Sydney Morning Herald --> NSW election: western Sydney councils call for public transport boost

I doubt their "loop line" idea is feasible. It may be though, depending on present and future commuting patterns. Certainly worth preserving a corridor at the very least. The Richmond line certainly has a lot of potential.

[pandmaster]

The Telegraph --> State Election 2015: New and faster XPT fleet trains for country NSW

This is long overdue. I hope that the ALP commit to this as well. This could however be an opportunity to slash services by reducing rollingstock. I hope that they order more than the current XPT/XPLORER fleet to offer more Canberra services, daily Griffith and Broken Hill services and a second daily Brisbane service. Hopefully the ACT, Queensland and Victorian governments all chip in as well.

A nice idea to relocate the maintainence in theory, however surely the operational flexibility would suffer since all routes originate or terminate in Sydney.

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> NSW state election 2015: Transport workers distrust management, fear the sack

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> NSW state election 2015: What next for transport?