Newcastle - Save our rail

[pandmaster]

The Nambour IMU of an afternoon is 4-6 minutes early to Petrie. The EMU's struggle to be a 1-2 minutes early.

Perhaps with the NGR replacements the timetable might get "The biggest loser" treatment 

The performance differences are quite visible. I used to live at Wooloowin where the City-bound Gold Coast and Ipswich trains are scheduled to depart a minute apart. I was often treated to a "race" of trains. The Gold Coast train would often be an IMU and the Ipswich an EMU. The Gold Coast train would often catch and break ahead of the Ipswich one with its minute head start.

[ozbob]

Herald --> Newcastle rail line: Work begins to rip up heavy rail corridor tracks for light rail

[colinw]

Poor deluded fools. 

[red dragin]

What's there excuse for not building it going to be though?

• Rare endandged species
• Not profitable
• Buses doing the job better
• ?

[ozbob]

Rail Express --> Constance looks global to integrate Newcastle transport

[ozbob]

Save Our Rail NSW Inc.

http://saveourrail.org.au/?p=1802

Transport privatisation a cost to passengers – Media release 05/11/2015

Save Our Rail is totally opposed to privatisation of rail services or the sale of the corridor land. Private operators have a duty to make a profit for their shareholders therefore the cost to the customer will be higher.

Minister Constance:  "Patronage on public transport in Newcastle has dropped and customers tell us the service levels are not up to scratch. It's clear the current approach to transport in Newcastle isn't working so it's time to think outside the box."

"Too right it isn't working, Mr Constance!" says Joan Dawson, President, Save Our Rail. "It's been disabled! The crippling of the service since Dec 2014 by your government has already proved to have a similar effect to the Newcastle earthquake. It is killing off the CBD."

Cutting the direct train service off at Hamilton, offloading the passengers to buses has caused a drop in public transport use of approximately 55% according to TfNSW figures.  Workers, students and people with appointments have resorted to car use to ensure punctuality.  People, including tourists are choosing to go elsewhere because of the inconvenience of the transfer.  This has caused a marked retail decline in Newcastle CBD, the backpacker industry guide, The Lonely Planet has dropped Newcastle from its top ten list and proprietors are putting off staff. The Great Northern Hotel is a dead zone, closing its doors some days and the taxi drivers report a drop in custom at the Newcastle Station stand.

Mr Constance also spoke of the mis-matched timetables – would you believe this man's temerity in mentioning timetables! The changes wrought by Gladys Berejiklian on train services were a disaster and created havoc for the viability of using public transport throughout the Hunter.  From school children to day trippers the new timetables caused already poor services to be further eroded. Even the XPT services were not exempted from the onslaught. Despite protests and advice that the bus system needed total overhaul instead of interfering with the efficiency of the trains, the community was ignored.

It has been obvious that rail into Newcastle has been subject to a deliberate campaign of undermining, even to the non-promotion of Newcastle as a tourist destination. The aim has been to run it into the ground in order to justify its removal.

Save Our Rail has previously described the process of cutting off the rail line as "Privatisation by Stealth."  Well now it is out in the open – the intention to sell off the land to developers, denied for years, is certainly now being realised as the reason for removing trains from the transport corridor.  Urban Growth is heralding private uses for this valuable asset, this non-undermined piece of land that can support high rise. Like a row of protruding teeth the buildings will sprout along the harbour front. The only people to prosper from this will be developers.

Now we have another privatisation aspect revealed – the entire Newcastle transport system!

One only has to look at the privately run Central to Mascot Airport line to realise that the costs to passengers will increase.  The fares to connect with the public train system are a major impost, with pensioners paying $2.50 to go from Newcastle to Central then having to fork out $13 to travel the final short distance to access the airport. The cost to full fare paying passengers is much higher again.

In Christchurch there is a private light rail service, that circles the city centre going nowhere and to even put a foot onto its carriages costs NZ $20. That is what Newcastle seems to be getting – a light rail running where currently the fare free buses operate – back and forth to nowhere. The free bus is to be discontinued and the privately run trams will be a cost on top of the fare to Wickham.  Who will come? Why would they come?

Poor old Newcastle – its heritage railway destroyed and its heart ripped out at a cost of $½ billion.

Today to top up the bad news the contractors have begun their evil work of "ripping up the rail line" at Wickham.

This is a cause for alarm with no decision yet handed down in the Appeal against the Save Our Rail Supreme Court win on Christmas Eve. Is it legal with the amended Act of Parliament not yet gazetted?  Certainly it demonstrates the high handed actions of an arrogant government, which imposes its will on the people without consultation and ignores the protests of the community.

Joan Dawson,
President, Save Our Rail NSW Inc.

[colinw]

Meanwhile, Haifa, Israel.  An inconveniently located railway right on the waterfront is being put underground to make way for waterfront development.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/haifa-railway-to-go-underground.html

[verbatim9]

Hopefully a good light rail network extended out to Mereweather/Charlestown will come out of it

[ozbob]

The Herald --> Newcastle rail line appeal: Baird government wins appeal, Save Our Rail to pay costs

[ozbob]

Newcastle Herald --> OPINION: Getting from A to B not for private profit

[ghostryder]

I had a few days in Newcastle in a few weeks back, I spent about 40 minutes at Broadmeadow station in early January it was not uncommon for trains to be sitting for several minutes longer than usual at the platform, then get to Woodville junction and sit again for several more minutes before being let into Hamilton. What a joke.

[ozbob]

A tragic joke ..

They make their fuking bed ...  they will lie it in it hey?

I care, as you do too ...

[verbatim9]

Once signalling is sorted and a new transit centre built to transfer to light rail. It will be a good system to get to downtown Newcastle. I must admit I use to catch the train to Newcastle station and noticed it didn't really have the patronage as it did 20 years prior, when they were a steel and coal town.

http://yoursay.revitalisingnewcastle.com.au/the-program

[achiruel]

Newcastle Herald --> OPINION: Getting from A to B not for private profit

I don't agree that private companies running bus services is necessarily a bad thing.

Here in Qld for example, I think Surfside and GoldLinQ are doing a fine job. LCBS isn't really too bad either; my main complaint is poor on time running, but this is generally on services that have to negotiate the mess of of the Pac Mwy, so not much the operators can do about that.

BT (publicly owned) is doing a far worse job with their idiotic everywhere-to-everywhere routing approach.

[SurfRail]

In SEQ in particular, I am less concerned about public vs private operation than I am about BCC v anybody else operation. 

In the UK, the most competent bus operations were in London, which is 100% private.  Step outside London and you see virtually all urban buses with a single door at the front - doesn't matter if its a mini, midi, standard length or double deck bus. 

Lothian in Edinburgh and Fife is the biggest remaining public bus operator in the UK (with around 700 or so buses I think) and I'm confident I saw zero buses, which are mainly double deck, with a side door.  (Mind you they do operate on an exact change flat fare system and they manage to carry 50% more passengers each year than BT with a smaller fleet and population base.)

[ghostryder]

I have just come back from a couple of weeks in Newcastle, saw this while i was in town. Could it be karma or a case of being led u the garden path.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3840173/light-rail-walk-threat/



The people of the Hunter are voting with their transport needs, i went through the Maitland area soon after the extension from the Pacific Highway or the old F3 to the New England Highway near Branxton opened. The traffic on the old section of highway was light since, but since the closure of the rail line the number of cars have increased coming home after 5pm its a solid wall of white light and a very slow crawl at times. Trains that were once full are now at times lucky to be half full, saw one 8 car service to Sydney Central about 6pm had 10 people on it. Hunter services have a little more of a load but nowhere near the totals they once carried. An now there is a fair amount of empty car set running to and from Maitland.

[tazzer9]

What they have done with the newcastle rail line is criminal and people should be going to jail over it.
Not because they closed it, but how they closed it.
A light rail plan is probably going to be a better long term option than heavy rail, especially due to their heavy rail which uses rolling stock not designed for close station spacing.  (could be solved if they electrified hamilton to telarah and ran single deck electric trains)

But closing a well functioning railway line when they don't have any plan nor have any way of getting a plan for the replacement light rail is criminal.
They should have finalised the light rail plan and have it ready to be built before closing the line. 

They quoted level crossings blocking too much traffic, not enough patronage, cutting off the forshore as reasons.  But most of the level crossings have been closed to cars, low patronage was a lie.   

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/David_Threlfo/status/1077541927849848833

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1077690964011999232