Why Fast Trains Work: An Assessment of a Fast Regional Rail System in Perth, Aus

[#Metro]

Perth took the Toronto model, adapted it for Australian use and implemented it. The result speaks volumes, and it is significant that this has occured in a city that is comparable to Brisbane and has a rail network that is near-identical in terms of the rollingstock, mix and number of lines and density of the city.

MAJOR implications for 'transfer penalty' arguments. One wonders whether if those who have been compiling transfer penalty lists have made a distinction between transfer penalties under integrated ticketing + fares, and those without (i.e pay twice).

Why Fast Trains Work: An Assessment of a Fast Regional Rail System in Perth, Australia
James McIntosh, Peter Newman, Garry Glazebrook (2013) (Open Access)

http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=31822#

This research is VERY important in the Brisbane context, first because it explodes the BCC objections regarding transfer and does so within an Australian context in a city comparable to Brisbane, and secondly because it has implications for interchange at Indooroopilly where it would be possible to feed buses into Indooroopilly rail, and modify the Ipswich Line services to run express all day, meaning a passenger would catch a bus to Indooroopilly station, catch an express train to the CBD with no stopping.

If the Gold Coast line ever gets fixed up to permit 15 minute bidirectional service to the GC, another opportunity will present at Altandi where services could be fed into the GC/BaT tunnel, and express trip to the Brisbane CBD.

[#Metro]

Why Fast Trains Work: An Assessment of a Fast Regional Rail System in Perth, Australia


ABSTRACT

"Perth's new 72 km long Southern Rail System opened in 2007. With a maximum speed of 137 km/hr and an average speed of almost 90 km/hr this system acts more like a new high speed rail than a suburban rail system, which in Australia typically averages around 40 km/hr for an all-stops services. The Southern Rail Line was very controversial when being planned as the urban areas served are not at all typical of those normally provided with rail but instead were highly car dependent and scattered low density land uses. Nevertheless it has been remarkably successful, carrying over 70,000 people per day (five times the patronage on the express buses it replaced) and has reached the patronage levels predicted for 2021 a decade ahead of time. The reasons for this success are analyzed and include well-designed interchanges, careful integration of bus services, the use of integrated ticketing and fares without transfer penalties and, crucially the high speed of the system when compared to competing car based trips. The Southern Rail Line in effect explodes the current paradigm of transfer penalties, exposing this as a myth. The lessons for transport planning in low density cities are significant, and are explored further in the paper.

KEYWORDS
Integrated Ticketing, Fast Rail, Multimodal Patronage Modelling, Feeder Buses, Perth, Western Australia

Cite this paper
J. McIntosh, P. Newman and G. Glazebrook, "Why Fast Trains Work: An Assessment of a Fast Regional Rail System in Perth, Australia," Journal of Transportation Technologies, Vol. 3 No. 2A, 2013, pp. 37-47. doi: 10.4236/jtts.2013.32A005."

[#Metro]

http://www.patrec.org/publication_docs/PATREC%20PERSPECTIVES%20June%202014%20DEF%20DEF.pdf

PATREC PERSPECTIVES
Through an analysis of public transport trends over the last decade and in particular
the last year, the aim of this Perspective is to determine the validity of the assertion that
train patronage is declining. Firstly, the success story of bus, train and ferry patronage
in metropolitan Perth is considered. Secondly, the drop in train patronage in 2013, which
received wide media attention, is examined to ascertain if alarmist views are substantiated.
Finally, further research opportunities to enhance the understanding of trends and dynamics
are identified in order to inform policy to increase public transport patronage.