Report: Understanding Australia's urban railways

[ozbob]

http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/report_131.aspx

Understanding Australia's urban railways

Understanding Australia's Urban Railways provides an overview of the urban passenger and freight railways in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. For passenger rail, the report explores service provision; patronage trends; recent and planned network expansion; and the key challenges facing each system. In addition, the report examines the main characteristics of each city's rail freight network including: the extent of the freight/passenger rail interface; recent and planned network expansion; and the principal freight task on each system.

--> http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/files/report_131.pdf  PDF 9.1MB

[ozbob]

Excellent overview.

[#Metro]

Table 4, Page 14!! 

[#Metro]

In recent years, Perth's train services have been upgraded and extended. With frequent services,
good reliability standards and high average speeds over much of the network, the Transperth
network arguably delivers Australia's highest-standard CBD commuter railway. The network
plays to the relative strengths of urban railways—mass-transit, radial, commuter services.

Crucially, the rail operation is not confined to these strengths. Non-commuter travel is
encouraged by high service standards in off-peak periods, including weekends. In addition,
network integration with other modes of transport — well-connected feeder buses and
ample car parking — expands network catchment and encourages rail-centred travel beyond
the radial spines. Transperth sums up the ethos thus, "in low [urban] densities the 'masses' must
be brought or come to the railways" via connecting lines.117

The importance of network integration should not be under-estimated. It is the basis for public
transport planning in Perth and is reflected in infrastructure provision, passenger information,
service coordination and ticketing. Ideally, when planning public transport, individual modes
should not be considered in isolation but as part of a broader network.

[ozbob]

Table 11, page 65, shows the real advantage the rail network has in Perth.  It effectively doesn't have to share with freight.  Contrast this to the other states, particularly Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane.  Herein lie the lesson ..

[#Metro]

Reminds me of those city sewerage systems (sorry guys) - combined or separate. The combined system is cheap to build but nasty and takes stormwater and sewerage but problematic to operate because it overflows under high load (yuck!) and the pumping/treatment station has to process stormwater plus effluent. The separate system is more expensive (have to pay 2x for 2 separate networks) but cleaner, nicer and does less work.

Good design is at the heart of proper system operation. The problem in Queensland and many other places is there are a lot of patch and delay approaches to things - band aids upon band aids, and then at the end of it all, you have One Big Super Expensive Project To Clean Up The Mess (Cross river rail, Melbourne Metro) and even then you still have problems.

KISS - Keep it Simple.

[somebody]

Table 11, page 65, shows the real advantage the rail network has in Perth.  It effectively doesn't have to share with freight.  Contrast this to the other states, particularly Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane.  Herein lie the lesson ..

In spite of the route length, my understanding was that there was little freight on the broad guage in Melbourne.

[ozbob]

Melbourne has some, but certainly less than Sydney and Brisbane.  But the fact the Perth is virtually entirely separate means it can be optimised for suburban operations.  The biggest gains in Brisbane will be to progressively separate freight, with commensurate frequency gains.

The standard response as to why SEQ has dismal train frequency is the fact that paths are needed for freight.  This means the system has to be able to handle long trains which influences signalling, track layout and so forth.

That table is striking really.

[somebody]

The standard response as to why SEQ has dismal train frequency is the fact that paths are needed for freight.  This means the system has to be able to handle long trains which influences signalling, track layout and so forth.

I've noticed.  *cough* Richlands *cough* Ferny Grove *cough* Shorncliffe *cough* Beenleigh *cough* Gold Coast *cough*

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Perth rail network hailed for 'smart planning, design'

Perth rail network hailed for 'smart planning, design'
AAP
July 20, 2012 4:39PM

PERTH has been praised in a federal government report for managing to make rail an attractive alternative to roads.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese released the Understanding Australia's Urban Railways report at a transport forum in Sydney today.

"The report showed that smart planning and design, coupled with infrastructure, could increase the use of public transport," Mr Albanese said.

"(The report) highlights the example of Perth where remarkable progress has been made to make rail an attractive alternative to car travel," he said.

"Fast, frequent services, good bus and car interchanges and station facilities have all helped to draw patrons to rail."

Meanwhile, the latest Australian infrastructure Statistics Yearbook, also released today, painted a picture of increasing private investment in public transport, Mr Albanese said.

"There's been a dramatic increase in private sector investment in infrastructure, from 28 per cent in infrastructure investment a decade ago up to 44 per cent today," Mr Albanese told the Australian Transport Summit.

[ozbob]

The Beenleigh line does have reasonably regular cattle trains ..

Perth also has something else going for it, the right attitude.  They know what works and do it.

No more evident than with the FamilyRider ticket ... they want people to use public transport  ($11 cost of a FamilyRider ticket)

[somebody]

The Beenleigh line does have reasonably regular cattle trains ..

Perth also has something else going for it, the right attitude.  They know what works and do it.

When you say reasonably regular, I think it is less than daily.

Fully agree about your comments on attitude. (my term is "culture")

[#Metro]

I've noticed.  *cough* Richlands *cough* Ferny Grove *cough* Shorncliffe *cough* Beenleigh *cough* Gold Coast *cough*

The entire network *cough*

[HappyTrainGuy]

The Gold Coast line does have freight interference. Beenleigh also has heavy freight traffic. Its just its not anywhere near the Gold Coast/Beenleigh. Same with Cleveland (its's made up of a few crossing loops - the longest being ~20km long - which is why NCL freight still goes via South Brisbane at cetrain times - Theres a 6.30-7.30pm southbound freight service still going through there), Shorncliffe and Richlands. Doomben doesn't have much traffic but its still open to freight especially if grain services at Pinkenba start to pick up. Ferny Grove-Roma Street is the only line without any freight interference.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

22nd July 2012

BITRE Report:  Understanding Australia's urban railways

Greetings,

A BITRE report: Understanding Australia's urban railways http://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2012/report_131.aspx has recently been made publicly available.

This gives an excellent overview of urban rail in the Australian capitals.

There are some very obvious conclusions to make.

Perth is praised as a rail jurisdiction that has " ... fast, frequent services, good bus and car interchanges and station facilities that have all helped to draw patrons to rail* ".

The rail network in south-east Queensland under performs relatively, essentially because of the poor service frequency, a point raised by us many, many times.

There is more to the story though.  A quick check of table 11 on page 65 of the report defines a striking characteristic of the Perth rail network.  It is essentially a stand alone suburban rail network, it does not share with freight.  Melbourne, Sydney and particularly Brisbane rail networks all share with freight to varying degrees.  This means those systems cannot be optimised for suburban passenger rail in the same way that has been achieved in Perth.  But, none the less, much can be done to improve overall service frequency. Cross River Rail in Brisbane will also help improve freight paths as well as securing the significant capacity and frequency enablers for the entire network.

Brisbane's ailing fare structure is also highlighted.  It is time that the fare structure was reviewed.  See --> 10 Jul 2012: SEQ: Call for review of fare structure for public transport  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=8730.0

Perth is a rail success story.  They encourage public onto public transport.  For example Perth's FamilyRider ticket.  Up to two adults and 5 children can ride all day at off peak times for $11 ( http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/UsingTransperth/FamiliesUsingTransperth.aspx ).  We are calling for a family go card on public transport in south east Queensland.  SEQ:Call for a group/family go card ticket on the TransLink network  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=8759.0

Expensive consultant reports are useful.  But public transport passengers have been pointing out the obvious for years.

It is now time for real action and improvements.  Transport failure looms if we just continue to ruminate.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

* http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/perth-wins-brownie-points-for-rail-system/story-fndo486p-1226431081623

[somebody]

The Gold Coast line does have freight interference. Beenleigh also has heavy freight traffic. Its just its not anywhere near the Gold Coast/Beenleigh. Same with Cleveland (its's made up of a few crossing loops - the longest being ~20km long - which is why NCL freight still goes via South Brisbane at cetrain times - Theres a 6.30-7.30pm southbound freight service still going through there), Shorncliffe and Richlands. Doomben doesn't have much traffic but its still open to freight especially if grain services at Pinkenba start to pick up. Ferny Grove-Roma Street is the only line without any freight interference.

No argument with that, but on the lines I mentioned the freight interference is minimal.  And the Airport.

I'm still confused as to why southbound freight would go around via Exhibition.

[ozbob]

Probably less potential disruption overall.  They can sit on the quad and on the Tennyson line with no real impact to other train operations ..

[somebody]

That ignores that improving Richlands means that Ipswich can run express.

[SteelPan]

Table 4, Page 14!! 

ALSO shows how far networks in Adelaide Brisbane and Perth still have to go!