Sydney Light rail

[SurfRail]

Budapest, Hungary runs 72 meter trams, Siemens

The Budapest ones are 54 metres and would be the longest non-divisible trams in the world.  The product range allows for 72m but nobody has bought any.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Aust Railway Assoc ‏@AustRail 1 minute ago

http://tinyurl.com/n3r8c3a  developer funds could pay for new light rail line Sydney, report expected to show.

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Sydney light rail line: Transport sets up new agency to build CBD-eastern suburbs service

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Secret report warns of Sydney light rail safety fatality risk

[#Metro]

A confidential risk assessment obtained by Fairfax Media says the biggest danger from the new line, which will run down George Street and along other busy surface streets, is the possibility trams will hit other trams, cars at intersections, or pedestrians.

So does the journalist think buses don't crash into things or mow down pedestrians either? Relative risk. Rail is extremely safe because it is so controlled and, goodness me, it is STUCK TO A TRACK. If your car has a prang with a tram, you're licence probably needs cancelling!

In the same league with people who drive into bridges and boom gates - actual fixed objects often festooned with flashing lights and warning signs...

[hU0N]

^ In some ways yes, in some ways no. Runaway teams are probably less likely than runaway buses. But in other ways trams *ARE* more dangerous. Ever been snuck up on by a smoothly, silently gliding bus?

Because trams present hazards that are different to buses, I'd argue that it's important to publicise them, so that people know what new things to look out for. And by the same token, I'd argue that it's irresponsible to much publicise the reduced hazards lest people take that to mean they can in the future exercise less caution while crossing city streets.

[colinw]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Secret report warns of Sydney light rail safety fatality risk

Looks like the Queenslander!! factor has spread.  I think we're going to have to stop rolling our eyes and saying "Queenslander!" and change that to "Aussie!".

Usual anti-tram dribble in the comments too, including one hyper-genius who claimed Zurich got rid of its trams and went to trolley buses. (Zurich has both, but trams are in the majority.

This country is such an inward looking, regressive backwater.

[Arnz]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Secret report warns of Sydney light rail safety fatality risk

Looks like the Queenslander!! factor has spread.  I think we're going to have to stop rolling our eyes and saying "Queenslander!" and change that to "Aussie!"

The 'correct term' for that is 'STRAYA!!', saying that I do agree its not really a cse of 'Queenslander!!" In half baked projects, but more 'STRAYA!!" considering the precdent interstate of late.

[colinw]

 

Definitely some of it going on in NSW of late.

4 platforms to turn back 2tph at Leppington, for example.

[ozbob]

Urbanist --> Should cars be banned from Sydney's CBD?

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> A pedestrian and a bus race down George Street

[ozbob]

Twitter

Transport for NSW ‏@TransportforNSW

The construction scheduled for Sydney Light Rail has been released with major works starting in CBD on 23 October http://ow.ly/Nwu3C

[colinw]

SMH -> Bike lanes out as George Street light rail project takes off

Usual FUD merchants out in abundance, and most of the anti-tram arguments in the comments will be very familiar to Gold Coasters here

[SurfRail]

The problem is that there are actually many and varied problems with the Sydney project - which we either do not have up here at all because of the operating environment and intensity of the task to be met, or which we skipped around by better management - none of which are getting any kind of attention.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Transport for NSW ‏@TransportforNSW 5 minutes ago

A new animation and video of the construction schedule have been posted to the Sydney Light Rail Facebook page http://ow.ly/Nx2MI

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Why NSW Labor backflipped on George Street light rail

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Editorial: Sydney's light rail project needs a forceful champion to see it through

[#Metro]

Without major changes to the city – without replacing some of those buses by new rail links – it will be impossible to increase the frequency of bus services to those areas not served by rail.

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Light rail won't slow CBD traffic: tram expert Greg Sutherland, UTS' Michelle Zeibots

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Advocates of Sydney's George Street light rail can take lessons from the Gold Coast

[colinw]

Sale of the Variotrams:
http://www.railwaygazette.com/tenders/details/show/sale-of-light-rail-vehicles.html

I still think these should have gone to Newcastle.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Malcolm Turnbull ‏@TurnbullMalcolm 8h

And here is a tram passing the Edgecliff post office (now my electorate office) in 1960.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Malcolm Turnbull ‏@TurnbullMalcolm 9 minutes ago

And for the light rail fans here is another pic of a tram in Double Bay

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Green Square needs light rail, Transport Minister says in break from past

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Sydney's light rail: Renowned French architect Thomas Richez to advise on design

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Sydney light rail: George Street changes shifted to avoid Christmas rush

[ozbob]

Twitter

Transport for NSW ‏@TransportforNSW 1h

Light Rail route change will benefit Prince of Wales Hospital as Randwick Terminus moves into new High Street Plaza http://ow.ly/SjNUW

[ozbob]

News.com.au --> Concerns raised whether Sydney's $2bn new tram is the answer to congestion

FIFTEEN years ago, if you'd asked most Australians to turn their thoughts to trams, Melbourne would immediately come to mind. Fast forward to 2015, and tram networks have sprung up or been extended in Adelaide, Sydney and the Gold Coast while Canberra is thinking of sinking $1 billion into a new system.

But as Sydneysiders grapple with four years of bus diversions and roadworks to create a 12 kilometre line from the CBD to the south eastern suburbs, critics have questioned whether light rail really can cut congestion.

Supporters are having none of it, arguing trams are the only solution to Australia's rush hour crush.

Yesterday, as Sydney commuters coped surprisingly well with the start of light rail works, NSW opposition leader Luke Foley said trams were great — for Melbourne.
"Building a light rail system down the central spine of the city is the wrong transport project for Sydney," said Mr Foley who backs truncating the line just short of the CBD at Central station.

"Melbourne has the width in its city streets for trams, Sydney doesn't. We're building a congestion nightmare for the CBD."

While Mr Foley acknowledged there was little Labor could do to halt the project, he said the $2 billion price tag would be better spent on new railway stations and boosting bus services.

It's a sentiment shared by a vocal band of residents in Surry Hills, a leafy neighbourhood which the trams will plough through. Shops have already closed down in anticipation of disruption, said David Siebert of campaign group People Unite Surry Hills, and the 70 metre trams would cause serious problems on narrow streets.

"They're the size of a jumbo jets, shy of three meters. It's totally inappropriate to be combined with people and bikes."

Mr Siebert said if the government really cared about jams it would axe the tolls on the cross-city tunnel to encourage cars to avoid the CBD.

Professor David Hensher of the University of Sydney's Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, said the light rail debate had become clouded by emotion. Tram fans were pitted against bus lovers when the discussion should be about the most effective way to increase movement around the CBD.

"The real test of success shouldn't be do we love light rail, but what are the benefits to travelling public?"

Prof Hensher said commuters wouldn't take kindly to being forced off buses onto trams, the new system would not have the capacity of the buses it replaced, journey times would be longer and other solutions — such as a bus-only tunnel beneath the city — had been dismissed out of hand.

If only Sydneysiders could experience Brisbane's busways, he said, they might not be so enthralled by trams.

"It acts like a railway, it has stations, but it carries more people in the peak than Sydney's Western Line."

Transport for NSW, the body planning the project, said numerous tram alternatives were considered including a CBD bus tunnel. But coming in at a cool $2 billion, it didn't stack up financially and wouldn't increase access for the trainless south east.

"Light rail will have substantially more capacity than the buses it will replace," said a spokesman. "Each set will carry the equivalent of nine buses and operate at four minute intervals in the CBD during peak times."

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who has been a vocal supporter of light rail for many years, told news.com.au "until last week, George St was clogged up with a conga line of 6000 slow moving buses each day".

While she had concerns about some aspects of the project, including its route through Surry Hills, trams would be more reliable, quicker and take up less road space than buses.

"Light rail is the solution to the gridlock. That's what years of research showed, it's what gave the business community the confidence to get behind this project, and it's why the state government is now building light rail."

Dr Matthew Burke, an expert in transport planning at Griffith University, said he sees parallels between Sydney's squabbles and the arguments on the Gold Coast prior to the opening of its new tram line in 2014.

"There were doubters that the whole project would fail, no one would use the trams, it would be a complete waste of money and none of that came to fruition."

In fact, 20,000 passengers were using the G:link system daily, the Queensland Government has confirmed a seven kilometre extension while vehicle traffic in some areas was down five per cent. Sydney's new light rail would be even more successful, he predicted.

"Sydney CBD is at crush load at the moment, so if you want to increase the movement of people, you have to look to high occupancy transport and light rail is more efficient than buses."

Dr Burke said suggestions the new light rail wouldn't be able to pack in the passengers currently using the buses were off the mark.

"You carry a lot of air in the buses. Sure, they're full in the morning when they're going into the city but they're empty coming out."

The new system would provide "two way movement", he said, by connecting not just the CBD but also a major university, hospital and sporting precincts at its tail end.

[#Metro]

I don't agree with Hensher, and it is getting irritating. He popped up just before LRT was approved on the Gold Coast, some of his material features on Stop Light Rail NIMBY website.

Brisbane's busway is good, but it also has the CBD section missing. This is because a tunnel would be required into the CBD at extreme expense to do it. Light Rail, in contrast, can run in class B ROW and achieve very high passenger levels while avoiding the need to construct that infrastructure.

Indeed, that is one of the reasons why the Gold Coast chose LRT over BRT - at high passenger volumes LRT was better because the BRT option would require a Class A busway, and there was nowhere to put a Class A busway on the Gold Coast. This is a similar situation to Sydney's George Street. There isn't going to be a tunnel, so whatever the solution is, it needs to run on the surface.

Sydney had Australia's largest tram network, it it were still here today I have little doubt it would be carrying in excess of 200 million pax per year.

[verbatim9]

As per first hand experience and living in Sydney for 20 years. Sydney Light rail will put a dent in congestion especially out to Uni of NSW at Randwick and will also encourage people to use Light rail, when horse racing events are on, as well as special events at Moore Park Fox studios.

[SurfRail]

I don't agree with Hensher, and it is getting irritating. He popped up just before LRT was approved on the Gold Coast, some of his material features on Stop Light Rail NIMBY website.

Brisbane's busway is good, but it also has the CBD section missing. This is because a tunnel would be required into the CBD at extreme expense to do it. Light Rail, in contrast, can run in class B ROW and achieve very high passenger levels while avoiding the need to construct that infrastructure.

Indeed, that is one of the reasons why the Gold Coast chose LRT over BRT - at high passenger volumes LRT was better because the BRT option would require a Class A busway, and there was nowhere to put a Class A busway on the Gold Coast. This is a similar situation to Sydney's George Street. There isn't going to be a tunnel, so whatever the solution is, it needs to run on the surface.

Sydney had Australia's largest tram network, it it were still here today I have little doubt it would be carrying in excess of 200 million pax per year.

Hensher is a big bus shill - he falls on the opposite side of the spectrum to Peter Newman who is a rail shill and pushes fairly unrealistic costings for projects of marginal benefit like Doncaster in Melbourne.  Somebody like Jarrett Walker seems to sit in the middle being modally agnostic.  Both Hensher and Newman are correct about some things, and not about others, like most people.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Dallas Kilponen ‏@dallaskilponen 11h

8pm. A 1959 AEC on George St for the last time before light rail moves in. @smh @photosSMH #Sydney #Australia

[ozbob]

Twitter

Dallas Kilponen ‏@dallaskilponen 11h

George St closes to traffic as the light rail construction begins. @smh @photosSMH #Sydney #Australia

[ozbob]

Transport for NSW --> http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/bye-george-light-rail-construction-starts-tonight

Bye George! Light rail construction starts tonight

The transformation of George Street will begin tonight at 8pm as it is closed permanently to general traffic between King and Market streets to usher in a new era of transport in the CBD.

NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance, Minister for Roads Duncan Gay and CBD Coordinator General Marg Prendergast said today was an exciting milestone for Sydney, but urged all who use the CBD to prepare for possible congestion and travel delays as the transport network adjusted to losing its main north-south connection.

"It's been more than 65 years since the trams on George Street were replaced by buses and tonight marks a historic movement towards the future of transport in the Sydney CBD as we make way for Sydney Light Rail major construction," Mr Constance said.

"Light rail will change how we travel through the city and all road users need to be prepared to accommodate major construction work."

A new bus timetable with major route changes was successfully introduced on 4 October to ease congestion during construction, but its greatest test will come during the Monday peak when other vehicles have to re-route away from George Street.

"Monday will be a big test for both the road network and the bus network," Mr Gay said.

"The bus route changes have gone well so far, but closing George Street is the big challenge and the Monday peak hour will be the real test.

"We need motorists to re-time their journey away from the peak, or ideally swap the car for public transport. If people need to drive, use the new preferred routes on the CBD edge – don't drive down George Street to the closure point."

"George Street will change from tonight, but we will continue to monitor and adjust arrangements throughout the CBD as we go through this difficult period of change," Ms Prendergast said.

"Those who must drive to the CBD need to seriously consider arriving and departing before or after the peak and they need to devise new plans that involve using the likes of College Street, Eddy Avenue, the Western Distributor, Cahill Expressway and the Cross City Tunnel.

"Everyone who uses the CBD has a part to play, if we all do our bit we can keep traffic moving, keep business thriving and ensure disruption is minimised during the construction period."

Alternative route maps for drivers can be found on the My Sydney website: mysydney.nsw.gov.au/useful_maps

George Street will close to motorists from Market Street to Park Street on 3 December 2015.

Construction on the 12-kilometre light rail route from Circular Quay to Randwick and Kingsford is expected to be completed by 2018, with the first services carrying passengers in early 2019.

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Sydney's George Street light rail construction: commuters pass first test

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Sydney's George Street light rail construction: spider's web that lies beneath

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Roads Minister Duncan Gay hints light rail route will be built in Sydney Olympic Park

[ozbob]

http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/easing-squeeze-90-extra-inner-west-light-rail-services-week

Easing the squeeze: Up to 90 extra Inner West Light Rail services per week

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance has announced there will soon be up to 90 additional services per week during peak times on the Inner West Light Rail to cater for large increases in customer demand.

Mr Constance said customer journeys between 2013-14 and 2014-2015 increased by nearly 60 per cent, from 3.9 million to 6.1 million, with journeys expected to increase further in coming years.

"People have voted with their feet on light rail and these extra services will be a welcome relief for customers," Mr Constance said.

"An extra 3,700 people each day will be able to travel on light rail between Dulwich Hill and Central when the line is busiest.

"Since we extended the Inner West Light Rail in March 2014 and introduced Opal later the same year, customers are really embracing the service. People are flocking to light rail and customer satisfaction is on the rise."

The extra services will cut waiting times and ensure customers can catch a light rail service every eight minutes instead of every ten minutes on weekdays between 8am and 9am and between 4pm and 6pm.

The afternoon peak will also be extended by an hour on weekdays from 6pm to 7pm, with services running every ten minutes.

The bulk of the new AM and PM peak services will start from Monday 25 January, with the remainder to kick in by the middle of the year. Some additional services were introduced in August last year.

"Demand for light rail is expected to rise so we're putting on extra services to make sure we're ahead of the curve," Mr Constance said.

"We know that more and more people are now travelling from Central Station and the Inner West to Pyrmont for work so these extra services will be a big boost for customers, as well as helping to expand Pyrmont as an important employment hub."

Customers should visit transportnsw.info for up to date timetabling information.

[SurfRail]

I expect the ticketing has been the major driver here moreso than the extension.  Most of the patronage as I understand it is still between the CBD and Star City / the Fish Market.

[verbatim9]

A lot of people would use it to Glebe too lots High density there. Might have to take a trip to Syd and ride the light rail 👍🚊🚋