Exactly how the airport trains would reach the city is not yet known. The government has so far indicated the trains would stop at Sunshine station, which would become a âsuper hubâ.
But on Wednesday the Premier (Daniel Andrews) said it was possible airport trains would run through the new nine-kilometre Metro Tunnel, set to open by late 2025.
It will mean express airport trains will share the same tracks with suburban trains and create a new logjam. The Metro Tunnel should be reserved for trains to Sunbury and Melton. Airport trains can terminate at Southern Cross.
The article says a private consortium has offered to build the new rail line from next year and the project will take seven years to complete. The sooner the railway is done the better. I think both Federal and State Governments should consider that consortiumâs proposal.
Werenât they planning to run trains to West Footscray then turning them back, even building a new platform for that sole purpose? Would be better just electrifying to Melton.
I believe the turnback at West Footscray is for some peak hour trains travelling from Cranbourne/Pakenham line to terminate at the station. During off peak and weekends, those trains will continue onto Sunbury and/or Melton.
Yes, Canberra might have a light rail link to the airport. But if the proposed light rail from Civic to Woden is any guide it will be faster to get a bus.
It doesnât make sense to fast track it if thereâs not the capacity in the city to deal with the added services.
Itâs far better for it to take a little bit longer - ideally not quite as long as proposed - for it to be done in a way properly integrated into the transport network. And be able to run frequent services without constraining other lines.
More importantly, if private ownership meant an airport access fee like Sydney, then thereâs no point building it - youâre just not cost competitive with taxis.
While waiting - dedicated, enforced bus lanes for the SkyBus, and making Myki a supported payment method so it is integrated into the transport network.
they should be looking at another solution besides a train if itâs going to take that long. I wonder if there are proposals for something doesnât require a rail that is in development.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced four new metro rail lines for Sydney that would
effectively extend the North West metro line from Rouse Hill south through St Marys to the new airport at Badgerys Creek then on to Macarthur, this includes the already announced St Marys to the new airport metro line
extend the converted Bankstown metro line to Liverpool
extend the proposed city to Parramatta metro line to the new airport.
My first preference would be is that the heavy rail Leppington line be extended to the new airport then onto St Marys to be connected to the Western line. That way it would be possible to get a train from the new airport to the city without changing trains.
I donât know why the bureaucrats inside Transport for NSW have this obsession with single deck limited seating trains. Iâd much prefer to ride on a double decker with a higher chance of getting a seat.
I still find it ridiculous how it take them so long to make these things. Saying â2056â is just ridiculous. Look at how technology has evolved in the last 15 years. Who is to say transport wonât evolve in the next 15-20 years itself. There needs to be quicker ways to fix these problems. Sydney simply has the worst public transport, perhaps in any city I have traveled to.
Things like flying cars (which is the only thing I can think of that is truly a game changer) are still a long way off, I canât see todayâs mass transit options such as light or heavy rail being superseded or made redundant in any meaningful way in the first half of this century (at least).
Are they really that far off though? Think about how far the car has come? The car has been around for only just over 150 years. Technology moves so rapidly that I could see countries around the world adopting a public transport system that is completely different. So planning for a train in 2056 just seems ridiculous to me.
Like you said, cars, trains and light rail (trams) have been around since the 19th century, and we still havenât seen anything even proposed that will replace these.
A fully autonomous road network probably wonât occur until the 2040s, maybe even 2050s, when all self driving cars are off the road.