Newcastle light rail, renewal & integrated transport

[Fleet Lists]

Just a small issue.
The Transport Info timetables showed all routes to/from Newcastle as terminating/starting at Newcastle Interchange which was at the old Newcastle Station. To stop the confusion with the opening of the new Newcastle Interchange at Wickham the old interchange is now shown as Customs House Interchange in the tinetables.

[kypros1992]

Seems silly. Could have just gone with Old or Former Newcastle Station

that is the second time in two weeks that a news item has gobe up with the link not working.bles are up on Transport Info

Long weekend at Serco / Newcastle Transport. Should all be fixed with pretty media release on Tuesday

[Fleet Lists]

Nothing to do Newcastle Transport and where does Serco come into this? They have not looked after Transport Info for ages.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Newcastle Interchange Station will officially open October 16th.

Source?

The Newcastle Herald, ABC Newcastle Radio, drivers & an inside source.

And you were wrong - it is Sunday 15th October https://transportnsw.info/news

NO Fleet Lists, you are wrong, Gilberations said officially opens on 16th Oct. The first PASSENGER trains are very early on the 15th Oct.

Seems silly. Could have just gone with Old or Former Newcastle Station

NO! Should've been either Wickham Interchange or what they do at Bomaderry & call it Wickham-Newcastle.

But the GNB claimed they only got 65 submissions about naming it.

[Linto63]

Is the 15th, Wikipedia says so and it's never wrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_Interchange

[Fleet Lists]

Wiki can be wrong - I was the one who updated it from https://transportnsw.info/news

[tonyp]

Is the 15th, Wikipedia says so and it's never wrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_Interchange

Slightly OT, but Wikipedia has been very useful for comparing rail performance in different Australian cities and the entries for most states have been pretty accurate in terms of station and line data (distances etc) and verified by cross-checking. For NSW I've been using my own archival information from the rail agencies so I haven't needed to use Wikipedia.

However, the other day I did look up a NSW line in Wikipedia and it had a lot of detail including station distances etc and I looked at the figures and thought, wow, all of the stations now seem to be much closer to Sydney yet there are no track deviations to explain this. It didn't take me long to figure out that some genius, instead of the accepted practice of using rail distances (that is measurements along the actual railway lines), was evidently going to Google maps and entering straight line distances as the crow flies. I don't whether this person (these persons) are from an agency or just enthusiasts, but in one fell swoop they've invalidated the reliability of any NSW rail data in Wikipedia. How dumb can you be? What an achievement for the dissemination of knowledge!

[Linto63]

Moral of the story...don't rely on Wikipedia as a reliable information source. While there is plenty of useful stuff in there that probably is correct, plenty of errors and mistruths as well. And yet if you try and fix something, some jobsworth jumps out of the bushes demanding proof.

If you are after station distances and line aligments, would consider http://www.nswrail.net/ to be more reliable.

[tonyp]

Moral of the story...don't rely on Wikipedia as a reliable information source. While there is plenty of useful stuff in there that probably is correct, plenty of errors and mistruths as well. And yet if you try and fix something, some jobsworth jumps out of the bushes demanding proof.

If you are after station distances and line aligments, would consider http://www.nswrail.net/ to be more reliable.

I assume this information is directly from railway data so it's OK. After a bit of a random check, the problem on Wikipedia seems to be only that section of the main south between Sydney and Goulburn. Somebody has done both the line entry and the individual station entries with straight-line distances. I wonder do the agencies create and monitor these entries, or enthusiasts, or a free-for-all of both?

[Linto63]

I doubt the agencies have any interest in either creating or monitoring, some are hard pressed updating their own sites. Different story though when it comes to our illustrious leaders who are well known for having minions employed to puff up their entries. Wikipedia is a free-for-all and therein lies the problem. Anybody with a keyboard can post anything and unless somebody who knows better picks it up, then it will stand. And now in this era of diminishing editorial standards, some main stream media just regurgitate what is on Wikipedia instead of doing their own research and so the myths are perpetuated.

Moss Vale station certainly isn't 106km from Sydney by rail as Wikipedia states, 145km as stated at http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.p ... :Moss+Vale would appear more accurate. Even the town article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_Vale has the distance as 122km which may be the road distance.

[Fleet Lists]

Getting off subject - Please back to Newcastle information please.

[mandonov]

New express train slashes Newcastle to Sydney trip
28 Sep 2017, 3 a.m.

A new express train service - the fastest yet - will be trialled between Newcastle and Sydney from November.

Sydney will soon feel closer to home for Hunter commuters.

A new express train service will be trialled between Newcastle and Sydney when the Wickham Transport Interchange is complete, the state government has revealed.

The new service, leaving the interchange at 5.03am, is expected to slash 26 minutes off the journey between Newcastle and Sydney, compared to the 4.40am service it will replace.

It will also be 20 minutes faster than the existing 5.25am express service from Hamilton to Sydney, with three fewer stops - Cardiff, Fassifern and Eastwood.

Heading north, 11 minutes will be trimmed off the 3.45pm train from Central to Newcastle. The trial will start on November 26 and last for six months.

“Customers travelling to and from Sydney have been screaming out for faster rail services,” NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.

“So this is great news for the early starter who will not only spend less time travelling, they will also enjoy more time in bed, with a later morning service.”

The new morning express train will reach Central at 7.26am, after stopping at Hamilton, Broadmeadow, Morisset, Wyong, Tuggerah, Gosford, Woy Woy, Hornsby, Epping and Strathfield.

The afternoon service will stop at the same stations.

“We’ve also thought about customers further afield than Newcastle, with Maitland customers on the Hunter Line still able to change trains to connect to this premium service,” Mr Constance said.

The new service will be the fastest option out of any of the express trains already operating between Newcastle and Sydney.

A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the early morning and mid afternoon time slots were chosen for because the Newcastle and Central Coast Line was already a busy passenger and freight corridor.

And she said the train fleet was currently being used at its capacity.

"It’s also timed for an eight hour work day for those customers wishing to start and finish early," she said.

"Our aim is to make this a permanent service.

"We’ll be monitoring the trial, customer feedback and Opal data closely before a final decision is made."

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said regular commuters had approached him and requested the trial.

“We have listened to the community, who have asked us to trial this service to make the trip to Sydney easier,” he said.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/49533 ... ip/?cs=305

[Fleet Lists]

The link for the 15th October announcement is now working

Timetable changes - Central Coast and Newcastle Line and Hunter Line
Sunday 01 October

From Sunday 15 October trains on the Central Coast and Newcastle and Hunter lines will begin using the brand new Newcastle Interchange.

Newcastle Interchange will be the final stop for those travelling to Newcastle by Intercity train services and will provide connections between trains, future light rail, buses, taxis and private vehicles. The interchange will also offer better access for cyclists and pedestrians.

Newcastle bound trains will continue to end at Hamilton station until Sunday 15 October, however trains will run through the interchange in the weeks leading up to the opening date as part of the final testing program.

There will be some minor timetable adjustments to the running of some trains once Newcastle Interchange opens, please use the Trip Planner to check the latest travel times or download a real-time transport app to help plan your travel.

[tonyp]

New express train slashes Newcastle to Sydney trip

So it will take 2 hr 23 mins? That's an improvement? That sounds close to existing times. In the 1980s when the XPT was new, for while they ran an "Executive Express" with it between Broadmeadow and Sydney in about 2 hours. It sounds like those announcements of "speeded up" train services on the south coast that we get occasionally and when the timetable comes out nothing is speeded up at all. It's a fantasy-land of hype.

[boronia]

I looked up times for last Saturday, Central to "Newcastle". One trip was over 3 hours, the others were just under (best was around 2:50 IIRC).

[tonyp]

I looked up times for last Saturday, Central to "Newcastle". One trip was over 3 hours, the others were just under (best was around 2:50 IIRC).

That's slower than the old expresses in the 1920s! Even the steam/electric Flyer in the 60s did it in about 2 hrs 25 min. It needs to be 2 hours.

[boronia]

I can recall 3801 attempting 2 hrs back in the 1960s on a fan trip. It was non-stop from Central, but just missed out after a signalman along the branch blocked it with a red signal.

[Linto63]

With 10 stops was never going to be quick, long way short of what was defined as express when the Newcastle Flyer ran. But I guess cut many more stops out and it may end up tailgating a preceding service.

[Liamena]

For this to work well, there should be a train which runs all stops from Wickham to Wyong, and then terminates, 3 minutes before the express from Wickham arrives at Wyong. There should be another train from Wyong which runs all stops to Gosford and then terminates just before the express arrives.

This would (a) provide express service to everybody along the line and (b) Enable the express stops at Morriset and Tuggerah to be eliminated, saving at least 2 minutes.

You could also skip the stop at Epping. It has very little point to it. Anyone who wants to go to Macquarie Park can change at Hornsby anyway - you'll be on the same train from Hornsby whether you get on it at Hornsby or Epping.

There is not much point building these stations with three platforms, if you don't use them.

People comparing the operation of the central coast line to 70 years ago, should keep in mind that the central coast between Gosford and Cardiff was almost uninhabited in those days, and the people who were there, were farmers, miners and railway workers and none of them were commuters.

[Fleet Lists]

You could also skip the stop at Epping. It has very little point to it. Anyone who wants to go to Macquarie Park can change at Hornsby anyway - you'll be on the same train from Hornsby whether you get on it at Hornsby or Epping.

Not once the Metro starts.

[andy_centralcoast]

A couple of letters to the editor for the 'new' express train trial: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/49555 ... s-skipped/

They argue that skipping both Cardiff and Fassifern stations is the wrong choice and stations like Epping, Woy Woy and Wyong or Tuggerah should be skipped instead.

I also don't understand how the removal of 3 stops can have a 26 minute saving in travel time. Surely their maths is wrong?

[Linto63]

Probably more to do with having a better path that enables more line speed running than savings made through dropping a few stops.

[andy_centralcoast]

Probably more to do with having a better path that enables more line speed running than savings made through dropping a few stops.

You appear to be correct. 4 minutes faster between Hornsby and Wyong, despite the same stops. The other peak hour x:45 trains retain their previous running times.

[Liamena]

So they gain a minute between Hornsby and WoyWoy, another minute to Gosford, another minute to Tuggerah and another minute between Tuggerah and Wyong.
A 25% improvement in speed between Tuggerah and Woy Woy seems a bit implausible.

[andy_centralcoast]

Today is the Newcastle Interchange open day for staff and family.