moa999 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 10:05 am
T4 is the most obvious one if you can fully separate the SCO, and is also run with T-sets which probably have at max 10yrs life left.
Everywhere else is pretty difficult with the intermixing of freight, intercity and regional rail.
We will likely get some form of ATO, probably like London where ATO is used in the core enabling Platform Screen Doors at major stations but you still have drivers.
I don't think there is any prospect of separating SCO from T4 Cronulla/Waterfall services on the Main, which are express services from Hurstville, but that operating pattern will be reversed with the new Hurstville Crossover project by switching to the Local. The current Hurstville to Bondi Junction services on the Local will be switched to the Main.
Following this changeover, SCO services will instead continue on the Local to Sydney Terminal, crossing over to the Illawarra Dive at Erskineville, and the T4 Cronulla/Waterfall services will cross over from the Local to the Main at Wolli Creek to merge with the Hurstville all stoppers. Had the Hurstville to Bondi Junction all stations service been separated on the Main, then it may have been a candidate for conversion, but with the merging of the Cronulla/Waterfall services at Wolli Creek, that's not an option.
Anyway, you'd have to question whether conversion would even be necessary, when the proposed digital signalling and ATO upgrade will allow for 24tph in an all stations pattern from Wolli Creek to Bondi Junction and might I add with double the number of seats, which seems to have escaped the attention of some commentators. I presume that the Tangara TTU Project will include provision for ATO and Driver Only Operation. I don't know how long this will extend their life cycle, but I suspect it would be more than 10 years.
I may have posted this previously, but the following link confirming the awarding of the digital systems upgrade contracts including ATO to Siemens, demonstrates how the existing DD network will allow 24tph in the peak. It's also worth noting that the system will also allow for up to 30tph to recover from disruptions on the network.
https://press.siemens.com/global/en/pre ... il-network