Swift wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 12:55 pm
Regards solving the missing service gap to Carlingford Court, what about an underground or subsurface bus only lane under both intersections (like the Edgecliff tunnel) leading to the shopping mall as well as a through road past the LR terminus for seamless flow of bus services past there?
The 550 bus route from Parramatta to Macquarie Park via Carlingford and Epping already runs along Pennant Hills Rd past the Carlingford LR station and Carlingford Rd past Carlingford Court to Epping. I can't see that much would be gained by building an expensive tunnel which would only have marginal benefit.
Sorry, but again getting off track, if a future Victoria Rd metro line was contemplated and extended to Baulkham Hills via Carlingford and North Rocks, which I suggested above, a Carlingford underground station would most likely be constructed adjacent to Carlingford Court, rather than the LR station, and then follow the Hornsby Plateau ridge line to North Rocks and Baulkham Hills.
If we keep choosing the most expedient route for the day, we will continue to live with mediocre outcomes for generations to come, that will be hard to correct later as middling problems tend to get left on the back burner and no action taken. Mediocrity is worse than bad in that sense.
The second stage of Parramatta’s multibillion-dollar light rail project has finally been given the go-ahead – seven years after the former Coalition government first announced the proposed route.
Both the price tag and completion date of the 10-kilometre line remain a mystery as the Minns government says it can’t put a final figure on the project until a formal tender for the latest works is awarded.
The long-awaited second stage of the project will include 14 stations and run from the Parramatta CBD to Olympic Park via Camellia, Rydalmere, Ermington, Melrose Park and Wentworth Point. The government says it will allow commuters to travel from Parramatta to Olympic Park in 37 minutes.
When the project was first announced in 2017, the former government said it hoped to start construction before 2020. Despite a series of announcements – including $602 million in 2022 for a 320-metre bridge over the Parramatta River – the project had yet to receive its formal approval.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen called the latest approval a “major step forward”, saying the new light rail line would serve a population of close to 280,000 residents by 2041 and help support plans for significant housing growth in the area. The project would give suburbs such as Wentworth Point, where residents have long complained of inadequate public transport and traffic bottlenecks, the “transport they’ve been promised”, she said.
Like its predecessor, the government is yet to put a price tag on the project. Nor can it say when it is expected to open, other than having previously committed to beginning construction before the next election.
Transport for NSW has previously said the line could open in 2031, based on a start date of 2024 or 2025. The first stage of the project, which runs for 12 kilometres between Westmead and Carlingford, via the Parramatta CBD, cost about $2.4 billion.
Instead, Haylen said the procurement to deliver the $600 million bridge between Melrose Park and Wentworth Point had begun, with construction likely to begin in 2025.
Guess that now they will have to dig up the tracks in Macquarie St to put in a junction for the new terminus stub. How long will that take?
Preserving fire service history @ The Museum of Fire.
boronia wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:56 pm
Guess that now they will have to dig up the tracks in Macquarie St to put in a junction for the new terminus stub. How long will that take?
I notice there's already a set of cross-overs to the immediate west of the Parramatta Square stop. I wonder whether there would be enough time to shunt over and start the return trip in between the Westmead - Carlingford trams?
There would be a maximum of 8 minutes between services on either direction. It would require some adept scheduling to get the maximum benefit of these gaps.
This seems to have been recognised with the inclusion of a turn back.
Preserving fire service history @ The Museum of Fire.
boronia wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:56 pm
There would be a maximum of 8 minutes between services on either direction. It would require some adept scheduling to get the maximum benefit of these gaps.
This seems to have been recognised with the inclusion of a turn back.
Wouldn't leave any room for anything to go wrong with the timetable either.
Aerial imagery suggests that the platform on the southern side of Macquarie Street might have enough room to be turned into an island, similar to the arrangement at Chalmers Street Central.
Bovways wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 5:43 pm
Wouldn't leave any room for anything to go wrong with the timetable either.
Aerial imagery suggests that the platform on the southern side of Macquarie Street might have enough room to be turned into an island, similar to the arrangement at Chalmers Street Central.
I've just come from a discussion on a tram forum about how the twisting of tracks to approach centre-island platforms in Sydney and Melbourne is leading to premature track wear under the impact of trams with fixed bogies - an issue long understood in Europe.
We need more centre-island platforms like a hole in the head. They're unsuited to trams, but are forced by road agencies trying to reduce the impact on the width of road lanes.
boronia wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:56 pm
Guess that now they will have to dig up the tracks in Macquarie St to put in a junction for the new terminus stub. How long will that take?
I notice there's already a set of cross-overs to the immediate west of the Parramatta Square stop. I wonder whether there would be enough time to shunt over and start the return trip in between the Westmead - Carlingford trams?
I think if they are going to reverse trams there, it might have been better to put the crossover to the east of the stop.
The maps and a detailed track diagram show a double track junction and merging into a single track west of Church St.
Preserving fire service history @ The Museum of Fire.
boronia wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:56 pm
There would be a maximum of 8 minutes between services on either direction. It would require some adept scheduling to get the maximum benefit of these gaps.
I don't think you'd need to be too clever to get that to work.
boronia wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 8:56 pm
I think if they are going to reverse trams there, it might have been better to put the crossover to the east of the stop.
The problem then is passengers travelling east have to know which side to board their tram.
boronia wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 8:56 pm
I think if they are going to reverse trams there, it might have been better to put the crossover to the east of the stop.
The problem then is passengers travelling east have to know which side to board their tram.
and, I should have added, that is more problematic because they are side platforms there, not an island.
boronia wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 8:56 pm
I think if they are going to reverse trams there, it might have been better to put the crossover to the east of the stop.
The problem then is passengers travelling east have to know which side to board their tram.
I guess they have to check the indicators, or the destination signs, which seems to work at CQ, and Town Hall when it is the terminus.
Preserving fire service history @ The Museum of Fire.
Operationally I'd think it would work better (assuming no shunt was built) if a terminating tram from the east pulled forward then reversed, as the following tram could then get into the platform, if they were that close together.
Glen wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 10:25 pm
Trams 2161 & 2167 were being tested at Westmead terminus tonight 20 March.
Variable message signs around Parramatta were advising that tram testing starts on 21 March. Not sure why that date is mentioned.
I haven't seen any trams being tested yet, but then if I'm in Parramatta it's usually only in the daytime. Most if not all of the infrastructure there looks ready for use though.
L2/3 testing started with these slow speed late night runs for a short period, then went over to daytime runs. Eventually working up to full timetable ghost operations.
Preserving fire service history @ The Museum of Fire.
It must drive people crazy seeing the new tram system going and not being available to use. It will certainly transform people's perception of the place.
I do notice Newcastle's little joyride is getting rough around the edges already. Some worthless oxygen soaking life form left a burn mark on the wall in one.
How appreciative.
