Newcastle light rail, renewal & integrated transport

[tonyp]

Never mind the electrical system, it is the timetable, by intentional design, which will cause you to just miss the train.

I don't see any difference between this and the Gong Shuttle which is Wollongong's equivalent service. I've never heard any complaints in Wollongong about missing a train because of the Shuttle's timetable which I'm sure was drawn up without even looking at the train timetables. If you know they're e.g. 10 minute headways, you just set out early enough to ensure that you get to the station in time.

[jpp42]

But the Gong Shuttle doesn't replace a previously existing perfectly functional railway system.

[tonyp]

But the Gong Shuttle doesn't replace a previously existing perfectly functional railway system.

The railway line didn't provide a regular internal circulator like the Newcastle tram and the Gong Shuttle do. They serve two functions, the train only served one.

[Swift]

Should be thankful some form of rail was replaced and they didn't just use the least form of resistance and turn to archaic buses. They can't easily chop and change a tram line in fickle fashion.

[Transtopic]

But the Gong Shuttle doesn't replace a previously existing perfectly functional railway system.

The railway line didn't provide a regular internal circulator like the Newcastle tram and the Gong Shuttle do. They serve two functions, the train only served one.

The difference is that even if the rail line into Newcastle Station hadn't been abandoned, there was still the option of transferring to the existing bus services for intermediate stops, with far more route flexibility than the useless tram, something which you have conveniently overlooked. It's no different to the Gong Shuttle. The losers are the those long distance travellers bound for the CBD, who now face a longer journey by being forced to transfer to the slower tram. The tragedy is that there are those still in denial who refuse to acknowledge the true motivation for truncating the rail line. I'm waiting with bated breath to see when promised extensions of the tram line become reality. I'll probably be dead.

[Swift]

^ it was for the money grubbing developers of course.
Put up their disgusting throwaway monstrosities and move on to the next area. Just smoke and mirrors by crooks.

[tonyp]

The losers are the those long distance travellers bound for the CBD, who now face a longer journey by being forced to transfer to the slower tram.

There is no Newcastle CBD, it died out and moved to the suburbs over the last few decades. The planning agenda is to restructure the old CBD and repurpose/bring it back to life again, but not as a major business/retail centre, more as the location of many activities including residential. The "centre" is no longer where Newcastle Station was and the old line east of Wickham was an obstacle to opening up the waterfront and connecting it to the town centre. The purpose of the tram is to assist and support this process of transition and change. Critics don't understand this change and treat the situation as though it's a traditional CBD like Sydney or Melbourne etc with large numbers of people commuting to it to work or shop. That doesn't exist any more in Newcastle.

One of the better clues to how an Australian city is working and evolving is to see what's happened to the traditional CBD David Jones and Myer stores. In Newcastle they've gone west.

[boronia]

The difference is that even if the rail line into Newcastle Station hadn't been abandoned, there was still the option of transferring to the existing bus services for intermediate stops, with far more route flexibility than the useless tram, something which you have conveniently overlooked. It's no different to the Gong Shuttle. The losers are the those long distance travellers bound for the CBD, who now face a longer journey by being forced to transfer to the slower tram. The tragedy is that there are those still in denial who refuse to acknowledge the true motivation for truncating the rail line. I'm waiting with bated breath to see when promised extensions of the tram line become reality. I'll probably be dead.

I am intrigued that Newcastle residents complain that they now have to change modes to get to their CBD, but overlook that if they catch a train to Sydney, they have been changing modes to get to our CBD for over 100 years.

[kypros1992]

So roughly the same level to the Hunter Line or Melbourne, nothing new

https://www.theherald.com.au/story/6104 ... a-problem/

NEWCASTLE Transport operator Keolis Downer has played down concerns about the amount of fare evasion on the city's light rail.

Tram users have told the Newcastle Herald of regularly witnessing people riding the trams without paying for a fare.

"There are times when it seems we are the only ones that are paying," said Brian Agland, who uses light rail with his wife about three times a week.

"People just seem to get on and off without paying, without scanning a card.

"You think about doing it yourself; 'do you really need to pay to hop on?', because there's nobody checking."

Light rail passengers must tap on and off using Opal card facilities at each stop to pay for their trip, or purchase single-trip tickets.

But unlike the city's buses and ferries, the trams do not have a driver or employee regularly checking fares, nor a barrier preventing access like some train stations.

"It's a problem," light rail user Neil Allan said. "I've watched a lot of them. I'd say 10 to 15 per cent [do not pay]. Definitely happening. "

The latest available data shows fare compliance on Newcastle buses dropped to 84.8 per cent in May 2018 from 88.9 per cent six months prior. Non-compliance was estimated to have cost $367,000 in lost revenue.

On the Central Coast and Newcastle train line, fare compliance was steady at 91 per cent over the six months to May 2018, but non-compliance cost $2.4 million in lost revenue.

Compliance was worse on the Newcastle half of the line, at 85.7 per cent, compared to 95.9 per cent on the Central Coast.

Fare compliance on the Hunter train line rose to 85.9 per cent in May 2018 from 81.8 per cent a year earlier.

[tonyp]

How can people observe if others are tapping on and off or not if the readers are outside on the stop? Very circumstantial evidence. All it needs is random RPO patrols like any other mode.

[boronia]

Wouldn't the majority of passengers only be paying 20c for the ride when the transfer discount is attached?

And why is KD concerned? It is not their fare revenue that is being lost.

[Transtopic]

There is no Newcastle CBD, it died out and moved to the suburbs over the last few decades. The planning agenda is to restructure the old CBD and repurpose/bring it back to life again, but not as a major business/retail centre, more as the location of many activities including residential. The "centre" is no longer where Newcastle Station was and the old line east of Wickham was an obstacle to opening up the waterfront and connecting it to the town centre. The purpose of the tram is to assist and support this process of transition and change. Critics don't understand this change and treat the situation as though it's a traditional CBD like Sydney or Melbourne etc with large numbers of people commuting to it to work or shop. That doesn't exist any more in Newcastle.

Current planning documents for the Lower Hunter Region still show the existing CBD based around the old Newcastle Station as the "Newcastle City Centre" stretching from East Newcastle to Wickham, including the harbour front area. Wickham is on the western fringe of the CBD. It's not the new CBD. The planning documents describe Wickham as "an important gateway INTO the city centre", not THE city centre. It's akin to Central being on the southern fringe of the Sydney CBD. It's a myth that the former train line into Newcastle Station was the cause of the CBD's decline. There were other factors involved, such as the suburbanisation of retail which you correctly point out, but more importantly the neglect over decades by both the Newcastle City Council and the State Government. I acknowledge that the earthquake was also a contributing factor, but that's no excuse to write off any rejuvenation of the CBD. They dropped the ball. For example, after the devastating earthquakes in Napier in the 1930s and Christchurch in New Zealand more recently, the respective cities were and in respect of Christchurch are being rebuilt at their existing locations. They weren't relocated. Napier is now a major tourist destination with its entire city centre being rebuilt in the art deco style, which was the predominant architectural style at the time. There is always the risk of future earthquakes, which could again cause widespread devastation, but that's the roll of the dice.

There were options to retain the rail line while still opening up the CBD to the waterfront, but for reasons which could only be described as being heavily biased towards the developer lobby, they were ignored. Anyone who denies that fact is being dishonest.

To bring things into perspective, Wollongong would also have suffered the same migration of retail trade to the suburban shopping centres as Newcastle, but from my observation, it hasn't suffered the same decline in its CBD as Newcastle. I put that down to a more enlightened approach by Wollongong City Council, to maintain and rejuvenate the CBD as the major focal point for the region. It's got nothing to do with the rail corridor.

I can foresee a situation in the future as the Newcastle City Centre and the Hunter Region grows, for increasing public pressure to extend the heavy rail line from Wickham into the former Newcastle Station, whether it be underground or otherwise. It would be history repeating itself, when public pressure a century ago demanded that the Sydney Suburban rail network be extended into the CBD proper from Central, which was then reliant upon interchange to trams. Sound familiar? This resulted in the birth of Bradfield's City Underground, which was a visionary concept at the time in extending suburban rail lines into the centre of the city, not just the fringe such as Central, or Wickham for that matter.

[tonyp]

Unlike Wollongong, the problem for Newcastle CBD is that it's right over on one edge of the whole metropolis and no longer the centre of activity for the greater city. (Even Wollongong faces an ongoing challenge from Shellharbour.) It would be very hard to convince all of the businesses, institutions and retailers back to the old CBD after they've re-established in suburban centres closer to their market catchments. Newcastle CBD is unlikely to be a major employment centre again.

I see the Newcastle centre as having some parallels with old Fremantle which was a significant mercantile centre where that activity withdrew with the changing nature of the waterfront and it has become a tourism, residential and educational centre (Notre Dame University) and returned to life in that role. Earlier proposals to extend suburban train services along the freight line wrapping itself around the city have not proceeded and it too has fare-free CAT buses acting as internal distributers from the train station which is on the edge of the centre. Similarly in Newcastle, the university has established a campus at Honeysuckle which is served by the tram. The tram is the distributor that connects Honeysuckle/Civic/Newcastle centre. Nobody was seriously going to use the train for short internal journeys between Newcastle and Wickham stations, especially with the inconvenience of less stops. Also were there regular trains every 10 minutes? The old centre has also lost the major hospital and an objective is to reconnect the new one via the tram. It would likely also pick up the entertainment centre in that. The railway lines mostly go nowhere near that axis.

It's a mistake to diminish the significance of the local circulator service in a city, they perform a function that a heavy railway can never perform. A good example is in fact the City Circle line in Sydney which was seen as having dual functions - circulating commuters from the suburbs around the CBD and acting as a CBD internal circulator. It failed on the second count and the Pitt/Castlereagh loop tram (and later bus) continued on very busy because of the convenience they offered in terms of stops, frequency and reach. Similarly in Newcastle, the train didn't and wouldn't provide the frequency, ease of access and wouldn't serve Honeysuckle, Crown St, Queens Wharf or Newcastle Beach.

There is a need to wait for all the transport squares to be filled in before finally judging outcomes in Newcastle - in the short term, the completion of the bus interchange at Wickham and in the longer term the extension of the tramline westwards. Incidently, an additional potential offered by the latter is reinstatement of the tram/rail interchange that used to exist at Broadmeadow station via the overbridge at Lampton Rd where there used to be the main station entrance. This would mean that people using the trains that pass along the main north without going into Wickham would be able to interchange to the tram to either westward or eastward destinations, including the old CBD, without having to wait for a train that goes to Wickham.

[GazzaOak]

Incidently, an additional potential offered by the latter is reinstatement of the tram/rail interchange that used to exist at Broadmeadow station via the overbridge at Lampton Rd where there used to be the main station entrance. This would mean that people using the trains that pass along the main north without going into Wickham would be able to interchange to the tram to either westward or eastward destinations, including the old CBD, without having to wait for a train that goes to Wickham.

Its just a feel a bit half arsed about terminating the train at wickham.

If they really want to truncate that Newcastle line, they should have terminated the trains at Broadmedows with potential to extend electrification to Matiland (and per say, built the light rail all the way to Broadmedows, with an future extension to more the shopping districts or john hunter hospital via the stadium).

[Newcastle Flyer]

If they really want to truncate that Newcastle line, they should have terminated the trains at Broadmedows with potential to extend electrification to Matiland (and per say, built the light rail all the way to Broadmedows

NSW TrainLink interurban trains don't go via Broadmeadows.

[tonyp]

Broadmeadows in Melbourne is getting a good run here! My view was that this was the answer as Broadmeadow is the geographical centre of Newcastle LGA, but the Wickham terminus has been done now. Yes it's true that Hunter line trains never passed Broadmeadow and they would have to terminate at Broadmeadow under such a scheme. However if electrification was extended at least to Singleton, the same trains running from Sydney could run through to Singleton, replacing the railcars and providing a convenient journey for Hunter line people taking journeys towards Sydney. However, this is only speculation now.

[tonyp]

http://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/ ... todd-white

May 10, 2019 Newcastle light rail is set to unlock previously neglected retail areas in the CBD.

The opening of the light rail is tipped to even out retail rents in the Newcastle CBD.
The ability of shoppers to move around more easily as a result of the introduction of light rail to Newcastle’s CBD is set to reduce the discrepancy in rents in different retail pockets along the city’s main trading areas, according to
a leading valuer.
Changes to the layout of the CBD following the removal of heavy rail infrastructure and the subsequent opening up of pedestrian access, as well as the implementation of a multi-stop light rail service which commenced service in
February, would likely unlock the potential of previously neglected retail areas, according to Herron Todd White’s May Monthly Review, which focused on the state of small strip retail in Australia’s metropolitan and regional markets.
“We’re expecting this easier carriageway to eventually see somewhat of a flattening out of the rental differential for retail property between Honeysuckle and strip retail along the eastern end of Darby Street for example,” the report
authors wrote.
Colliers International Newcastle director of commercial sales and leasing, Peter Macadam, said that the changes had been most pronounced in the commercial office sector following the installation of the light rail, but that ground-floor retail leasing activity along Hunter Street was also enjoying a resurgence – citing an overall commercial vacancy rate of 2.8 per cent for the city market.
“The light rail has changed how people think about business in town,” said Mr Macadam, adding “it’s now ridiculously easy to get around”.
The light rail allows people to move around the Newcastle CBD more easily now.
The light rail was also encouraging shoppers to explore the full length of Hunter Street, fuelling demand for retail space beyond the traditional leasing hot spots.
“The light rail has opened up all of Hunter Street – before it used to be in pockets.”
Shoppers may start at one end of Hunter Street and “catch the light rail down the other end just to have lunch,” said Mr Macadam, explaining that the flat hourly fare motivated people to use the light rail as much as possible.
Mr Macadam said that businesses had been reassessing their office requirements ever since the truncation of the heavy rail line in 2014, and were now gravitating towards the CBD in an effort to boost staff retention.
“It [the CBD] is now a better location with better corporate amenity,” he said, pointing to the impending relocation of accountancy firm DFK Crosbie from suburban Warrabrook to the CBD-adjacent Newcastle West as evidence.

[Swift]

^ They call it a game changer and here's the proof.

[boronia]

Any "opinion" from real estate developers or sales people should be taken with caution.

[lunchbox]

Transport for NSW has asked road users in Newcastle to watch out for trams. There have been in excess of 200 near misses around Stewart Avenue, Steel Street and Worth Place in the last few months due to motorists travelling through red lights and nearly colliding with trams that have the right of way.

Traffic lights will be re-phased to allow for the incompetence / iressponsibility of Newcastle's motorists.

It's going to be fun when Sydney's LRT opens!

[Passenger 57]

Traffic lights will be re-phased to allow for the incompetence / iressponsibility of Newcastle's motorists.

Do you really mean a greater gap between red and green to accommodate the red light runners? Or just giving them more green time? I would have thought the former was standard across the state by now. Seems a moral hazard. Red light runners deserve what they get but unfortunately they run into law abiding citizens. I would have thought the tram could look after itself. How slack do you have to be to have a near miss with a tram moving at 15km/h?

[lunchbox]

So far as I'm aware TfNSW has not announced detailed descriptions of any traffic management changes. Presumably each intersection or risk location will be given individual treatment.

[boronia]

Noticed a report elsewhere the other day claiming the LR had already carried it millionth passenger.

[Linto63]

Wonder if its 1 million opal tap ons or 1 million boardings? There is a big difference.

[tonyp]

The patronage on Opal data has reached 987,000 at the end of November, so 1,000,000 has probably been reached by now. I am wondering, when all these stats are called "Opal" data, do they include the credit card tap ons?