Parramatta light rail

[Campbelltown busboy]

It's a gold plated piece of rubbish. Enormous waste of time and money by corrupt forces.
It ends up in the arse end of Carlingford because it was easiest to use the old railway line. Weak and pathetic.
Before the disgusting costly and ineffectual CSELR was imposed by the four yearly dictatorship. I would have thought Brisbane were a backwater for their new bus based multi articulated vehicles they're rolling out, but I think they are the smartest, wisest and cleverest city in the country right now, while Sydney stews away in It's own poop with these insane poorly planned mega projects.

The best project Parramatta ever did was the free shuttle bus loop the council initiated before the four yearly dictators took it over and eventuality discontinued it.

Sydney disappointing one day, depressing the next.

The Carlingford line conversion was done because they picked metro northwest over the Epping-Parramatta link

The Parramatta loop was actually taken over by labor during the rollout of their pre 2011 free shuttle program that strangely only saw those shuttles being rolled out in 5 under threat seats and the change of hands for the Parramatta loop in western and south western Sydney whitch would have been all been all held by labor at the time the 5 start up shuttles where free Blacktown shuttle free Cabramatta shuttle free Campbelltown shuttle free Liverpool shuttle and free Penrith shuttle

[tonyp]

Without looking it up, I recall that there is a metro line from Parramatta to North Ryde in the 2056 transport plan.

[Randomness]

The best project Parramatta ever did was the free shuttle bus loop the council initiated before the four yearly dictators took it over and eventuality discontinued it.

It still exists, just reduced as it doesn't run to the station anymore, and isn't branded in green shuttle livery.

[Swift]

The best project Parramatta ever did was the free shuttle bus loop the council initiated before the four yearly dictators took it over and eventuality discontinued it.

It still exists, just reduced as it doesn't run to the station anymore, and isn't branded in green shuttle livery.

Sounds like it may as well be. It's been depleted to near oblivion as per Sydney usual.

Queensland introduced their higher capacity mode in the smaller regional city and the lower capacity mode in the big capital city. That's actually dumb by any standard. Don't be like Brisbane. Be like Sydney.

How often does a given PT reach it's maximum capacity besides special events?
The Gold Coast attracts a lot of visitors at any given time and the Gold Coast Light Rail has been successful beyond forecasts. There won't be any need for multiple lines, unlike a metropolitan area like Brisbane which would need several lines at great cost. Brisbane's much cheaper alternative can be realistically rolled out on several routes at a much lower budget much sooner and do it's job spread out covering much greater distances and catchments than light rail or metro that won't exist for decades if at all.

[Transtopic]

Here is something interesting about a corridor put aside to link Carlingford with Epping

https://youtube.com/watch?v=AdigiE8SSSU

The vacant land shown only runs just north of Carlingford Station and wasn't meant to run all the way to Epping. I think that there was originally an intention to extend the Carlingford Line to the north to the Hills District. The abandoned western leg of the Parramatta to Chatswood Rail Link from Carlingford to Epping was all underground.

Another video from the same blogger, which focuses on Eastwood, also shows the Eastwood County Road reservation along which Parramatta City Council's light rail proposal was planned to run. As mentioned, this reservation has been in place since 1951 and anyone buying an affected property since then, most likely at a discount, would have been aware of it. They then can't turn around and complain if either part or the whole of their property is resumed for transport infrastructure, whether it be for road or light rail. However, most of the widened corridor through Eastwood is already owned by the government, with only minimal resumption required.

Ryde Council has now adopted a policy of utilising the County Road reservation, subject to the government's agreement, for a rapid transit service for either bus or light rail. No mention of an upgraded road link, although it could be potentially constructed as a combined road/light rail link. Part of the corridor is also being set aside for a green link between Eastwood and Macquarie Park.

Bus Australia had also previously proposed a bus transitway utilising the County Road along a similar alignment to Parramatta Council's light rail proposal, but with some deviations at either end of the corridor.

The government doesn't appear to have any plans to abandon the County Road corridor, linking up with Kissing Point Rd and Silverwater Rd to the west and south-west, so there's still a chance that it could be used for new transport infrastructure in the future. It would certainly be useful in enhancing more direct east-west transport links between the North Shore/Macquarie Park and Parramatta and the Greater West on the north side of the harbour, which are currently indirect and limited.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2lcIE_fgi8

https://imgur.com/sLr5tRr

[Swift]

Even apart from that, I think it's a travesty that in 2022 with so much change to Sydney having taken place in the 21st century, nothing has progressed at all with the Rutledge Street, Brush Road and Lawson St deviation required to access the main road network from Marsden Rd. How has that been allowed to stagnate since First Ave and the bridge part of Rutledge St was upgraded as a major roads project over 40 years ago now, only for it to continue to peter out to a goat track?

The widening of First Avenue and the new widened bridge over the railway line would have cost a fortune in 1978, but the missing links that project was supposed to be part of, continue to this day unchanged.

[Transtopic]

Without looking it up, I recall that there is a metro line from Parramatta to North Ryde in the 2056 transport plan.

It is only proposed to run between Parramatta and Epping, where interchange would be required to Metro Northwest to get to Macquarie Park and beyond. Of course it would be preferable if any such line were to connect directly with Metro Northwest to allow through running to Macquarie Park without the need to interchange, but that option has now been effectively cut off because of the current policy against branching and the abandonment of new stub tunnels at Epping. The original stub tunnels built for an Epping to Parramatta link were taken over by Metro Northwest.

There is still a lot of water to go under the bridge before a Parramatta to Epping metro alignment is finalised. As with the light rail proposal, the major trip generators would be Parramatta and Macquarie Park and it would make more sense to connect them directly without the need to interchange, causing unnecessary congestion at Epping.

With the Carlingford Line no longer being on the agenda for a possible metro link, it opens up the possibility of considering the more direct route via Eastwood, which connects Parramatta and Macquarie Park while maintaining interchange to the Northern Line at Eastwood and Metro Northwest at Macquarie University. It's also a more direct run from Parramatta to Chatswood and the Lower North Shore, rather than a convoluted route through Carlingford and Epping. The only reason why the original Parramatta to Chatswood Rail Link ran via Carlingford and Epping was to fully utilise the Carlingford Line infrastructure, as it was cheaper than building the more direct route via Eastwood, which would be mostly in tunnel, connecting with the Carlingford Line at Dundas. It's little wonder that then Transport Minister Costa deferred the Epping to Parramatta extension, as it no longer satisfied one of its primary objectives of relieving congestion on the Western Line because of its longer and slower service to Chatswood and other North Shore destinations. That was a big fail. I attach below proposed options for the Parramatta to Chatswood Rail Link and you can make up your own minds about which option should have been preferred.

The other problem with a metro link to Epping is that it's fast running out of options to construct new platforms within a reasonable distance of the existing station to allow convenient interchange, because of pending redevelopments on the western side of Beecroft Rd. The same goes for a potential light rail terminus. On the other hand, Eastwood still has the option of constructing metro platforms under the existing bus interchange, which is alongside the existing station on West Pde and will never be built out. Attached are images of the proposed metro station for the former North West Metro, which could still be repurposed for a direct Parramatta to Macquarie Park metro.

https://i.imgur.com/FvoFnmb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QgMbINk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/J0yFhpS.jpg

[Transtopic]

Even apart from that, I think it's a travesty that in 2022 with so much change to Sydney having taken place in the 21st century, nothing has progressed at all with the Rutledge Street, Brush Road and Lawson St deviation required to access the main road network from Marsden Rd. How has that been allowed to stagnate since First Ave and the bridge part of Rutledge St was upgraded as a major roads project over 40 years ago now, only for it to continue to peter out to a goat track?

The widening of First Avenue and the new widened bridge over the railway line would have cost a fortune in 1978, but the missing links that project was supposed to be part of, continue to this day unchanged.

Yes I'm afraid Eastwood has become a bit of a black hole as far as upgrading transport infrastructure is concerned. Although it's still the largest retail/commercial centre on the Northern Line between the Parramatta River and Hornsby (previously between Strathfield and Hornsby before Rhodes developed), it is continually overlooked in favour of Epping, even though it's on the most logical axis between Macquarie Park and Parramatta. It's like bypassing Chatswood on the North Shore Line. Epping is more oriented to the North West from Macquarie Park and has now become a dormitory residential area, with much of its previous commercial office space now decimated with high rise apartment developments. How it can be classified as a strategic centre beggars belief. There's nothing to entice you to go there, even with all the recent developments. It's got the metro, but not much else.

Even though the road network through Eastwood is sub-standard, it is still used as a more direct route between Macquarie Park, Parramatta via Kissing Point Rd and the south western suburbs via Silverwater Rd and will continue to do so. The Eastwood County Road was meant to improve transport links between Northern and Western Sydney with a more direct upgraded route, which could also potentially include light rail as discussed. The only major current routes on the north side of the harbour are via Lane Cove/Victoria Rds through Top Ryde, and Epping/Carlingford/Pennant Hills Rds via Epping and Carlingford, which are too indirect and heavily congested in peak hours. The County Road runs midway between them and would offer some relief providing a more direct route.

A community consultation process was undertaken in the 1990s to assess the feasibility of the upgraded link, but it was decided to defer it until the impact of the then new M2 Motorway could be established. The final report did however recommend an interim upgrade of widening Rutledge St to 6 lanes with right turn bays within the existing reservation between the widened railway overbridge at West Pde and Shaftsbury Rd, but it has never eventuated. The government has also been very dismissive about the crossing of Brush Farm Park as an excuse not to use the route for either light rail or road upgrading, which is a load of baloney. If they really believed that, then why don't they abandon the reservation altogether? I have detailed plans of the proposed County Road upgrade, which included grade separated intersections at KIssing Point/Silverwater Rds, Marsden Rd, Blaxland Rd and Epping Rd, as well as an arch bridge across Brush Farm Park, which would have minimal impact on the valley floor below.

It's time it came back onto the agenda.

[Swift]

Eastwood is the land that time forgot evidently.
25 years and counting should be barely sufficient to see how the M2 has had an impact.
It isn't any good for the woeful cluster-bug that is Rutledge St heading west every evening peak and vice versa in the morning.
Is the Eastwood progress association asleep at the wheel? Is nobody pushing for long awaited main roads access in and out of the suburb that's beyond the 1980s?
Come on. Get off your butts and make the much needed catch ups already.

[Glen]

It still exists, just reduced as it doesn't run to the station anymore, and isn't branded in green shuttle livery.

Sounds like it may as well be. It's been depleted to near oblivion as per Sydney usual.

Depleted in what way?

One of its major markets, Parramatta Leagues Club, is now on the main bus corridor to the north.

[Campbelltown busboy]

In the last 17 years the section of Church street mall between Macquarie and George has gone from full pedestrian to one way motor vehicle traffic to shared pedestrian/light rail

[Glen]

And a few variations in between. I can remember when the Council painted bright coloured circles in it. They didn't last.

Unfortunately Church St has long suffered from the Big Box syndrome, as Westfield has sucked most of the retail trade out of the main street.

Let's hope the light rail can bring some real life back.

[Transtopic]

Eastwood is the land that time forgot evidently.
25 years and counting should be barely sufficient to see how the M2 has had an impact.
It isn't any good for the woeful cluster-bug that is Rutledge St heading west every evening peak and vice versa in the morning.
Is the Eastwood progress association asleep at the wheel? Is nobody pushing for long awaited main roads access in and out of the suburb that's beyond the 1980s?
Come on. Get off your butts and make the much needed catch ups already.

Unfortunately, because of demographic changes in Eastwood over the past few decades, there is no longer a united voice in the business community to lobby Ryde Council and the government to promote redevelopment of the centre and improve transport infrastructure. The Eastwood Progress Association no longer exists and the separate Eastwood Chamber of Commerce and Korean Chamber of Commerce are ineffectual. I sheet a lot of the blame home to Ryde Council, which is more preoccupied with the development of Macquarie Park and Top Ryde. It basks in the glory of the Granny Smith Festival each year, which is one of the biggest in Sydney drawing crowds of 80 to 90,000, but then promptly forgets about it. Proposals to upgrade flood mitigation through the Town Centre have also been deferred, which inhibits redevelopment. There were up until recently some Councillors who opposed any redevelopment of Eastwood, including the County Road upgrade, because they wanted to retain its quaint "urban village" atmosphere, which it is far from being. It's still a major centre in spite of its shortcomings.

Long drawn out attempts to upgrade its Town Centre Master Plan over the past couple of decades have been stymied, with the last being rejected in 2014 because of proposed increases in densification and building heights, which were pretty modest compared with what is already happening in surrounding centres like Epping, Carlingford, Top Ryde and Macquarie Park. Although a major $300,000,000 mixed use redevelopment of the existing Eastwood Centre has belatedly been approved after a lengthy approvals process, that has now been put on the back-burner and whether it ever sees the light of day is anyone's guess. That follows a previously approved project which lapsed.

This is where there has been a failure in government policy, which at the moment only seems to be selectively focussed on development opportunities on the new metro and light rail lines. Previously, the Planning Department's policy was to propose redevelopment by government intervention within walking distance (800m) around all major transport nodes, like Eastwood, on the existing rail network within the inner and middle ring suburbs. Until that happens, Eastwood will continue to languish compared with what is happening in surrounding areas.

[stupid_girl]

It’s also possible that they plan on not buying bimode trams for stage 2, and as such couldn’t go along church st

Yes I'd expect that sort of stupid decision, after nobbling the ability to run IWLR trams along George St Sydney to CQ. Plenty of inflexibility, all for the sake of the wireless nonsense.

The project has committed to wire-free light rail operations between Jacaranda Square and Carter Street stops, where there would be no overhead wiring to power the light rail vehicles, which would charge at stops.

[Campbelltown busboy]

And a few variations in between. I can remember when the Council painted bright coloured circles in it. They didn't last.

Unfortunately Church St has long suffered from the Big Box syndrome, as Westfield has sucked most of the retail trade out of the main street.

Let's hope the light rail can bring some real life back.

I can remember playing on the play area that was located near Peter Wynn Score on family Parramatta day trips back in the early to mid 90s

[tonyp]

The project has committed to wire-free light rail operations between Jacaranda Square and Carter Street stops, where there would be no overhead wiring to power the light rail vehicles, which would charge at stops.

So completely pointless.

[Glen]

The project has committed to wire-free light rail operations between Jacaranda Square and Carter Street stops, where there would be no overhead wiring to power the light rail vehicles, which would charge at stops.

So completely pointless.

What, like Newcastle? Oh no!

[tonyp]

What, like Newcastle? Oh no!

That one's beyond pointless, but counterproductive, extending the journey time.

[ScaniaGrenda]

What, like Newcastle? Oh no!

That one's beyond pointless, but counterproductive, extending the journey time.

Let's not pretend either that only in this timeline do we make the perfect decision for the Light-Rail not to have priority crossing at intersections which is yet another time addition factor.

I can go on about the flaws of the Newcastle Light Rail but I will not, this isn't the correct thread for it and I'm sure the board is already well aware of my stance on it.

[Petarkco]

Tram 2172(?) is sitting at Yallamundi station as of this afternoon.

[Swift]

Just more TNSW precured junk.

[tonyp]

Where's Yallamundi?

[Aurora]

The old Rydalmere.

[tonyp]

So they've taken delivery of a tram, but do they have somewhere to store it?

[superbossgc]

So they've taken delivery of a tram, but do they have somewhere to store it?

awaiting for depot to be completed.