 Slow rail contributing to Sydney's population squeeze
On Feb 26, 10:00 pm, "Scott" <smlaugh...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> I don't know about Australia's other capitals, but I feel that many
> Sydneysiders have little choice to live there because of slow transport
> links. Fuel prices and lack of fast rail routes to the outer metropolitan
> area such as the Central Coast, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains are
> propbably a partial cause to the current rental crisis and high housing
> costs of inner suburbs.
>
> I did a comparison between Cityrail's Central to Penrith route and South
> West Trains in the UK between London Waterloo and Guildford in Surrey .
> Both routes are about 50 km distance. The results were that while the
> quickest CityRail trip took 40 minutes but trips were usually one hour.
> South West Trains in the UK took a minimum of 33 minutes and most trips were
> around half an hour. The tains are considered slow in the UK, so I don't
> know how you would describe Sydney services. I have lived on the Central
> Coast and used Slow train times and lack of public transport links as my
> reason for moving to the inner Sydney area. I once took a friday night
> service to Katoomba from a station several kilometres west of Central and it
> still took for ever just to get to Penrith. I have often considered taking
> CityRail services to the South Coast or Southern Highlands on a weekend.
> Out of the question, as they take far too long and have a limited number of
> services. I'd rather take my car instead.
>
> People who live in the towns and villages sourounding the Sydney metropolis
> may be glad there are no decent rail links to attract hoards of
> Sydneysiders. But perhaps faster intercity and outer suburban railroutes as
> well as some new rail routes would help relive the squeeze on Sydney as many
> people would rather out in the country but still be close to the city for
> employment, study and many of the Sydney's facilities.
>
> Scott
The trains in England may travel faster but they have some big smashes
over there and they are usually always at high speed. Trains in NSW
are travelling about as fast as they can on the present alignments.
Given the population of England compared to here, they have more tax
dollars to spend on rail than here. If you are travelling west out of
Sydney you face the Blue Mountains with grades as steep as 1 in 31 and
long stretches of 1 in 33 between Valley Heights and Katoomba.
England doesn't have grades like that out of London so it's not a fair
comparison. Further west you have 1 in 40's in a lot of places, just
as you have on the North and the South. The Great Dividing Range is
not found in England, so long straight high speed sections of track
are achievable unlike here. As for Sydney to Penrith in 40 minutes,
thats a lot quicker than you will get there in a car from the CBD.
Interurbans are tabled to do it in 48 minutes with the standard stops,
still a lot quicker than by car. A number of suburban services in the
morning peak are tabled to run from Parramatta to Central in 24
minutes, stopping Parramatta next stop Redfern then Central. Try
doing that in your car at 8am of a weekday!
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