Victor P Taffa

As our population increases and ages the expansion of all heavy railway networks throughout Australia is essential in order to meet these growing pressures over the next few decades.

In a series of articles The Southern Thunderer investigates a number of issues that spells out why Governments of all persuasions must meet the challenges ahead and instead of deferring or abandoning railway expansion realise the positive impact that this will have on our economy and society as a whole.

The plans for expansion of our railways were included in the Detailed Overview Report as written by myself and distributed in the first instance in January 2001. On 26 February 2009 all of the plans became accessible via the internet. The website address is www.isput.com.au

The Detailed Overview Report will be used as a template for individual websites of Railway expansion that will be progressively launched for every State, Territory and a National focus.

Many of the plans for Sydney are simply a revival of routes laid out by John Bradfield during the 1920’s and there are routes that were drawn up during the 1910’s. The fourth article focuses on PUBLIC BENEFITS.

PUBLIC BENEFITS:

 

• Your Railway Line construction has more positive spin-offs for Sydney and New South Wales than the negative cost of construction.

 

• Your Railways employ people during the construction phase and create permanent ongoing employment opportunities.

 

• Your Railways reduce the road death toll.

 

• Your Railways do not require floral wreathes or Stop Revive Survive signage at railway station platforms.

 

• Your Railways reduce the burden on the hospital system with less car accidents and as a result lower insurance premiums.

 

• Your Railways result in better roads because more money is ultimately available to maintain and upgrade roads. Roads in peak hour are less congested and safer to use.

 

• Your Railways are cleaner for the Environment as they do not need ugly, obtrusive emission exhaust stacks.

 

• Your Railways boost tourism.

 

• Your Railways do not require passengers to take off their shoes before boarding a train.

 

• Your Railways unite communities and build a community spirit.

 

• Your Railways serve 304.8 Million* passenger journeys.

 

• Your Railways currently serve 500,000* commuters for 990,000 journeys in peak hour on a weekday in Metropolitan Sydney.

 

• Your Railways serve 1.68* Million CountryLink passenger journeys.

 

*According to RailCorp Annual Report 2008-09

 

 

The full details for these plans can be viewed at www.isput.com.au

SUMMARY OF NEW SYDNEY METROPOLITAN RAILWAY LINES: 

 

• These planned railway lines are designed to bring many suburbs of our great city onto the rail network. Without a major expansion of the rail network, within 20 years, peak hour will extend from 8 hours a day to 12.
• The following are plans, for new, or extensions to, existing railway lines for the Sydney Metropolitan rail network:

 

• BANKSTOWN LINE EXTENSION
• BRADFIELD LINE
• BROOKVALE LINE
• CAMPBELLTOWN LINE
• CARLINGFORD LINE EXTENSION
• CRONULLA LINE EXTENSION                                                                       
• EAST HILLS LINE EXTENSION                                                                       
• EASTERN LINE EXTENSION                                                                          
• EASTWOOD LINE
• ERMINGTON LINE
• HILLS LINE
• LOWER BLUE MOUNTAINS LINE                                                                            
• MACARTHUR LINE
• NORTH SHORE LINE EXTENSION                                                                          
• NORTH WESTERN LINE                                                                                  
• NORTHERN BEACHES LINE                                                                                    
• NORTHERN LINE EXTENSION                                                                       
• PRINCES LINE                                                                                                  
• RICHMOND LINE EXTENSION                                                                       
• SOUTH EASTERN LINE
• WINSTON HILLS LINE 

                                                                                             

 The full details for these plans can be viewed at www.isput.com.au

 SUMMARY OF NEW REGIONAL AND RURAL RAILWAY LINES: 

 

• These planned railway lines would be dual track and built on concrete sleepers and with pipelines placed alongside the lines so as to ‘drought proof’ New South Wales. All new and existing railway lines throughout New South Wales would be electrified.

 

• The following are plans, for new, or extensions to, existing railway lines for Regional and Rural New South Wales:

 

• ARMIDALE LINE EXTENSION                                                         
• BROKEN HILL LINE
• CENTRAL COAST LINE
• CENTRAL WESTERN LINE                                                               
• CESSNOCK LINE
• GRENFELL LINE        
• HUNTER LINE
• ILLAWARRA LINE EXTENSION
• NARROMINE LINE
• NEWCASTLE LINE                                                                                         
• PACIFIC LINE
• RAYMOND TERRACE LINE                                                                                     
• RIVERINA LINE
• SOUTH COAST LINE                                                                                       
• SOUTHERN LINE EXTENSION                                                                       
• WHITTON LINE

 

The expansion of the rail network will require the construction of new rail Depot/Maintenance Centres at:

• Kemps Creek.
• Riverstone

 

Currently Sydney Metropolitan Rail Depots are at:

 

• Mortdale,
• Flemington,
• Hornsby.

 

New stabling facilities would be constructed at Broadmeadow. This would eliminate the need to stable trains on line into the Newcastle CBD.

 

Some of the features of new rolling stock will include:

 

• Single Deck
• Stainless Steel exteriors
• Air-conditioning
• 8 or 4 car sets
• 3-2 plus aisle seat configuration
• Multi-Directional seating
• Concertina carriage connections
• Side of carriage electronic destination signs
• Wheel chair bays
• Luggage Racks
• Japanese style ‘bullet train’ carriages
• ‘Canadian Rockies’ style clear top carriages
• New South Wales railway carriage manufacturing industry
• New Sleeper carriages.
• Pay to view video screens
• Restaurant/lounge carriages on every train.

 

• Single Deck carriages would be well suited in off peak and weekend services.

 

• When the rail network began operating electric rail services in Sydney in 1926, the mass production of single deck red coloured electric trains was undertaken to meet the increased patronage of the railways. The earliest carriages were of timber construction and narrow carriages were merely widened. The ‘red rattlers’ were relatively cheap to produce and lasted on the network for over 60 years.

 

• The construction of new railway lines in Sydney will ensure that unlike 1995, new rail carriages are built. The Double-Deck trailer carriages and Tanagra’s are very good carriages and provide a very reliable and safe journey.

 

• The Olympic Games showed that the downside of Double-Deck carriages is increased loading times at stations. Single-Deck carriages have a faster loading time and thus service frequency can increase.

 

• Having trumpeted the virtues of single or double-deck carriages, when the rail network expands again with the opening of the Epping-Chatswood line, a combination of single and double-deck carriages should be used with a combination of 8 or 4 car sets.

 

• The location of Wheel chair bays on rail carriages is very easy to provide. One of the side facing seat arrangements in the saloon ends of a rail carriage could be removed at one end of an existing carriage or not provided in any new carriages. As well as enabling wheel chair bound commuters to use the rail network; the other advantage to this is the increased standing capacity of the carriages.

 

• Japanese style ‘bullet train’ carriages will be built in New South Wales and operate on newly built or realigned railway lines so as to operate at speeds of 300 km/h and provide people with a transport option that in 2009 does not exist.

 

• ‘Canadian Rockies’ style clear top carriages will be built in New South Wales and provide people with a travelling experience that allows for tourism to be encouraged.

 

• The New South Wales railway carriage manufacturing industry will be encouraged so as to provide long term employment to people and also boost indirect employment in associated industries. New South Wales will lead the way for other States and Territories throughout Australia to ‘buy Australian’.

 

• New Sleeper carriages built that are of a luxurious nature with beds laid further apart and designed to attract passengers to high speed long distance travel.

 

• Pay to view video screens will be located on the backs of seats for the use of passengers. Security camera surveillance would reduce vandalism in the vicinity of these video screens. Passengers will be able to view the daily news or a G rated movie.

 

• Restaurant/lounge carriages would be included on every train. Passengers will be able to purchase food and beverages and consumed within the same carriage. By utilising a whole carriage passengers can sit and relax on lounge style seating so that the other carriages are maintained in their present format and thus enable laws relating to the consumption of food and beverages on a train remains unaltered.

 

• Restaurant /lounge carriages would be leased to independent operators and would only relate to the provision of food and beverages.

 

• Every railway depot could have a different provider of the food and beverage operation. Ownership of the carriages will remain with RailCorp.

 

• The construction of any new railway station would also incorporate lifts as well as escalators thus enabling all commuters to use the new rail lines. The construction of other new rail lines will necessitate more rail carriages to be built and the ‘one size fits all’ rail carriage policy needs to be reviewed.

 

Railway Archives:

The Railways Archives Office should be adequately funded with the public encouraged to visit.

The NSW Government should maintain Railway restoration at the Eveleigh workshops.

 

Luggage Trolleys:

Luggage Trolleys similar to those at Sydney airport should be provided at large railway stations such as Central and Strathfield.

 

Regional and Rural railway station improvements:

Parkes, Dubbo, Orange, Yass Junction and Canberra would be upgraded to include additional full length platforms and a station roof to protect passengers from the elements similar to Calais or St. Pancras Railway Stations.

Concrete sleepers:

All new and realigned railway lines will have concrete sleepers so the rails are able to absorb varying weather conditions. Concrete sleepers also have a longer life than timber sleepers.

 

Multi track rail corridors:

All new and existing railway lines throughout Metropolitan Sydney, Regional and Rural New South Wales will have rail corridors that allow for trains to travel in different directions at the same time. There is almost nowhere that a road is a single lane only and tracks on a railway corridor are like lanes on a road. Single track railway lines will be either duplicated or where necessary quadrupled.

 

Electrification:

All new and existing railway lines throughout Metropolitan Sydney, Regional and Rural New South Wales will be electrified. The steam age has come and gone and in 2009 the time is suitable to electrify every new or existing railway line. While high speed trains do not necessarily require electrification once a railway line has electrification different trains can operate on any railway line and provide shorter more flexible services. In order to electrify all existing and new multi track rail corridors New South Wales will require additional power generating capacity and this in turn will improve the supply of electricity to the people of New South Wales. Electrification should also be implemented for every rail network throughout Australia.

 

Pipelines:

All new and existing railway lines throughout flood prone areas of Metropolitan Sydney and all Regional and Rural parts of New South Wales will have pipelines built alongside the lines. Floods in Bourke, North Coast, Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, and Queensland in 2009 showed how the large torrents of water could not be channelled to the drought affected areas of New South Wales. The bushfires throughout Victoria in 1983 and 2009 could also have been stopped had pipelines been placed alongside of railway lines. Railway lines could also be built through National Parks and in doing so would create natural fire breaks and allow for regular back burning in National Parks.

 

Railway line construction does not remove the need to maintain or upgrade roads. However given the large expansion of residential areas over many decades without a railway line it is quite apparent that there is a bias against the construction of railway lines.

 

The difference between the cost of construction of roads and railway lines is marginal.