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Tag: Sydney Metro

Submission to Sydney Metro – Sydenham to Bankstown – Mod 1 – Bankstown Station

Published 2020/09/07 by Mr Hounsell

Updated with Sydney Metro’s “Response to issues raised in the submissions”.

Regarding the Revised station design for Bankstown Station. Includes the provision of a new north-south connection across the rail corridor between Appian Way and Restwell Street.

Reordered Submission June 2020. Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a Transport Analyst and Planner. I was asked to address the NSW Legislative Council to Transport & Customer Service Committee Inquiry regarding the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro Conversion. I have worked extensively on projects with Sydney Trains including on the Responsive Passenger Information System designed for customer congestion management at Town Hall and other important interchange stations.

I will be brief, as I only saw this proposed change on the day submissions closed.

Firstly, the proposed bike parking area is too small. The northern commuter car park only has space for 50 cars, a tiny fraction of possible demand. Central Bankstown is too be redeveloped as Transit-Oriented Developments. Therefore, 40 car spaces should be retained for disabled passengers, and the space on the west of the driveway should be converted to secure covered bike parking. This would significantly increase the station’s passenger catchment.

Secondly, to 1) reduce crowding, congestion, and delays, 2) improve fire and life safety, and 3) increase patronage; I would recommend the instillation of exits on the eastern end of the metro station. These eastern exits would allow quick exit in the event of an emergency. These eastern exits would spread passengers more evenly on the trains. These eastern exits would attract passengers from further afield and connect all passengers quickly to more locations. These eastern exits might allow some bus stops to be relocated to improve network efficiency.

Diagram of proposal
Continue readingSubmission to Sydney Metro – Sydenham to Bankstown – Mod 1 – Bankstown Station
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New metro rail line to force shake up of existing train services

Published 2020/02/09 by mathew

Most commuters travelling from stations west of Bankstown will be able to use direct services to get to Sydney’s CBD and avoid having to switch trains if a “preferred option” for a shake up of the rail network to accommodate a new metro rail line is adopted.

O’Sullivan (2020-02-09)

My Quotes

“The preferred option is the best option for customers because it allows for faster trips to the city and connects the west with the inner west,” said Mathew Hounsell, a transport expert at the University of Technology’s Institute for Sustainable Futures.

But Mr Hounsell said the complexity involved in funnelling more trains through the western rail corridor between Lidcombe and Homebush risks a reduction in the reliability of services.

“It could lead to a less reliable network if investment is not undertaken,” he said.

“It is essential that the government builds the missing two tracks between Lidcombe and Homebush to keep our western rail network reliable. It has to be fixed and it has to be fixed soon.”

O’Sullivan (2020-02-09)
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How $4 billion blowout puts Sydney’s transport plans on the line

Published 2020/02/08 by mathew

Buried deep below Sydney’s tallest buildings, giant caverns have been churned out of sandstone and other rock. On the streets above, tens of thousands of people go about their daily lives, oblivious to the work underground on this mega transport project.

Twin tunnels spanning more than 15 kilometres in each direction from Chatswood in the north to Sydenham in the south, link these underground cathedrals. They will become the train stations for the second stage of Sydney’s automated metro train network.

Yet the metro rail project is at risk of quickly becoming a political and financial headache for the Berejiklian government. A highly confidential budget review, completed more than 18 months ago, forecasts the government’s signature public transport project will cost up to $16.8 billion to complete by 2024 – more than $4 billion above what had been budgeted.

O’Sullivan (2020-02-08)

My Quotes

Mathew Hounsell, a transport expert at the University of Technology’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, says demand on Sydney’s transport system is already well ahead of long-term forecasts. “The transport system is essential to keeping the city pumping. Without it flowing properly, the transport network will end up clogged and inefficient,” he says.

“There is a significant risk that the government will delay the essential projects such as Metro West and the upgrade of the signalling on the heavy rail network in order to keep the budget looking good. But if we don’t invest in the transport system, the city will become less attractive and we will lose our global competitiveness. The transport system is the arteries of the city.” [emphasis added]

O’Sullivan (2020-02-08)
Continue readingHow $4 billion blowout puts Sydney’s transport plans on the line
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Commuters pour onto Sydney’s new driverless trains, figures show

Published 2019/08/19 by mathew

More than 66,000 commuters have piled onto Sydney’s new driverless metro trains on average each weekday in their first two months of operation despite a spate of disruptions, figures show.

The weekday patronage in June and July makes the 36-kilometre Metro Northwest rail line from Chatswood to Rouse Hill in Sydney’s north west almost as well used as the Eastern Suburbs line, the city’s fourth busiest.

O’Sullivan (2019-08-19)

Frequency is Freedom

Mathew Hounsell, a transport data analyst at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, said the new line’s patronage showed that people responded well to frequent all-stop services.

O’Sullivan (2019-08-19)
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Sydney’s trains regularly fail to run on time during evening peak

Published 2019/07/10 by mathew

Commuters on Sydney’s busiest rail lines are regularly unable to get home on time during the evening peak on weekdays, as new figures show the T1 Western and T8 South lines have been the worst performers over the last year for passengers.

Trains on the T1 Western – one of the most heavily patronised – and T8 South lines did not meet on-time performance targets during the evening peaks on three out of five weekdays in the 12 months to early July.

The T8 Airport and the T2 Inner West and Leppington lines also failed to meet on-time targets of 92 per cent of services running on time on almost half of weekdays over the past year.

The T4 Eastern Suburbs line, which benefits from the fact it is separated from the rest of the network, was the best performer during the evening peak from 3pm to 7pm. Trains on the line were on-time on 222 of the 256 weekdays captured by data from July 2 last year to July 5 this year.

O’Sullivan, Gladstone (2019-07-10)
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Connecting the Northern Beaches – Metro or Motorway

Published 2018/11/25 by Mr Hounsell

A public presentation to the two P&C committees of schools impacted by the Western Harbour Tunnel & the Northern Beaches Link.

The presentation can be watched below and the slides are available as a PDF.

The presentation discusses the Sydney Metro assessments of two Dee Why to North Sydney metros that were part of the previous plans.

Figure 3 – Proposed staging plan.

The proposed metros would have reduced traffic in Sydney (despite the pro-road bias of the model).

Figure 4.24 Change in Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT)

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