Design for the new north west rapid rail. Source: Transport for NSW
Commuters in Sydney should think about all factors prior to comparing our train system to other developed countries. In my previous post, I mentioned that there were many factors that influence the quality of our train system, and these factors tend to be neglected when commuters make their complaints on their social media accounts.
One of the biggest complaints, is the wait time between trains. The average wait time during peak hour may be 5-10 minutes, but once it’s 9am, the wait time increases significantly. In some instances, it can be up to 20 minutes depending on whether you’re at a big or small station hub.
But here’s the good news. Yesterday, a press release from Transport for NSW announced that Sydney’s new rapid rail will be running every four minutes during peak hour. That means there will be at least fifteen trains running every hour during peak periods.
They are “bringing a world-class rapid transit rail service to Australia for the first time.”
This $3.6 billion dollar development will be modernising Australia’s transport system, and adding more stations to the West in order to improve the service received by its commuters. Another positive change would be the fact that commuters will not need to consult a timetable but rather just turn up at the station and jump on a train.
Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, announced that the new trains will be built by the international supplier, Alstom, the company behind the rapid transit trains in world class cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Amsterdam and Milan. Its designs will be similar to those of these cities, where our familiar double deck trains will be replaced with single decks with less seating. They will also have traverse seating, and most impressively, they will be driverless.
I for one am extremely excited for these advancements in our train system. It shows that the government does collate the feedback received from their commuters, and are taking action in resolving the issue of wait time and time spent travelling.
The only downside of this news is that the line will not be ready until 2019.
What are you thoughts on the new North West Rail Link?
References:
#LoveYourTrains 