Re: [NSW] Regents Park vs. Granville lines?

["Garry Hoddinett" <hoddos@netspace.net.au>]

Bradley Torr <btorr@bigpond.nospam.com> wrote in message
85ifmm$kmr$1@the-fly.zip.com.au">news:85ifmm$kmr$1@the-fly.zip.com.au...
> Hi,
> Having spent my adolescence in the lovely city of Liverpool, NSW, and
> regularly travelling up to Sydney throughout my formative years, this
> question has always bothered me - why is it that the All Stations To
> Liverpool goes down the Regent's Park anabranch, but the Express goes the
> long way via Granville and Fairfield? The so-called 'express' trains out
to
> Liverpool via Granville are hardly expresses at all - they generally stop
at
> all stations from Lidcombe onward, and still takes approximately 50
minutes!
> Meanwhile, the Regents Park line which is shorter in distance suffers the
> "all stations to Central" trains...... which stop at all those pissy
little
> inner-west stations where, like, a whole two people get on and off... it
> takes up to 1 hour and 5 minutes!
>
> In my eyes, wouldn't it be better to run the south-western services like
> this:
>
> * Run the Liverpool via Granville as it now is - Redfern, Ashfield,
Burwood,
> Strathfield, Lidcome, all stations to Liverpool via Granville;
>
> * Change Liverpool via Regents Park to Redfern, Strathfield, Lidcombe and
> all stations to Liverpool via Regents Park;
>
> * And all the 'pissy little inner west stations' will still be adequately
> served by Bankstown trains (and possibly Liverpool via Granville trains in
> the off-peak).
>
> This would greatly improve services to Liverpool and even Campbelltown
> commuters (who will then have a decent alternative to the shoddy East
Hills
> service, even if it will be a few minutes longer) and means that Regents
> Park anabranch commuters won't have to sit through the tedium of stopping
> all stations for 30 kilometres!
>
> Any thoughts or comments (especially from those who are better acquainted
> with CityRail operations?)
>
> Regards,
> Bradley.
>
I think one reason the Liverpool via Regents Park services stop all stations
is to stop them catching up to the train in front.  The alternative is to
transfer any express services to the Suburban and Main lines which would
probably interfere with west and north rail services.  On the north shore
line there are some rather bizare stopping patterns all designed to stop a
train from catching up to the train in front and to funnel trains over the
harbour bridge at regular 3-4 minute intervals.  As a result you get
services from Hornsby full by the time they leave Pymble (but usually
earlier) stopping at Killara, Lindfield and Roseville when there is little
if any space for additional passengers and why? -Because the train would
catch up to the service in front and be held up anyway.  What it shows is
that in some parts of the CityRail network there is insufficient track for a
decent service.