Re: Re: [NSW, Ci-tyra-il] Airport Link

[Hubert Lam <hubert@imap4.com>]

Bill McNiven got bored on Wed, 24 May 2000 22:24:39 +1000 and so wrote the following:
 
          ROY HOWARTH wrote in message <8gggso$en4$1@bugstomper.ihug.com.au>...
          >The main purpose of building the AirportLink was to relieve congestion on
          >the Redfern - Sydenham corridor. The fact that the line travels thru the
          >Airport was a means of killing two birds with one stone.

That was what CityRail said in its November 1996 "timetable review", and they actually promised
additional Banko to City Inner trains in the peak once New Southern Railway opened! Whether they
have done it or not I don't knwo since i haven't got the liverpool to City via Banko timetable.
          
          Oops!
          
          The City Outer and Illawarra Local carried at peak times, in the last
          timetable, 16 trains/hour.  Changing this to 18 trains/hour on the City
          Outer, then sending  8 of the trains via the Airport, doesn't do anything
          for congestion.
          
Somehow the city circle, although only composing of 1 track each way (outer and inner) seems to cope
with even a high number of trains through per hour compared to some other lines. Some reasons I can
offer for this:

* all trains run through all stops on the city circle
* signalling is done so that the trains are able to travel relatively closely between each other?

could someone please explain a little further? thx

          I think that the main political purpose of building the Airport Link was to
          demonstrate that anything Atlanta can do, Sydney can do better.  Doing
          better than MARTA in Atlanta isn't hard, but it hasn't been achieved.
          
          Somewhere between the "great idea" and implementation, things that have been
          forgotten include
          *    usually, if you build a railway line, you build rolling stock too
          *    usually, if you build a railway line to connect with an airport, you
          provide some accommodation for airport-style luggage.

well on weekends you have the "dedicated fleet" with all East Hills trains through Sydenham!
but in the first place ALL east hills trains should run through airport instead of some through
Sydenham but for some obvious reasons like Marrickville Metro at Sydenham and Sydney University at
Redfern
          
          OK, I know there are substandard exceptions like the Boston "Blue Line" (but
          then most of it was built as the Maverick streetcar tunnel almost before
          airplanes were invented) and like the Baltimore Light Rail (which still gets
          to the CBD quicker and cheaper than a cab).
          
          The problem is that a series of political administrations of various parties
          have rubber-stamped design decisions without anybody asking "will this
          work"?

but wasn't it the liberal government at the time that delayed the introduction of the "Olympian"
(now known as "millennium"?)??? or am i wrong? (i was only 12 yrs old back around then....couldn't
remember that far)
          
          Rgds