Re: [NSW] Kingsgrove, East Hills Line - Accident, Carriages Lying on Side

[Greg Rudd <grudd@mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Hubert Lam wrote:

> according to a reliable source, East Hills was never intended to be heavily
> utilised as it is today, with up to 10-16 trains an hour running during peak
> hours.
>
> The problem with the East Hills line, according to the source, is that the
> track itself was laid so that only perhaps light "traffic" would run on it.
> However when the Glenfield-Holsworthy-East Hills section opened in the late
> 80s, the track between East Hills and Sydenham was left untouched and today
> its still the same. As we all know, the East Hills line is one of the
> busiest lines, perhaps second only to West. However West has very good track
> as it has always had a mix of trains running on it--namely much of the
> freight and XPTs. East Hills has only started to carry long-distance
> passenger trains in the past few years. During the Olympics, XPTs and
> Canberra Xplorers were even allowed to run on the East Hills line to avoid
> blocking other trains at Strathfield, and we should be grateful that this
> didn't happen 4 days ago, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.
>
> According to that source, the track needs to be upgraded immediately, as
> he/she has told me around 3 months ago that if the track was not stable
> enough, derailments will occur even on straight sections of track, and i
> think that prediction has come to be true yesterday, with 3 cars
> derailing--not at points, but on a perfectly straight section of track.
>

>From what I can see as a regular traveller on this line most of the line from
Turrella to East Hills is at least on the down is laid with 53 kg rail, While on
the up track from East Hills to Riverwood was laid with a mix of 60/53 kg rail
as part of the duplication from East Hills to Riverwood in the early 80's with
the rest being laid with 53 kg.  From my point of view what is alarming is the
rather high incidences of ballast failures.  Particularly around the Bardwell
Park-Bexley North and the Narwee-Riverwood areas (which by the way has had 1 in
every 4 sleepers recently replaced but no reballisting).  Compare this to the
condition other lines in the metro area like Granville to Glenfield which is
also laid on 53 kg. Also I tend to think that average speeds are just a little
too high considering the state of the track. Also the other thing it is one of
the few lines in the state that are maintained by private enterprise.