Re: [Sydney] Light Rail into the CBD?

["Bradley Torr" <truenorth@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP>]

Ted Gay <tedgay@bigpond.com> wrote in article
<D9rP6.20214$hV3.21083@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>...

> Sydney Light Rail the owners of the infrastructure (not MLR the managers)
> can/will find the capital to complete the works, no one has asked for
> Government funds.

Even if not a single cent from the State's Treasury is used, the SLR
Company will still need State permission for any extension into the
northern city centre on public rights-of-way. SLR is not able to operate
independently of Government; it operates (and expands) at the State's
pleasure. Its fares are also restricted by Government policy.

> Who said the funds available to Sydney Light Rail are limited?
> Superannuation funds are looking for alternatives to the stock market for
> investments.

Even if SLR had the entire Royal Australian Mint at its disposal, it would
still be in its best interests to spend that money wisely and in a way that
would serve previously unserved transport needs! To build a tramline that
would merely be a triplicate to a more than adequate bus service and heavy
rail service would be folly.

> 'Your' idea of using Clarence St was covered in the EIS but dismissed.

I certainly did not plagiarise the Clarence Street idea as you imply here.
I was unaware that the EIS into the SLR city centre extension was
completed. I came to the Clarence or Sussex Street options after poring
over my Sydway and my STA Network Guide.

> [The 441 bus to the Art Gallery] runs between peak hours, during peak
hours this route terminates at
> QVB.

Which goes to show just how poorly east-west travel needs witihin downtown
Sydney are catered to.

> I recently over-head two passengers, from them I learned that both have
used
> the trams from the opening of the Westex.  One stated why would you spend
30
> minutes on a bus when the tram takes 20 minutes.  The other said his
crazy
> neighbors still caught the bus, that he could not talk any sense into
them.

Yes, the tram might be preferable or similar to the bus in terms of time,
and similar in terms of frequency. But what about price?

Single journey from Glebe Point & Wigram Roads to Central Station:

BUS: 6 Route 431 services an hour throughout the day; 3 Route 433 services
an hour throughout the day - 9 buses an hour. Travel time = 9 minutes.
Price = $1.40 (70 cents concession)
TRAM: Tram every 10-15 minutes (so ~5 an hour). Travel time = 15 mins?
(Figures unavailable and unknown to me, open to correction). Price = $4.50
($2.20 concession)

For occasionally travelling Glebe-ites, buses win hands down!

Now for a more favourable comparison - a 5-day-a-week commuter, from
Lilyfield to Haymarket:

BUS: 5 Route 470 services an hour throughout the day. Travel time = 24
minutes. TravelTen = $17.60 ($8.80 concession)
TRAM: Approx. 5 trams an hour. Travel time = 20 mins?. Weekly pass = $18.00
(concession unavailable)

Not to mention very unrestricted integrated ticketing with the SLR, etc. I
know which mode I'd be taking if I lived in that area!

Regards
BT