Re: [Sydney] Light Rail into the CBD?

["Ted Gay" <tedgay@bigpond.com>]

"Bradley Torr" <truenorth@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP> wrote in message
01c0e5c5$7c15dee0$ed5e65cb@default">news:01c0e5c5$7c15dee0$ed5e65cb@default...
>
>
> 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.

The EIS for both The City and WestEx was issued in Nov 1997.

> 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)

$4.50 is the return fare, $1.40 is a single, nice comparison!
>
> 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)

There is no equivalent of the TravelTen available for the tram but how much
is the bus weekly, the Red TravelPass?  Please compare like with like.

Ted
>
> 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
>
>