> Firstly how many platforms will Arncliffe North have. Common sense
> would say 8, 4 above ground for the Illawarra lines, two above ground
> for the East Hills line and two below for the East Hills/ Airport
> line. The reason I ask is that it appears that there will not be
> enough room on the Illawarra lines for 4 platforms, even after the
> east most line has been moved a little.
6 would be the most sensible. 2 Downstairs, and 4 upstairs.
Realistically, they may only build 4. 2 Downstairs, and 2 Upstairs on
the Illawarra Mains. At that point, _all_ passenger trains are
timetabled to be on the Illawarra Main. In the event of a points
failure, or train breakdown at Tempe, no trains would be able to stop on
the Illawarra Local if this was the case. Passengers off the East Hills
line can change to Illawarra trains at Sydenham, or Airport trains at
Kingsgrove or perhaps Turrella.
> My second question is in regards to the East Hills line. A posting a
> few weeks ago elluded to the possibility that the line would be
> quadropuled (sorry about spelling) some time soon. What I am curious
> about (only ever gone on the line once) is if there is actually enough
> room between East Hills and Wolli Creek to do this. Also if it is
> possible what has been planned at the Arncliffe North Station to take
> the additional tracks. Ie will one set lead to the Airport tunnel and
> one to Sydneham.
With enough money, you can get as much room as you want. I believe that
the initial stage involves amplifying as far as Riverwood. No additional
tracks would be needed at Wolli Creek Junction as the High Speed Trains
could run via the Airport.
> Thirdly if the High speed link to wonderful Canberra (showing my
> true colours) gets the go ahead is their enough room on the East Hills
> line for another 2 tracks (making 6), or would you think that 4 lines
> would be enough?? (Last one is food for thought as IMO it would be
> desirable for 25VAC for a high speed link to be run into as close to
> the city as possible, which would mean the line would be dedicated to
> the high speed line)
The High Speed Trains are capable of running on 1500 VDC as well as 25
KVAC. IMO, they will run via the airport anyway, requiring them to run
on the new southern railway with its 1500 VDC. I would say that 4 tracks
should be enough to handle the traffic. Where we really do need
amplification (and it is not possible) is Redfern to Strathfield. These
tracks are at capacity and cannot handle more trains.
> Finally on a different subject, it was good to see a pic of Sydneys
> new Variotrams in the paper yesterday. However I was not impressed
> with the tone the article took, basically canning having the Trams
> made in Melbourne. Lets be gratefull they are on there way back!!!
Melbourne would have won the contract due to a superior product and/or a
lower price than its competitors.
-- David Johnson - Rail Services Authority trainman@ozemail.com.au trainman@railpage.org.au http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman