Statistics on passengers travelling to NRL game at Homebush Bay

[kc3302@aol.com (Kc3302)]

Statistics on passengers travelling to NRL game at Homebush Bay

The following figures were published in today's Daily Telegraph (page 4),
supplemented by my own observations:

Trains and buses carried about 78% of the crowd.

104,000 total attendance
47,000  travelled by train
34,500  travelled by bus/coach
16,000  travelled by private car
 6,500   dropped off by cars, taxis and limousines

A large number of people were seen walking home after the match (some of these
seen a few km from the Stadium) - these are possibly included in the 6,500
figure.

Of the 34,500 that travelled by bus/coach:
16,300 travelled on the 9 regional ORTA routes (450 trips operated)
17,200 travelled on approx. 350 chartered coaches (including 178 from
Newcastle, 33 from Manly, 35 from St George & 25 from Illawarra region)
1,000 on regular services (555 & 655 from Parramatta (and 401 from Strathfield
if it was running))
These buses and coaches seemed to operate without any problems.
There was slight traffic congestion for buses and other vehicles departing at
the end of the game. (This could be helped by restricting private car access
for vehicles picking up people at the end of the game)

A number of State Transit buses were on standby in the back streets of
Lidcombe, presumably in case there was a problem with the trains.

135 trains carried 47,000 passengers to & from Olympic Park Stn (adjacent to
Stadium Australia)
23,000 arrived by train between 3.45 and 5pm.
29,100 departed by train between between 10 and 11pm. 
Special direct services were operated from Newcastle, as well as Central,
Strathfield, and most stations on the west and south-west lines.

Unusually, Cityrail trackwork was in effect on two lines, with buses replacing
trains between Hornsby and Wynyard (North Shore line) and between Liverpool and
Campbelltown. (Cityrail normally programs trackwork so it does not co-incide
with special events. In this case the trackwork was planned 12 months ago (well
before the NRL game was planned), and the NRL game organisers failed to check
with Cityrail.)

Special buses (arranged by Cityrail) ran from Campbelltown direct to Olympic
Park Stn. It is uncertain how many buses operated this service or how many
passengers were carried.

Train problems included:
- points failure at Blacktown (3-5.30pm)
- indicator boards at Central were turned off causing passenger confusion
- crowded, non-airconditioned trains combined with warm weather meant very
uncomfortable conditions for many people 
- one westbound train after the game was routed east, ending up at Strathfield

Only 7,000 car parking spaces were available. These were booked out well in
advance.
--------------------------------------
Ken Chapman
kc3302@aol.com