Perth Public Transport

[L2]

Originally Posted by Eco-rat

and useless ones like Laburnum that should have been closed, get rebuilt.

There's no reason why that one should have been closed, infact it's busier than every single other station on some entire lines are.

[Eco-rat]

Originally Posted by L2

There's no reason why that one should have been closed, infact it's busier than every single other station on some entire lines are.

Close them too!

[city_thing]

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...-1226084951363

Free 4am weekend trains trial after Facebook campaign
A SOCIAL media campaign has helped bring about a trial of a free weekend late-night train service on all Perth train lines.

In a testament to the power of Facebook, Transport Minister Troy Buswell today announced the new 4am service, which resulted from a meeting in May with Facebook campaigners Sebastian Brodie and Scott Brosens.

The service on Saturday and Sunday mornings will be trialled for six months from November.

Mr Buswell said the new service would help to move people out of the Northbridge and city area in the early hours of the morning and provide a “much needed” alternate form of transport.

“It’s great that we’ve been able to respond to a public campaign,” he said.

“We will be one of the only capital cities in Australia with this sort of late night train service.

“We’ll do it for six months from November and analyse patronage, the impact on the other two late night train services, and then make more decisions about how we balance that up in due course.”

The service will be added to the existing 1am service and 2.15am service, which will be pushed back to 2am.

There will be two guards on each train on each of the five lines.

Mr Buswell said he would work with the WA Nightclub Association to promote the service to nightclub goers.

“My hope is the 35,000 people who supported the Facebook campaign vote when they can with their feet to support the public transport option,” he said.

“The trial’s not cheap; it’s going to cost us around $1 million in direct costs that will be funded internally from the PTA.

“It’s great we’re able to save money in certain areas and reinvest it into providing improved services."

But opposition transport spokesman Ken Travers said he wanted to see a more extensive trial to help see which services were needed most by commuters.

"While a 4am train is a good start, the trial should include a train every hour to determine which times are most popular,” he said.

"Putting on a single additional train at 4am will not solve the problem of people being stranded in the city and in Northbridge in the early hours of the morning.

"While I welcome this as a first step, the trial should have trains running every hour through the night to see which ones are most popular and which times were most valid to make permanent.”

Mr Travers also raised concerns about security measures, saying the State Government needed to ensure every train had sufficient transit guards on board.

"Adding additional trains, without a plan to recruit more transit staff, will place more pressure on an already struggling system," he said.

Mr Brodie and Mr Brosens created the Facebook event on April 19 as a push for trains to run hourly through the night on Fridays and Saturdays.

It has already attracted more than 35,000 supporters.

Mr Brosens said he did not expect the campaign to impact public policy this rapidly.

“We were quite surprised at the quick response that we did get from the government,” he said.

“This is something that was wanted for a long time and social media just helped to push it along.”

WA Nightclub Association president Tim Brown said he fully supported the initiative.

“Getting the trains running around the clock all weekend is an outcome that we’ve sought for several years, so hats off to the Facebook guys, they made it happen,” he said.

“When people are not acceptable to come into our nightclubs, they need a way to get out of the city and at the moment they don’t have a viable option. This will give them one.”

“I think this is a big step in the right direction and just a small step to show Perth is starting to grow up as a city.”

Mr Brown said they wanted to see train services on an hourly basis every night of the week.

Taxi Council CEO Olwyn Williams welcomed the announcement, saying taxi drivers had wanted more public transport options in the early hours of the morning for a long time.

“Taxis have for too long been thought of as the only transport option between midnight and 5am, and that has created great angst within the industry because its not a safe time for them as well as being a high demand time,” she said.

“It’s about evening out the services, and also a shared investment from the private sector and also from the public sector.

“We look forward to it extending out to buses as well.”

[L2]

Why are they so obsessed in Perth with having a 4am train? In Melbourne the last train on a Fri/Sat night is 1am on all main lines (branches stop earlier), and they only brought in the 0030/0100 trains in 2006.

After a Friday nite I can get a train to my palace at 1:09am, then not until 5:30am. On a Sunday morning the gap is 1:09am-7:36am

[bestofperth]

But you guys have buses we have nothing.

[exoz]

Plan to privatise airport rail link

GARETH PARKER and SHANE WRIGHT, The West Australian
July 5, 2011, 2:57 am

The much vaunted rail link between Perth Airport and the central city could be delivered as an entirely privately financed and operated project, the latest report by the Federal Government's peak infrastructure body reveals.

Infrastructure Australia's annual update of projects of national significance says it has been involved in discussions with the WA Government to "advance plans and develop a robust business case" for a private rail link in the context of a broader examination of the Gateway WA airport roads project.

The report says there may be scope "for the provision of a rail link with private project proponents and the establishment of an appropriate equity vehicle".

Such a private infrastructure delivery model would be a first for WA, which has previously publicly funded and operated Perth's road and passenger rail network.

The private model has been used for airport links in other parts of the world including Sydney's Airport Link, which was built for the 2000 Olympic Games and continues to be privately owned and operated.

Under a private model, investors stump up funds to build infrastructure, sometimes in conjunction with the taxpayer, in return for the right to collect fare revenue.

A private operator would likely charge prices well above fares on the rest of Perth's train system, with the link operated separately to the Transperth network.

It is understood discussions between Infrastructure Australia and WA transport officials have been held at an officer level within the respective departments.

Transport Minister Troy Buswell, who last month publicly floated the idea of an airport rail link, said the Government did not have plans to for a private proponent.

"However, we are currently working on finalising the details of a potential rail alignment from the city to the airport," he said.

"This work is necessary to ensure appropriate future planning is undertaken and that future infrastructure provision is consistent with the longer-term plans for the project."

The Gateway project, first costed at $600 million in 2009, is now expected to cost $955 million, according to the Infrastructure Australia report.

A spokeswoman for Mr Buswell said its scope had been revised after the initial estimate.

The report has backed putting Federal money into the State Government's Pilbara Cities project, saying mining activity and employment demand was straining economic and social infrastructure.

It also says the troubled Oakajee Port development, beset by cost blowouts and uncertainty about its feasibility, remains one of Australia's most important projects.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...ort-rail-link/

[NoshowwithoutPunch]

just don't make the Sydney and Brisbane mistakes - lack of dedicated stock and poor opening hours. I don't care about the fares as long as they don't exceed shuttle bus fares then it will be poor value.

[L2]

Of course 'dedicated' stock doesn't have to be a big thing, can just be the regular units fitted out differently and perhaps a special livery but identical to the rest mechanically etc.

At least Brisbane is slightly better in the sense that the supposedly 'nicer' trains they run for Gold Coast people run through to the airport.

Last time I used the Airtrain though, it ran 25 minutes late and was an old EMU built in the 1970s! Good thing it was the day of Virgin Blue's big meltdown and my plane was 3.5hrs late.

[Macca-GC]

I'm not sure why it was that you had a bad service L2, but from my experience, the best thing about Brisbane's AirTrain is that there's a clause in QR's service contract that QR will compensate AirTrain if on time running falls below a certain benchmark (I think it's 97 or 98%)--That means is that QR goes right out of its way to make sure at least GC trains stay on time (*screw the other lines*). Only once have I ever had a service cancellation on the GC Line (as opposed to hearing announcements quite regularly on other lines), if there's a hold up, GC-Airport trains are almost always put through first. If there's a police incident or something at Central, they'll go around the Exhibition loop and skip the city. If the Merivale Bridge is closed, they go via Sherwood. If there's an incident further south on the track, passengers for the airport get free taxis from where ever the train is stopped.

I don't think privately run airport trains are a bad thing. I think they're great. Yeah the ticket's more, but no more than a bus to the city (and far less than a taxi). Services are good. Stations are clean. That's what's important.

[Map Born]

Originally Posted by Macca-GC

That means is that QR goes right out of its way to make sure at least GC trains stay on time (*screw the other lines*). if there's a hold up, GC-Airport trains are almost always put through first. If there's a police incident or something at Central, they'll go around the Exhibition loop and skip the city.

As was done this week, read of a police incident at Roma St (or Central was it?) and all lines were stopped except for the Gold Coast line.

Over in Perth, if there's no money from state gov coffers, could adopt the Airtrain model where Brisbane's Airtrain leases services from QR to run the service on a track Aitrain own in a BOOT arrangement.

[city_thing]

Surprised the new transport plan from the WA Government hasn't been mentioned here. It's dire. Terrible!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...ransport-plan/

[Onijin]

Just wondering, how could it be until Perth would need bilevel carriages?

[NoshowwithoutPunch]

Originally Posted by Onijin

Just wondering, how could it be until Perth would need bilevel carriages?

Don't go there Causes enough dramas on the Sydney forums.

Mixed systems don't work.

People travelling longer than 30 min in one vehicle have expectation of a seat which is the bonus with bilevel stock, but the compromise is you can't stop the train too often or you get delayed ingress/egress.

Shorter journeys are best with stock like Perth Aand B, especially the As with side bench seating only. The aim is to maximise standing room.

Best if you have dedicated long distance routes, say first stop Rockingham. In that case, people boarding at Perth or Esplanade can get settled and a long stop at Rockingham is not going to throw the timetable.

[Gazza2]

So I was just over in Perth and found the network pretty darn good.
Trains really did belt along the newer lines, there seemed to be less graffiti than Brisbane (And much much less than Melbourne). Also much better passenger information etc (Station interchanges having a well drawn map of connecting routes etc)

Anyways, as I was out and about I shot bits and pieces of the "life" of the network and made a vid of it, including that Cockburn Central station which is both disappoint pronounced name, and has freaky photos of two people on a tower on the main bus interchange adjoining.

Enjoy>



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDGzl...3y5XOSCysSLhLd

[sandstorm6299]

Wow, you've been everywhere, man. You've been everywhere. Very nice job putting it together, hope you had a good time over here.

[SydneyCity]

Good job, Gazza

[matt.perth]

Thanks for the video gazza. You certainly did get around

[Gazza2]

It was surprisingly easy though...Going to Freo and seeing Mandurah kinda happen by default if you are visiting Perth for leisure. The rest of it because I was just interested in getting a feel for the city and its suburbs.

[hack404]

Plan for Curtin light rail link put on hold

Yolanda Zaw, The West Australian

Updated May 7, 2012, 2:30 am

The future of Perth's light rail network is in doubt after it was revealed that the proposed connection to Curtin University was dropped from the State Government's latest modelling.

Transport Minister Troy Buswell yesterday confirmed that light rail to the university would not be completed by 2020 as stated in the draft Perth Public Transport Plan released last year.

Mr Buswell would not confirm whether the proposed University of WA/Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre connection would go ahead as planned.

The Curtin and UWA lines, along with the Mirrabooka line, were earmarked as Stage 1 projects in the draft plan.

They were to be running by 2020 before Stage 2 projects, including light rail to the airport and through Subiaco, started.

Mr Buswell said the Government's latest planning had made the Mirrabooka line a priority because of limited funding.

"These are very expensive projects first to plan, then to build and then finally to operate, so our decision was that the area we would deliver the light rail to first would be Mirrabooka," he said.

"Some people may be disappointed about that but ultimately we have a finite amount of capital to spend and we have to prioritise how we are spending it."

Town of Victoria Park chief executive Arthur Kyron said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision and said the council would campaign for the Government to reconsider.

"We included the light rail connection in our future housing, traffic and town planning so to find that it is not going to happen, it's a significant setback for us," he said.

"With all the developments under way in Victoria Park as well as the Curtin town proposal, light rail is vital in connecting the increasing population in the area with the business district and town centre.

"We see light rail as a real development, rather than some pie-in-the-sky development. For us it is a real impetus to growth in our town."

Mr Kyron said he feared that if the Curtin rail connection was not included in the planning now, it may drop off the Government's radar and never be seriously considered or implemented.

Shadow transport minister Ken Travers said the Government should be moving public transport infrastructure such as light rail forward, not pushing it back.

"The Government clearly doesn't understand that we are facing a congestion crisis," he said. "They need to stop making bad decisions and get their priorities right."

Source

[Onijin]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...ong-murray-st/

Light rail set to run along Murray St
Kent Acott, The West Australian Updated June 20, 2012, 2:05 am

The latest proposed route of Perth's first light rail system has been released on a Federal Government website, showing a line that begins on the border of Balga and Mirrabooka and runs along Alexander Drive and Fitzgerald Street to the city.

It proposes another line through the city along Murray Street - not Hay Street as first proposed or Wellington Street as suggested by some planners - and extending from the Causeway in East Victoria Park to the University of WA.

The light rail project has been described by Transport Minister Troy Buswell as "transformational" and about $8 million has been set aside for its planning. He has indicated the first stage, from Balga to the city, should be completed before 2020.

The State Government has confirmed the latest route plans are "basically correct" and based on the current status of the project planning.

But Mr Buswell said yesterday that the route was still being decided and would be released in coming months.

The route begins on Mirrabooka Avenue, between the John Septimus Roe Anglican Community school and the Polytechnic West Balga campus.

It runs past the Mirrabooka Shopping Centre and down Dianella Drive. It then follows Morley Drive to Alexander Drive, though there is a potential alternative alignment down Grand Promenade. After travelling down Alexander Drive and Fitzgerald Street, the route cuts across at Roe or Aberdeen street before heading down William Street to Murray Street.

It would need to cross the Fremantle rail line near the Perth City Link.

Shadow transport minister Ken Travers said there were still many unanswered questions about the route and how it would be incorporated with existing transport links. One of the issues would be parking, especially as light rail became more popular.

Mr Travers raised concerns at using Murray Street through the city, especially in relation to the line passing Victoria Square and the Royal Perth Hospital emergency department.

Recopied from the WA forum thread. Wondering a bit about there about the need for parking for this (superfluous, IMO), but it's a step in the right direction for Perth, especially for the middle area between the Midland and Clarkson lines.