Media Articles

[matthew25187]

Sydney monorail to go
AAP

Sydney's controversial monorail will be pulled down, says NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.

The state government has announced it has bought the company that owns the light rail and monorail to clear the way for the monorail's removal.

"The monorail is not integrated with Sydney's wider public transport network and has never been truly embraced by the community," O'Farrell said on Friday.

"The monorail is reaching the end of its economic life and the NSW government cannot justify costly upgrades like the purchase of new vehicles required to keep it running."

The state government has bought Metro Transport Sydney (MTS) for A$19.8 million.

Full article

[Daniel]

Sydney monorail to go
AAP

Sydney's controversial monorail will be pulled down, says NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.

The state government has announced it has bought the company that owns the light rail and monorail to clear the way for the monorail's removal.

"The monorail is not integrated with Sydney's wider public transport network and has never been truly embraced by the community," O'Farrell said on Friday.

"The monorail is reaching the end of its economic life and the NSW government cannot justify costly upgrades like the purchase of new vehicles required to keep it running."

The state government has bought Metro Transport Sydney (MTS) for A$19.8 million.

Full article

Hardly surprising. Monorails are only for amusement parks and airports and anywhere needing a constant movement of only a few people. A "people mover".

Sadly many people in isolated and insular NZ little NZ still haven't learned the lesson on monorails that was obvious in the 1960's.

[spartan]

Great news man that thing was ugly!

[john-ston]

Pity I never got to go on it - when I was in Sydney a couple of years back, I had about four days of free time; two of which were taken up with going to Thirlmere and Zig Zag and the other two were pretty packed as well.

[spartan]

Looks like the NSW state Government are going to proceed with expanding the Light Rail network now it owns the line from Central to lillyfield. It will be great to see LRVs going into the eastern suburbs and also the CBD.

[Daniel]

Pity I never got to go on it ...

Trust me: you didn't miss much.

[Akarana]

Google Maps adds service alerts for the London Underground

[eurokiwi78]

From the sydney morning herald...

Freight terminal will cut thousands of truck trips

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political ... z1snmXKsD6


TODAY the federal government is to announce the go-ahead for a $1.6 billion freight terminal in south-west Sydney that is expected to take thousands of trucks a day off the city's roads.

Freight will be transferred from trucks onto trains at the terminal in Moorebank, from where it will be taken to Port Botany, reducing the number of truck trips by 3300 a day.

The Infrastructure Minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Finance Minister, Penny Wong, will announce plans this morning to call for tenders for the project.
Advertisement: Story continues below

The 220-hectare site, on the western side of Moorebank Avenue, is occupied by the Defence Department's School of Military Engineering. It is near the M5, the M7 and the southern Sydney freight line.

An alternative proposal is being pushed by a private consortium led by Chris Corrigan's Qube Logistics, which has secured land on the other side of Moorebank Avenue. A report by the advisory firm Greenhill Caliburn to the government finds that the Commonwealth site is the better option because it is bigger and is nearer the freight line.

A spokesman for Senator Wong told the Herald that the government's proposal would ensure that the terminal remains "open access", meaning that freight firms would not have to apply to a potential competitor for access to the terminal.

Cabinet approved the project last week. Construction will start in 2014 and be completed by 2017. More than 1600 workers will be employed on construction and 950 when the terminal is up and running, rising to 1700 jobs if it is expanded to handle interstate freight.

"It will deliver significant dividends across the entire Australian economy: more jobs for south-western Sydney; savings for Australian businesses, and less congestion on Sydney's roads," Senator Wong's spokesman said.

"It will contribute significantly to Australia's productivity. More than two-thirds of the freight that arrives in Port Botany does not stay in the Sydney region."

The freight hub could allow the state government to lift the cap on the number of containers that can pass through Port Botany, thereby improving its sale price when it is privatised in 2013.

Federal government projections suggest that without a facility such as the Moorebank freight hub, truck traffic at Port Botany will rise fourfold in the next 20 years.

A study prepared for the government finds that Sydney's industrial materials exchange container market is almost entirely dependent on Port Botany. Freight volumes have risen by 7 per cent per annum in the past five years and are expected to grow by 6.7 per cent a year in the next 25 years.

The freight hub would help to alleviate some of the negative environmental and social effects of road freight movements, including air pollution, traffic delays and traffic accidents.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political ... z1snmSXdWC

[vworp]

Boston's MBTA to turn your smartphone into a personal ticket machine
http://www.macworld.com/article/1166510 ... c.rss_main

Here’s how it works: Users download the MBTA’s app onto their smartphone and select a starting location and destination. From there, they enter in their credit card number one time to process the transaction. In subsequent purchases, the app will save the credit card data and users will only have to enter in the three-digit security code on the back of their card for verification. After purchasing their pass, the ticket will then display on their smartphone with a specially designed marker that constantly shifts colors to let train conductors know the ticket is not a simple forgery.

“The biggest reason we were impressed with Masabi was that they have a unique visual ticket that displays on the phone,” explains Joshua Robin, the MBTA’s director of innovation and special projects. “It’s a moving image that changes colors frequently, meaning our conducts can simply look at it to verify that it’s real rather than needing to use any special equipment.”

One can dream can't he?

[nzdn]

Starting this Saturday, a new kind of train will start rolling on Italian rails. It’s called NTV, and it’s Europe’s only privately owned high-speed train, and it counts among its founders Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/04/fe ... -monopoly/

[john-ston]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sa-government-to-halt-21bn-rail-plan-as-part-of-budget-savings/story-e6frg6n6-1226375565216

THE South Australian Labor government will "suspend" its ambitious plans for the electrification of Adelaide's metropolitan rail network in a major savings measures to be announced by Treasurer Jack Snelling in tomorrow's state budget.

The Australian Online can reveal that Treasurer Jack Snelling plans to "suspend", rather than "defer or delay", the remaining components of the $2.1 billion program.

This comes as government sources confirmed tonight that there would be further public sector job cuts announced in tomorrow’s budget, although the numbers will be modest.

But the government’s efforts to reduce public sector numbers will remain challenging as it is understood there will be no forced redundancies.

The "suspension" of the rail plan is a carefully coined phrase designed to allow Mr Snelling some wriggle room in stating when the work may resume.

It is understood the Treasurer will provide a vague future timeframe for when the state could afford to continue the work, rather than a firm date.

Some parts of the project that are nearing completion will continue.

Last year's budget earmarked $1.2bn over the forward estimates for the program, lauded by the government as being vital to the state's revitalisation.

A spokesman for the Treasurer would tonight neither confirm nor deny the move.
Industry sources said savings of up to $500m could be made as a result of the "suspension".
Mr Snelling is trying to claw back spending in the face of record revenue write downs of $2.8bn across the forward estimates.

Adelaide's rail electrification project was intended to cover more than 100km of track across the metropolitan area from Gawler to Seaford, and Adelaide to Outer Harbor.

It is expected that work that has substantially commenced will be completed, but lines that are yet to begin will be indefinitely "suspended".

About $200m has been spent on the electrification of the Noarlunga line and $100m on the Gawler line. Electrification of the Outer Harbor line was delayed in last year's budget.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Vickie Chapman said the public would bear the brunt of any delays to the project.

"Any delay to the electrification will hurt commuters and that is unacceptable," she said.
Infrastructure Department chief executive Rod Hook said: "I'd prefer to see what they (the government) has put out tonight before I comment".

So it looks like Auckland will not be the last diesel system in Australasia after all.

[kaiwhara]

Even worse, it appears on at least one line, EMU's will need to be towed to the depot by a diesel, as they won't be able to bridge the gap!

[Mr. Anderson]

Well at least the NSW government has stumped up some serious cash for the North West Rail Link in Sydney:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6393560394

[pickle]

Even worse, it appears on at least one line, EMU's will need to be towed to the depot by a diesel, as they won't be able to bridge the gap!

That really is such a disgrace. Australia really needs to do away with the state governments they add a huge amount of inefficiency without any real gain.

[commuter]

Here's a Queensland government initiative to boost public transport usage. It's something AT might think about given falling patronage figures, the introduction of Hop and the misunderstandings generated by its farcical communications strategy. An example of the latter is seen in this morning's letters page of the New Zealand Herald (not accessible online) where Cliff of Avondale claims that Hop - 'a hugely expensive ticketing system' - has been introduced in response to a drop in passenger numbers.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-31/public-transport-incentive-a-runaway-success/4165644

[john-ston]

Auckland's patronage isn't doing to badly compared with Brisbane. Brisbane's woes are understandable though, given that there were 15% increases in fares each year for the last three years.

[eurokiwi78]

Double deck buses for Sydney's tway according to the Sydney morning herald.

[kaiwhara]

They are big too, seen a pic of it!

Double deck buses for Sydney's tway according to the Sydney morning herald.

[yankiwi]

This is ideal for busways and freeway runs.

http://designtaxi.com/news/353417/Is-This-The-Longest-Bus-Ever/

[Kalelovil]

""No eye contact. Penalty £200."

"We apologise for any incontinence caused during these engineering works."

"Peak hours may necessitate you let other people sit on your lap."

Look familiar? Perhaps not. Yet these are a few of a growing number of guerrilla stickers that have recently appeared on the network.

They use the same fonts and designs as London Underground's famous branding.

But they subvert the intended message making often amusing but sometimes serious points about anything from overcrowding to Tube etiquette.

Some commuters are amused by the stickers, including London blogger, Annie Mole, who says: "A number of them are funny and it breaks up the journey a bit."

But British Transport Police (BTP) warned: "The costs of graffiti are substantial for the railway industry in terms of repairs and clean-up, and can leave permanent scars on the infrastructure.""

Andy Dangerfield, BBC News London. 10 October 2012.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19858746