Transporting Sydney, one early bus at a time
What’s happening in NSW transport this week.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my readers!
Please be aware of some changes to services over the next two weeks;
Enjoy the pics I took of Waverley Depot’s Christmas Bus.
Christmas Day 2017 marked 85 years of operation by Sydney’s Government bus operator, the State Transit Authority.
To mark this occasion, State Transit, Transit Graphics, APN Advertising and Townsend Signs have come together to wrap 12 buses in special liveries recalling bygone liveries and historic events over the years.
New Timetables are now in effect across the state, delivering thousands of extra weekly services. This means that our new train, ferry and bus networks are in action. There are over 1500 new train services including 750 on weekends, 7000 new bus services and 150 new ferry services starting today.
Major Changes are listed below
Trains
Ferries
Buses
For futher information and a list of all of the changes staring today click here
This week has been a rather eventful week for Transport here in NSW, here is your lowdown.
Customers travelling to and from Western Sydney and the Inner West can look forward to a boost of more than 300 extra weekly train services and better connections when the new train timetable is introduced later this year.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance today announced key improvements to both the T1 Western Line and T2 Inner West Line.
“This is a massive win for Western Sydney,” Ms Berejiklian said. “We are making it more convenient for customers to travel between Western Sydney, the Inner West and Sydney’s CBD.”
“By simplifying and modernising parts of the network we are able to achieve far better services for customers.”
Key improvements to the Sydney Trains network include:
“We know that customers travelling longer distances want faster services and those closer in want to just turn up and go – we can achieve this,” Mr Constance said.
“These are the some of the busiest lines on the network. By simplifying the way the lines operate it will create additional capacity and reliability for customers.
“Today, we also unveil a refreshed network map so customers can begin to understand the changes ahead. They include the T2 Line extending to Parramatta and also to Leppington in the South-West. We’re also extending services on the T5 Line to Leppington and Richmond, along with re-badging the Airport Line to the T8 to distinguish this popular service for tourists and visitors,” Mr Constance said.
“With total rail trips to and from Western Sydney set to grow by 20 per cent by the early 2020s, it’s critical we get on with it and act now.”
Other key changes for T1 Western Line and T2 Inner West customers include:
This is the next step in the ‘More Trains, More Services’ program – a capital investment of over $1.5 billion to provide an urgent uplift in customer service on Sydney’s rail network.
From Thursday 6 July, as part of a trial of contactless payments, people have beeN able to pay for their fare between Manly and Circular Quay on the F1 Manly Ferry service by tapping on using their Mastercard® card or mobile device linked to their Mastercard account. Contactless payments offer a convenient alternative to an Adult Opal single trip ticket without needing to buy a ticket from an Opal ticket machine.
How to use contactless
If your Mastercard card displays the contactless payment symbol or you have a mobile device linked to a Mastercard account, then you can use it to tap on the gates to pay for your fare. You can tap on at Opal card readers with a Mastercard credit card, debit card or enabled mobile device at the start of your trip.You will be charged the same as an Adult Opal single trip ticket.Opal benefits such as daily or weekly fare caps will not apply to contactless payments. You can only use your card or device to tap on for one fare per trip. You can reverse your tap on by tapping off again within 30 minutes of travel, just as you would with an Opal card. You will still be able to pay for your trip with an Opal card or Opal single trip tickets. If you are entitled to concession fares, you should travel with a Child/Youth, Concession or Gold Senior/Pensioner Opal card to avoid paying a higher fare. Make sure you separate your cards. If you tap your purse or wallet containing more than one contactless payment card (including an Opal card) on an Opal reader you could be affected by card clash. Please ensure the card or device used is separate from any other contactless-enabled card, including Opal cards. If an Opal card reader detects more than one card, it could take payment from a card you did not intend to pay with, or it may fail to register your card.
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Today Qantas announced the winners of the naming competiton for its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. It announced them via a Facebook livestream in which an artist drew each of the Aussie Icons that the planes will be named after. Qantas recieved over 60 000 suggestions in the first stage and 45 000 votes in the second stage of the competition. The order in which the planes will be named is expected to be revealed at a later date.
The final names (in no particular order).
Yesterday the government announced its plan for buses in the 2017/18 budget. There will be more Buses ordered and timetable upgrades to make routes. The biggest news was the continued addition of more double decker buses and confirmation that no more articulated “bendy” buses will be ordered.
Summary of the Changes
Sydney Metropolitan
More than 1,600 additional services on the following routes:
New, extended or enhanced all-night services on the following routes:
Western Sydney (including Hills District and South West):
More than 1,500 additional services, including 11 new or extended routes:
Enhanced services on the following routes:
New all-night services on the following route:
This long weekend, the Transport Heritage Expo returned to Central Station. It celebrates the transport heritage of NSW. It is run by Transport Hertiage NSW with the support of NSW Rail Museuem, Sydney Bus Museum and Sydney Trains. There are many free activites people could participate in with some activities requiring a extra cost. There are many vintage Trains and buses taking part in the event including a “Red Rattler”, a 1930s Steam Train, and various double decker AEC, Albion and Leyland buses. The event on Saturday and finishes tomorrow afternoon.
Activites included;
Images;
The RBTU has instructed drivers that today has been Declared a Fare-Free day in protest of the governments planned privatisations of bus-services, with drivers leaving opal readers showing a closed sign or please wait. In addition they are handing out Don’t Sell Our Buses flyers. This affects all of Sydney Buses 12 depots in the Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, North Shore and Northern Beaches.
Transport NSW Blog 