Category: Transport This Week

There has been a delay in the announcement of successful bidder for the Region 9 bus contract. Covering Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and Inner City, the Region 9 contract is the final contract to still be held by State Government owned bus operator State Transit.

The announcement of the successful bidder for the Region 9 contract was supposed to occur last Friday, November 19. This in turn was a delay from the original timeline for the handover of the Region 9 contract, which had the contract handover planned for July 1 2021. This initial delay occurred due to industry requests for extra time to put together higher quality bids for all three contracts State Transit held at the time after a market sounding period.

It was understood by Transport for NSW Blog that a successful bidder for the Region 9 contract had already been chosen by Transport for NSW. All other interested parties except for that successful bidder had not progressed to the final stage of contract negotiations. There is some speculation that contractual issues relating to the chosen operator may be to blame for the delay, however Transport NSW Blog has not been able to confirm a concrete reason for the delay.

At this stage there is no new timeline for when the successful bidder for the Region 9 contract will be announced. Despite this, it appears that Transport for NSW believes that the Region 9 contract will still likely be handed over to a new operator from early April 2022.

Since Thursday 28 October, services on the L1 Inner West Light Rail line have been suspended due to cracking found in all 12 of the trams that service the line. This service suspension is indefinite and there is no timeline towards the resumption of services.

It is understood that significant cracks were discovered in the bogey boxes (otherwise known as the wheel arches) of all 12 trams in the Inner West fleet, in addition to more minor cracking throughout other parts of the trams. It has been rumored that the cracks may have arisen due to the choice of fixed bogey trams for the Inner West line, as overseas examples have shown bogey box cracking on fixed boey trams that operate on tram lines with significant curves such as the L1 line in Sydney.

The Office of Transport Safety is conducting an investigation into the cracks. Transport Minister Rob Stokes said it was “obviously a concern” when route maintenance had uncovered a problem with the entire inner west tram fleet. “We will hold Transdev to their contractual obligations,” he said of the private operator of the line.

Transport for NSW secretary Rob Sharp said that trams will not be rushed back into service. “It’s not going to be a couple of days or a week or two – it’s going to be extended. We’d be certainly looking at a month or more,” Mr Sharp said. “Safety is first, and we do need the technical experts to complete their reviews over the next week to actually land on a specific conclusion.”

State Transit is operating a replacement bus service. There are two routes that operate between 6am and 11pm daily. The buses are opal enabled but only charge half fares.

• Route 498 – Central Railway Colonnade to The Star (operates every 15 minutes )
• Route 499 – Central Railway Colonnade to Dulwich Hill (operates every 10-12 minutes)

State Transit handed over operation of the Region 8 contract, covering Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore, to Keolis Downer at 12:01am this morning, 31 October 2021. This is the first of three handovers to occur over the next 6 months, as the NSW Government follows through on plans to privatise the entire State Transit network.

State Transit had a 88 year history of operations on the Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore. The first government operated service in was on Route 144 between Manly and Cremorne on December 25 1932. As part of this handover, Route 144 will revert to private operation after 88 years. At the time of handover, there were 450 buses based in Region 8 across 3 depots.

The final service operated by State Transit in Region 8 was the 23:55 172X from Wynyard to Warringah Mall via North Balgowlah. 1966 had the honours of operating this last trip. See below for some photos of this final service

Transport for NSW has confirmed that public transport across New South Wales will return to weekday timetables from Monday 11 October 2021. This comes as the extended lockdown restrictions that have been in place in NSW since June will be eased from the same date, after NSW reached 70% double vaccination rate earlier this week.

This move will see over 18 000 extra trips added to the network and the return of peak hour express services to the Network. There will also be additional capacity on each service, with capacity moving from 25% to 50% seated capacity. Extra green dots will be added to help guide social distancing aboard services.

Public Transport in NSW has been operating to a Saturday timetable since 23 August due to COVID-19 related staff shortages. There is some concern that staff shortages will lead to cancellations and gaps in service with the return to weekday timetables. State Transit’s Waverley depot in Sydney’s East has been short of drivers this week leading to cancellations and Transit’s Systems Leichhardt Depot has seen continual service cancellations since the emergence of a first COVID case there in early August.

State Transit has placed an order for 10 Custom Element electric buses for delivery between November 2021 and March 2022, the first electric buses ordered by State Transit. The vehicles will be based at State Transit’s Waverley depot as part of their Region 9 contract.

The order follows a successful trial of a Custom Element electric bus on routes out of Waverley Depot back in March. The bus trialled was the first electric bus to be built here in NSW, and this order will also be built in NSW at the Custom Denning factory in Western Sydney. Drivers involved in the trial gave the vehicle good reviews, noting a smooth ride quality and excellent braking.

Waverley depot has been chosen for the new electric buses due to the recent decommissioning of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) compression station. This has allowed State Transit to repurpose the available CNG substation power for use as part of the required recharging infrastructure for the electric buses.

The Custom Element electric bus has a capacity of 80, with 43 seated. It is a fully low floor bus with 2 wheelchair accessible spaces. On a full charge, which takes up to 5 hours, the Custom Element can operate for up to 16 hours or around 400 kilometres in service. The batteries last for up to 1 million service kilometers.

Once again, there are changes to the timetables for public transport in Sydney. Bus services will move to a Saturday timetable with additional peak trips. This is in response to significant staff shortages caused by positive COVID-19 tests amongst a number of staff at depots across Sydney.

Changes by mode are listed below;

Buses

Services in Greater Sydney will operate to an amended Saturday timetable. There will be additional trips to ensure frequency is retained on high demand corridors and additional trips on weekday only routes that service key employment precincts. This includes a full weekday timetable for Route 309X from Railway Square to Port Botany.

Ferries

Services will operate hourly on all lines.

Light Rail

L1 Dulwich Hill Line services will operate to a normal weekday timetable. L2 Randwick Line services will operate to a Sunday timetable with additional services in the early morning and early afternoon. L3 Kingsford Line services will operate to a Sunday timetable.

Metro

Services will run every 10 minutes during peak periods and every 20 minutes at other times. 

Trains

Sydney Trains services will mostly operate to a weekend timetable. There will be additional services in the early morning and early afternoon to support construction and trade based essential workers as well as extra peak services to support social distancing.

NSW TrainLink Intercity services will mostly operate to a weekend timetable including the Hunter, Bathurst, Southern Highland lines.

NSW TrainLink regional services are operating on an ad-hoc basis, with most services being cancelled.

Transport for NSW is still urging all residents to stay home whilst the lockdown under COVID-19 Public Health Order continues.

An employee who worked at Transit Systems Leichhardt Depot has reportedly tested positive to COVID-19. As a result, hundreds of services operated out of Leichhardt Depot have been cancelled today. This has affected dozens of routes across the Inner West and Inner City.

The positive COVID-19 test of a staff member at Leichhardt Depot has forced over 200 staff to isolate for two weeks. This is having a significant impact on the ability for Leichhardt Depot to operate services.

Transport for NSW organised for coach companies to help provide a replacement to the cancelled services. Coaches operated on the following routes, with services approximately every 30 minutes;

• 431 – Glebe to Central
• 437 – Five Dock to Leichhardt
• 438 – Abbotsford to Leichhardt and Leichhardt to Martin Place
• 442 – Balmain to QVB
• 470 – Lilyfield to Central

Despite the replacement coaches, many routes were left with no service at all. The cancellations affected routes 320, 389, 430, 431, 433, 437, 438N, 438X, 440, 441, 442, 445, 470, 502, 503, 504 and 504X.

Update 14/08/21 – Some drivers who were deemed ‘casual contacts’ have now been able to return to work upon receiving negative COVID-19 tests. A limited service on trunk corridors is operating. Alternative operators are still operating for some services on these routes in order to ensure a proper service frequency.

Routes operating include; 320, 389, 431, 437, 438X, 440, 442, 470 and 504

Update 16/08/21 – Services in Transit Systems Leichhardt operating area are operating to a Sunday timetable with some reduced frequencies as more drivers are able to return to work. This means that there is a basic level of services across all routes in the area from today. Alternative operators are still operating for some services on these routes in order to ensure a proper service frequency.

Update 18/08/21 – Services operated by State Transit Ryde and Waverley Depots are operating to a Saturday timetable with no school services due to COVID-19 related driver shortages. NSW TrainLink services are not running into Queensland, Victoria or South Australia and there are mass cancellations across the NSW TrainLink network.

Transport for NSW and Cooma Coaches will operate a trial bus service on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between Friday August 6 2021 and Sunday 19 September. Services will operate between Jindabyne, Perisher Valley and Thredbo between 6am and 6:30pm.

The new service will help to alleviate issues with carpark overcrowding, and provide a safer way for visitors to enter the Kosciuszko National Park on weekends. The bus service will pick-up and drop-off at four locations in Jindabyne, so customers can leave their car parked at their accommodation and easily walk to one of the stops.

Skiers and boarders will be allowed to travel with their gear as well as a day pack. Other baggage is limited to off peak services and 20kg per person.

Key Facts about the trial include;

• Bus service run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
• Peak morning services to Perisher and Thredbo run between 6am – 10am and off-peak services run between 10am – 5.30pm. Peak afternoon services from Perisher and Thredbo run between 2pm and 6:30pm and off peak services run between 8:30am and 2pm.
• You can pre-book your seat online or turn up and go.
• Services will cost $20 return or $10 one way
• 12 buses will be operated by Cooma Coaches on the service

Public Transport timetables on a Sunday are characterised by reduced levels of service compared to weekdays or in many cases no service at all. This means that Sunday timetables often don’t provide a useful service that meets customer expectations. These timetables meet neither of the frequency or coverage goals that often form the basis of network planning. In essence, Sunday timetables reduce mobility. This is of particular concern as those who lose mobility under Sunday timetables are typically those who can least afford it – those in disadvantaged areas far from the CBD and other services. This issue is more pronounced in areas only serviced by buses, as bus timetables are more likely to see reductions on Sundays than other modes.

This issue has been brought to the forefront in Sydney as a result of the short lived move to introduce Sunday timetables on a daily basis. This was done last minute due to a rapidly deteriorating COVID-19 outbreak and the associated restrictions. The intention of this move was to reduce mobility across Sydney, perhaps the most tacit admission from Transport for NSW that their Sunday timetables do indeed reduce mobility when compared to regular weekday service levels. These changes left some operators scrambling to fill gaps in their Sunday timetables, whilst people in other areas were left without service at all. Within a week Transport for NSW had backtracked and restored weekday timetables for some bus routes, with the majority of services returning to weekday timetables within two weeks.