As usual there will be changes to transport arrangements over the summer period due to changes in travel patterns. These changes are listed below.
Summer Holiday Transport
Contactless Expands to Trains
From today contactless card payments are now available for services operated by Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink . When catching these services customers will now be able to tap on and off with their contactless card in lieu of their Opal Card.
Most American Express, Mastercard, Visa credit / debit cards or a smartphone, tablet or wearable device linked to one of these cards will be accepted on trains under these changes. Charges will be equivalent to the standard peak Opal fare for the same journey. Daily and weekly caps on charges will also be applied, making card travel as affordable as possible.
Not available using Contactless payments include Weekly Travel Rewards, Transfer Discounts, Off-peak train fare discounts, Trip Advantage and free access to Opal Park and Ride carparks.
This comes as the trial of contactless payments of Ferries and Light Rail have been successful, and will continue indefinitely.
Bus Changes from December 2
From Sunday December 2 2018 there will be changes to many bus services across Sydney. These changes affect State Transit, Transit Systems and Transdev services across Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, Northern Beaches and Pittwater, Sutherland Shire and Upper North Shore areas. The changes are designed to better reflect current customer travel patterns and provide more travel options.
State Transit Goes Cash Free
From Sunday 2 December 2018 State Transit Bus Services will become cash free. This includes all services operated by STA, including buses in the Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches. STA services in the Riverside Suburbs and North West are already cash free.
This will mean that Opal single tickets will no longer be sold onboard any State Transit bus service and passengers must have an Opal Card with sufficient balance in order to travel. This new policy is expected to speed up services and increase reliability by removing delays caused by ticket sales.
South East Transport Changes from 2 December
From Sunday 2 December, there will be major changes to State Transit and Transit Systems services in the South East of Sydney. These changes form part of the ‘Green Square and Waterloo Transport Action Plan’ that is designed to sustainably improve transport connections and accessibility in the region.
“These enhancements will benefit Green Square and Waterloo customers, creating capacity for more than 20,000 additional weekly passengers,” according to Transport for NSW Coordinator General Marg Prendergast. Two new turn up and go services will be added, as well as additional peak hour and late night services and improved connections to the Australian Technology Park in Redfern.
The Green Square and Waterloo area is one of the fastest growing areas in the world. By 2022 it will have a population density higher than most parts of Singapore or Hong Kong, with over 22 000 people per square kilometre. These changes are needed to cope with all of these new residents. Additionally, the plan includes the new Waterloo Metro Station, Road and Cycleway upgrades as well as a potential light rail line.
Key Changes Include;
| New Routes | |
| 304 |
|
| 307 |
|
| 309X |
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| 310X |
|
| 400N |
|
| Amended Routes | |
| 301
302 303 |
|
| 305 |
|
| 308 |
|
| 309 |
|
| 343 |
|
| 400 |
|
| Cancelled Routes | |
| 310
L09 X09 X10 |
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Reader Proposals & Questions – Sydney Metro
We often receive some great submissions from our readers – and those particular readers love seeing their work get shared on the blog. Today we have two maps showing potential future rail plans for Sydney. Scroll down further to see a few of the Sydney Metro related questions we have also received recently.
Continue reading “Reader Proposals & Questions – Sydney Metro”
A Period of Progress
The past few weeks have been a time of great progress right across Transport in NSW. Major projects that have seen great progression of late include Newcastle and Sydney Light Rail projects as well as the Sydney Metro City and Northwest projects.
Newcastle Light Rail
The light rail line up in Newcastle is now in full testing mode. It is the first wire-free light rail line in Australia and has now began testing using its batteries, which are recharged at each station. Currently most testing is being done at night however daytime testing is scheduled.
Sydney Light Rail
The signalling centre has now been turned on and live daytime tests using the signals in the Randwick Racecourse turnback have begun whilst regular at speed tests to Lang Road continue. Further, most stations have now begun construction and track laying is nearly complete.
Sydney Metro City
Tunnelling for the Sydney Metro City project has begun. Tunnel Boring Machine Nancy is one of five TBMs that will build this project and it has recently been deployed from the Marrickville Tunnelling site, from where it will tunnel as far as Barangaroo. The other four TBMs will begin tunnelling in coming months.
Sydney Metro Northwest
Most civil construction for Sydney Metro Northwest is now complete, with stations now in the fit out stage. The Epping to Chatswood section of the line now under conversion to allow for the automated single decker trains to operate along it.
Other Updates
The new train timetable introduced on September 30 seem to be less problematic than last Novembers (touch wood), with no major delays or complaints being fielded. The new bus networks in the Eastern Suburbs seem to be working relatively well and the StationLink appears to be coping with demand and traffic conditions up in Macquarie Park.
Look out for more photos of Transport in October next Wednesday as well as our Sydney’s Transport History feature into the Demise of the Sydney Tramways which will be released later this week.
Upcoming Transport Changes
Major changes are coming to the NSW transport network from tomorrow (Sunday 23rd September), with additional changes starting from next week (Sunday 30th September).
As we have previously reported these are very major network changes including a new bus network for the Bondi and Mascot areas as well as a new train network for the North Shore and Northern suburbs. You can find out all of the details at the links below
- Eastern Beaches Bus Service Changes from 23rd September here
- All Changes from 30th September here
- Train Changes from 30th September here
- 400 and 418 Mascot changes from 30th September here
Busways Bus Strike Again
Busways services will be impacted by protected industrial action tomorrow, Tuesday 11th September 2018. This includes services in the Blacktown, Gosford, Penrith, Windsor and Wyong. This is being organised by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) over disagreements between Busways and the TWU caused by a new enterprise agreement.
Drivers will stop work from 6am to 7am and again from 4:30pm to 5:30pm. Services up to 30 minutes outside those time periods to allow for drivers to get to and from their depots.
It is also understood that drivers will also not turn on the Opal readers at all tomorrow, allowing for a “fare free day” This will mean however that Real Time data information will not be available.
All school services will operate as normal.
Light Rail Photos
Today we were out and about along the Light Rail line in Randwick. Here are some photos so you can see the great progress that has been made in recent months.
Transport NSW Blog 