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Train Disruptions – Monday 29 January Update

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On Monday 29 January NO trains services will operate in NSW. This is due to strike action being undertaken by the RBTU and Sydney train drivers.

Please see below a list of disruptions and alternative options.

Train Services

  • No train services will operate in NSW. This includes Sydney Trains, NSW Trainlink Intercity and NSW Trainlink Regional services.

School Bus Services

  • All government contracted school buses will not operate. This includes all STA and most private operators.
  • School run buses will still operate.

Regular Bus Services

  • There will be cancellations to some route services, particularly those run by Private operators.
  • Some bus routes that duplicate train lines will have extra services.

Rail Replacement Buses

  • There will be limited rail replacement buses operating. They will operate very 10-15 minutes and have very limited capacity. See the list of routes below;
    • Hornsby, All Stops to Wynyard and return.
    • Blacktown, Seven Hills and return
    • Parramatta to QVB and return.
    • Parramatta, limited stops along Parramatta Rd to Central and return.
    • Penrith, limited stops along Great Western Highway to Parramatta and return.
    • Burwood, Croydon, Ashfield to Central and return.
    • Liverpool to Central and return.
    • Bankstown, All Stops to Belmore to Central and return.
    • Bondi Junction to Museum and return.
    • Sutherland to Central and return.
    • Cronulla, Woolaware, Caringbah to Central and return.
    • Oatley, All Stops to Arncliffe to Central and return.
    • Sydney Olympic Park Wharf to Sydney Olympic Park Station and return.
    • Campbelltown, All Stops to Liverpool and return.
    • Campbelltown, Leaumeah and return.
    • Mascot, Green Square to Central and return.
    • Sydney Airport International Terminal 1, Green Square to Central  and return.
    • Sydney Airport Qantas Domestic Terminal 3, Green Square to Central and return.
    • Katoomba, All Stops to Penrith and return.
    • Wollongong, North Wollongong to Central and return.
    • Gosford to Central and return.
  • All NSW TrainLink regional services will be replaced by buses. This may include some services on Sunday 28 January and Tuesday 30 January in addition to Monday 29 January.

Please do expect all modes of transport to be busier than usual, and take longer than usual due to congestion. If possible, avoid travelling on Monday 29 January.

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New Timetables

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

  • 1500 extra services, including 750 on weekends
  • New T8 Airport Line delivering trains every 8 minutes at least during the day Monday through Sunday.
  • Peak Hour Express trains between Parramatta and Central every 3 minutes
  • Rerouted T2 Inner West Line to Parramatta with trains every 6 minutes in Peak
  • Rerouted T5 Cumberland Line to Leppington with additional weekend services
  • Express Blue Mountains weekend trains

Ferries

  • 150 extra services
  • New F4 Cross Harbour Line servicing Pyrmont, Barangaroo, Circular Quay, Rose Bay and Watsons Bay
  • Rerouted F7 Eastern Suburbs Line servicing Circulalar Quay, Gardern Island, Darling Point and Double Bay
  • New F8 Cockatoo Island Line

Buses

  • Brand New Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore Network 
  • Introduction of the B-Line Bus Rapid Transit between Wynyard and Mona Vale
  • New Routes and major diversions including 199 Manly to Palm Beach and M30 extention to Taronga Zoo
  • Major Changes in Lane Cove including cancellation of 289 and rerouting of 292 services
  • Renumbering of UNSW services to 891 Central to UNSW, 893 UNSW Gate 3 to Central and 898 UNSW Gate 8 to Central
  • New route 379 Bronte to North Bondi replacing truncated 389 and 440 which both now finish at Bondi Junction
  • Extra Peak Hour and Late Night services to Bondi Junction on routes 352, 353, 360, 379 and 418
  • Extra Peak Hour services from the Hills District to the City
  • Additional services to Macquarie Centre
  • Additional Services to Olympic Park

For futher information and a list of all of the changes staring today click here

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Line Up Changes

Yes, I know the blog has been relatively inactive. Yes, you will eventually get posts.

Here is the plan:

  • Featured Bus Route – Once a month I will feature a bus route from around Sydney, looking at it’s history and current operation. Just like Route of the Week, just monthly not weekly.
  • News and other updates – The rest of my posts will be transport related news and other updates, including some of the information that would have previously come from Train Talk Tuesday, Ferry Friday, etc.

I have realised that it is too time consuming to do so many posts a week. I hope you are all understanding and continue to enjoy my content.

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XPT, Xplorer Replacement announced

Recently the government announced that there would be replacing the entire regional rail fleet with new rolling stock, to be delivered from the early 2020s.

This will see all of the existing XPT, Xplorer and Endeavour rolling stock replaced with a a single uniform new model of train. A total of 110 carriages will be ordered which mean it will be a one for one replacement as there are 110 regional carriages currently in service.

It is understood that these new trains will have their main service centre and maintainace hub in Dubbo, whilst maintaing a smaller maintain centre and layover in Sydney. This is part of the government’s plan to increase rural jobs.

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Sydney Buses Route of the Week 17

Today’s request comes from Nick H and Zac Scott. It is for route 339. Route 339 currently operates between City Australia Square and Clovelly via Central, Moore Park, Centenial Park and North Randwick.
The 339 first began operation when the Clovelly to City tram line was closed in the 1960s. Until the introduction of Better Buses East in 2002, the 339 ran along George Street in both directions in the CBD and terminated at Millers Point. Better Buses East rerouted the 339 to run Northbound along Elizabeth Street and Southbound along Castlereagh Street through the CBD. In October 2012, the 339 was truncated to Australia Square due to poor patronage around Millers Point. In October 2015, the 339 was rerouted to run in both directions along Elizabeth Street and also had all peak hour services in both directions removed, repelaced with 338, X39 or X40 services.
Today the 339 runs every 20-30 minutes off peak and on weekends as well as every 45 minutes at night. The 339 operating hours are 5am – 7am, 9am – 4pm and 7pm – Midnight on weekdays and 6am – Midnight on Weekends. It takes 30-40 minutes to run the route end to end.
The 339 is predominantly operated by Randwick Depot using buses with either Ansair or Custom Coaches bodywork and Scania or Volvo Chassis. A limited number of services are operated by Waverley and Port Botany Depots using buses with Custom Coaches bodywork and Mercedes Benz Chassis.

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Sydney Buses Route of the Week 14

Today our request comes from Lachlan Culverhouse, it is of the L94

The L94 is limited stops variant of route 394. It runs between Circular Quay and La Perouse via Taylor Square, UNSW, Maroubra and Little Bay. It stops at limited stops from Circular Quay to Maroubra Junction then all stops to La Perouse. The stopping pattern is as follows;

  • Circular Quay
  • Martin Place
  • St James
  • Museum
  • Taylor Square
  • Abbotsford Street
  • Todman Avenue
  • UNSW
  • Nine Ways
  • Avoca Street
  • Maroubra Junction
  • All Stops to La Perouse

It operates daily between 6am and 6pm inbound, 8am and 7pm outbound. Buses run every on a 15 minute frequency Monday through Saturday, with a half hourly frequency on Sunday. It takes between 45 and 55 minutes to operate the series end to end.

The route is operated by Port Botany depot using 12m buses with Mercedes Benz or Scania Chassis with Custom Coaches or Bustech bodywork respectively. In addition, a large number if services is operated by 14.5 m high floor buses with Scania Chassis and Ansair bodywork. A limited number of peak hour services are operated by Randwick Depot using buses with Volvo chassis and Custom Coaches bodywork

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Ferry Friday 14

Today we are looking at the final ferry type in the Sydney Ferries fleet. The new Inner Harbour ferries, they have been coquially called the Hertiage or Emerald class but no offfical name has been given.

This class of ferry is being built by Incat in Tasmania. The first ferry “Catherine Hamlin” was delivered in December 2016, however due to manufacture faults is yet to enter service. The second ferry delivered and first to enter service was “Fred Hollows”, it was delivered in March 2017 and entered service in June 2017. The third ferry “Victor Chang” was delivered in June 2017 but is yet to enter service.

The new ferries are expected to operate on the F4 Darling Harbour, F5 Mosman Bay, F6 Neutral Bay and F7 Rose Bay services. 


Features of the new ferries include;

  • Capacity for up to 400 passengers
  • Two wide walk-around decks
  • Accessibility for the less mobile and young families
  • Bicycle and luggage storage
  • Wi-fi access
  • Real time journey information
  • 12 wheelchair spaces
  • Rapid and safe boarding
  • Reduced travel times

On a more technical aspect the ferries travel at 26 knots and are 36.38 metres long. They have a displacement of approximately 50 tons depending on passenger numbers.

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Train Talk Tuesday 13

This week we will be looking at the Cronulla Branchline. 
It is 10km long and runs between Sutherland and Cronulla with 6 stations on the line. The stations are located at Kirrawee, Gymea, Miranda, Garingbah, Wooloware and Cronulla.
The Cronulla Railway line oriinated as a tram line between Sutherland and Cronulla along the Kingsway. It was very congest and only single track and by the 1930s had outgrown its use. After its closure in 1932, planning for a rail line began. Various delays ensued but it finally opened on 16 December 1939. It was initally a single track with passing loops, and was depicted between Gymea and Caringbah in the 1980s. The rest of then line was duplicated in the early 2000s as part of the Clearways program.
Today trains run on the line as part of Sydney Trains T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line using T-Sets based at Mortdale depot.

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Train Talk Tuesday 12

This week we have a major update for the Sydney Metro City and South West project.

The contract for Tunnels, Staions and Excavation (TSE) has been awarded to John Holland CPB Contractors Ghella Joint Venture, which signifies the beginning of major construction for Stage 2 of Sydney Metro.

The TSE contractor is responsible for establishing the two main dives sites – Chatswood and Marrickville – which will be where the four tunnel boring machines commence their journey beneath Sydney, with a fifth specialised TBM starting from Barangaroo for the Harbour crossing. Once demolition of existing buildings has been completed, excavation of the six future stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo will commence.

To reduce the impact on the local community and local businesses, crushed rock will be removed by barges for the excavation work that takes place at Blues Point, Barangaroo and under Sydney Harbour – reducing impacts to the road network and cutting truck movements

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Photo Courtesty of Acciona Australia
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Train Talk Tuesday 11

Welcome to another Tuesday of Train Talk. This week, we will be looking at the money given to our train network in today’s NSW budget. The 9.8 billion dollars pledged to rail our network in this year’s budget will be spent on both new rolling stock and new network. However not all of this money is being slept this year, with the funding anncounments for Sydney Metro City and Southwest actually being a four year commitment.

New Trains

  • $658 million on new upgraded Waratah style trains
  • $253 million on new intercity trains
  • $25 million for investigative studies for new XPTs

New Network

  • $4 billion for Sydney Metro Northwest
  • $4.9 billion for Sydney Metro City and Southwest
Waratah Train like the ones being ordered