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.
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.
Route 303 is one of the many routes that will have changes
“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
Rosebery and Circular Quay via Zetland, Waterloo and Surry Hills. Serves East Village Shopping Centre
New 24/7, turn-up and go service
307
Port Botany and Mascot Station via Matraville, Eastgardens, Pagewood, Botany and Mascot shops
Provides local coverage and connections to buses at Eastgardens, Botany and Mascot and trains at Mascot station.
Replaces route 309 and 310 in the Port Botany, Matraville and Eastgardens areas.
309X
Railway Square and Port Botany via Redfern, Green Square station and Botany Road.
Every 10 minutes during the morning and afternoon peaks.
Replaces route L09
310X
Banksmeadow and Railway Square via Botany, Mascot, and Green Square station.
Running every 10 minutes during the morning and afternoon peaks. Combined with route 309, this will result in buses every 5 minutes between Botany Shops and Green Square station during peak periods
Replaces route X09 and X10 services
400N
All-stops service between Eastgardens and Bondi Junction
Changed to operate to and from Redfern Station, providing new links to the rail network
Route 304 will provide services between Rosebery, Waterloo and the City
305
Changed to operate between Redfern Station and Mascot only
Service frequency adjusted to every 30 minutes
308
Changed to operate between Marrickville Metro and Central Station full time
Weekday morning and afternoon peak hour services currently terminating at or commencing from Redfern Station will be extended to Central Station via Redfern and Chalmers/Elizabeth Streets
309
Changed to operate between Banksmeadow and Railway Square
Running every 12 minutes or better during the day, 7 days a week, with services around every 10 minutes during morning and afternoon peak times on weekdays, and every 15 minutes during evenings (30 mins late night
343
Additional services across the week, including higher capacity with proposed increase of 18% more capacity between 7am-8am and 16% capacity between 8am-9am.
400
Limited stops route 400 overnight services between 12am – 5am replaced by new route 400N All-stops service between Eastgardens and Bondi Junction
Route 607x between Rouse Hill and City QVB via T-Way and M2 is our featured bus route for November. Operated by Hillsbus, this is a route that has been immensely successful over its relatively short operational period. It has seen numerous frequency upgrades and the use of double deckers to meet demand.
A Bustech CDi operates a 607x past Wynyard – Transport NSW Blog Collection
The 607x began operation as a supplementary, pre-Christmas route between Railway Square and Rouse Hill Town Centre via T-Way in that direction only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from 7 December 2011. Due to its success, it was upgraded to a off peak, late night and weekend two way service from 3 January 2012, with non the non T-Way 617x continuing in peak hours. Continued success saw a frequency upgrade as well as peak hour services introduced from 30 April 2012. Due to CBD and South East Light Rail works, the route was truncated on the city end to City QVB from 4 October 2015. Route 607x became a designated overnight service from 27 February 2016, with 24 service on Friday and Saturday nights. At this time a turn up and go peak hour service was introduced as well as high capacity double decker buses.
Today it operates every 5 minutes in peak hour, every 15-20 minutes off peak and every 30 minutes later at night. It sees service between 5am and 1am Sunday through Thursdays with 24 hour service on Fridays and Saturdays. It is operated by 14.5m and double decker buses from the CDC Hillsbus Foundary Road Depot.
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.
Future Sydney Metro Network Concept Plan – Zac Scott
Here are our favourite transport photos from October
The start of the new rail tunnel between Bella Vista and Epping at Bella Vista – Transport NSW Blog CollectionNew Bella Vista Metro Station – Transport NSW Blog CollectionThe first day of 362 operation for the 2018/19 summer – Transport NSW Blog CollectionB2, the first Waratah B set to enter service – Transport NSW Blog CollectionThe new Sydney Metro Skytrain cable stayed bridge at Rouse Hill – Transport NSW Blog CollectionThe new truncated 400 to Sydney Airport – Transport NSW Blog CollectionStationLink SL1 to Chatswood leaves Epping – Transport NSW Blog CollectionV40 trails V7 out of Beecroft on a Newcastle Service – Transport NSW Blog Collection
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
Tram Under Test on Hunter Street – Newcastle Herald
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 Randwick Racecourse turnback – Transport NSW Blog Collection
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
TBM Nancy at the Marrickville Tunnelling Site – Transport For NSW
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
The Skytrain portion of the Metro at Rouse Hill – – Transport NSW Blog Collection
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 newly truncated 400 at Mascot Station, with a bus at the new 357 layover behind – Transport NSW Blog CollectionOne of dozens of buses replacing trains as part of the new StationLink network – Transport NSW Blog Collection
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.
Many people are surprised to hear the steepest railway in the work is right here in New South Wales. Located at Scenic World in Katoomba, the “Scenic Railway” isn’t your standard everyday train line.
The short and steep line forms one of many attractions at Scenic World in Katoomba, which also includes the worlds steepest cable car. Guests can access the line for a fee, with services every 10 minutes between 9am and 5pm.
The cutting for the railway in 1884
Passengers on the railway in 1945
The line was originally bulit as a freight line to haul coal and oil shale from mines on the floor of the Jamieson Valley up to the escarpment above back in 1878. From 1928, the miners began supplementing their income by operating services for passengers on weekends. This service continued until the closure of the mine in 1945.
Since then the line has operated as a tourist attraction, with multiple major refurbishments of the line being conducted. The original steam winch train used for passenger services back in 1928 was named Jessie carried 12 passengers. Jessie was replaced by the Mountain Devil, a 23 passenger electric winch trains in 1935. By 1952 these trains had been replaced by newer 28 passenger trains. Newer, larger trains were again introduced in 1974 and 1994. Most recently all the tracks and the rolling stock were replaced in early 2013. This saw the number of carriages increased to four, carrying 84 passengers.
The railway in operation today
The line is what is known as an Incline Cable Railway, which means that the trains on the line are hauled by a cable. The line has an incline of 52° or 122% on its steepest section, which is the steepest incline on any railway in the world. In the 310 metres the line travels, it loses 205 metres in elevation whilst travelling at 4m/s.
The featured bus route this month is Route 357 operated by State Transit. It operates between Bondi Junction and Mascot Station via Randwick, Kingsford and Eastlakes.
The 357 in service in 2011 at Sydenham Station, operating a short running to Mascot. Photo Credit – Norbert Genci (Bus Interchange )
The 357 has had an interesting history stretching back many decades and route numbers. Initially the corridor between Bondi Junction and Sydenham via Kingsford was serviced by route 358, with evidence of service from around March 1947. The service was later renumbered 367 and extended to operate between Bellevue Hill and Sydenham from July 1952. At unknown dates between 1962 and 1982 the service was truncated back to Bondi Junction, later at an unknown date between 1982 and 1997 the service was renumbered route 357.
The designation 357 had previously been used for a number of services including a Bondi Junction to Pagewood service in the 1940s and 50s and later local feeder services in Kingsgrove and Maroubra.
At least since the advent of Better Buses East in 2002, many of Route 357 services operated as short runnings between Bondi Junction and Eastlakes only, with service through to Sydenham limited to weekday peak hours. Up until April 2009, the service operated via Meeks street and Botany Street through Kingsford. With the abolition of route 359, it was rerouted to run via Avoca Street and Rainbow Street. On 20 October 2013, the route once again had a change in route number, merging with route 418 to become a Bondi Junction to Burwood service via Sydenham under the route 418 designation. From March 2017 as part of the Light rail works, the 418 stopped serving Randwick Junction, instead operating through the back streets of Randwick.
Due to the privatisation of bus routes in the Inner West Region 6 area, many cross regional routes such as the 418 were cut in half. The 357 designation was returned for the Eastern half of the 418 between Bondi Junction and Mascot Station from 30th September 2018, with the 418 operating between Kingsford and Burwood.
We always get requests to see more photos from across the Sydney transport network here on the blog. Every month we are out and about taking hundreds of photos but very few of them ever actually make it the whole way from our cameras to the blog. To showcase some of these photos, we are proposing that we share some of our favourite photos with you at the end of each month. This way, our photos don’t go to waste and you get to see parts of the network that would otherwise be unknown to you.
A black and white Circular Quay, with Carnival Spirt at the OPT – M. BustamanteTwo ferries seen from the train at Circular Quay – M. BustamanteTrams at Randwick Depot – Transport NSW Blog CollectionTrain operates through the Epping Chatswood Rail Link before its closure – Transport NSW Blog CollectionRoute 400 operating to Burwood ahead of its truncation to the Airport – Transport NSW Blog Collection
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
400 and 418 Mascot changes from 30th September here
Route 333 between North Bondi and City Circular Quay is becoming a 24 Hour Rapid Transit Turn Up and Go service from 23rd September – Image: Transport For NSWRoute 400 between Bondi Junction and Burwood is being cut in half alongside other major route changes in the Mascot area from 30th September – Image: Transport For NSWStation Link buses are replacing all train services between Chatswood and Epping from 30th September – Image: Transport For NSW
Transport NSW Blog 