According to this article from the Sydney Morning Herald the Epping to Chatswood rail line now has further problems relating to flaws in the tracks, bolts and sleepers. These flaws will need to be fixed resulting in further budget blowouts and delays.
There have been a bewildering number of core problems with this rail tunnel. The tunnel is too steep for Tangara trains, the curves in the track are too tight, causing extended periods of painfully loud wheel screeching, and now we read that the sleepers are cracked, the pins were tensioned incorrectly and the epoxy was contaminated and sub-standard.
The level of failures required to produce such a shoddy project is hard to imagine. Firstly, planning the design of the tunnel was obviously not thorough enough. It is a whopping mistake to get ninety percent of the way through the tunnelling process before realising the tunnel grade is too steep for the rolling stock. How did that specification get by the planners? I imagine each rolling stock design comes with a specs sheet outlining its safe operating limits - including grade.
Secondly, the wheels screech because the bends are too tight. While this one may not be a clear design specification like the grade limit, it is still something that I would have thought was obvious from experience. CityRail staff and anyone who rides the city circle regularly should be aware that trains screech when going around bends. A formula combining speed and track curvature should be all you need to model safety limits and avoid screeching. Another design parameter that got by the approval process.
Thirdly, the new problems of track quality. This is an issue that obviously came up in the construction phase so the planners are off the hook for this one but where was the quality assurance? The safety implications here are disturbing to say the least.
From the seriousness and wide range of these problems it's pretty clear this project was run by people who were distracted and rushed with restricted powers and conflicting demands. It is a disgraceful state of affairs that symbolises everything wrong with the NSW Government at the moment. It's a clear illustration that when there's problems at the top it filters down to affect the quality of every project at every level. It's a problem the people of Sydney can't afford to suffer.
NSW Labor - fix your rot before someone dies!
NSW Transport Minister David Campbell wants to spend billions of dollars converting the inner city trains to single deck carriages.
Why? Because single deck carriages have a lower passenger-to-door-space ratio and can interchange at stations a lot quicker, reducing dwell times and speeding up the network by increasing the train car throughput on the system. Following me?
This makes the entire network a lot less robust as more trains trundling along the tracks means more chances of a breakdown affecting more services on the network.
Luckily the NSW Government is half way through a project called Rail Clearways designed to minimise cross-network disruptions. Unfortunately many of the Clearways projects were cut in last week's mini-budget.
Remind me again why single deck carriages are a good idea for Sydney.
I blogged here last week about the plan to increase rail fares in line with the IPART review.
Well now it seems the Transport Minister is challenging these findings by assuring outer city commuters that rail fares increases will be limited to no more than 60c over the next year and $1.40 over the next four. In comparison, the IPART review recommends increases of $1 next year and $5 over the next four.
On 29 October Planning Minister Kristina Keneally announced the Growth Centres Commission would be merged with her department. In a news release from her office she said,
“The Growth Centres Commission has been useful in kick-starting planning and development in Sydney’s north west and south west, but it’s only helping to provide 28% of Sydney’s land supply.”
The North West and South West Growth Centres were planned as areas of high population and jobs growth to help meet the city's planned growth targets set out in the Metropolitan Strategy. The North West Centre was designed around the planned major centre of Rouse Hill while the South West Centre spread out from the planned Leppington major retail centre.“The Department of Planning will be restructured to have a stronger focus on the state-wide accelerated release of land in Greenfield areas and the redevelopment of existing urban areas.”
So the NSW mini-budget came out yesterday. It's not a mid-year review or an update. No, it's a mini-budget - pay it no heed. However you call it, it has some maxi consequences for the future design of Sydney.
Having looked through the mini-budget paper and the Treasurer's speech I noted a few interesting points that will have a significant effect on Sydney's urban development and transport. And here they are in no particular order:
The State Infrastructure Strategy (SIS) will be revised later this month to bring it in line with NSW's new economic outlook and mini-budget forward estimates. Changes to major plans like the electricity sell-off and the North West Metro threw the entire SIS out of whack and it needs to be reprioritised. The money made available for other transport projects is cancelled out by the need to maintain investment in electricity generation.
The 15-minute Manly Jetcat service has been cancelled. Roll on the 30-minute Manly ferry service.
The parking levy has been increased from $950 to $2,000 in the CBD, North Sydney and Milsons Point and from $470 to $710 in Parramatta, Bondi Junction, St Leonards and Chatswood. The levy, a fee for maintaining commercial parking spots in these suburbs, will be passed on directly to shoppers and commuters in the form of casual and permanent parking rate increases.
In addition to other measures, RailCorp will be saving $9m over the next four years by "reducing bussing costs during planned maintenance by aligning services with need." This sounds like less rail buses come upgrade season. Unfortunately, it's always upgrade season.
The $181m upgrade to convention facilities at the Sydney Showgrounds at Homebush has been cancelled. This upgrade was designed to expand the capacity of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour and bring more events to Sydney. I will be interested to see if this affects plans to build a business park on the grounds.
Rail fares will increase. When you're looking at a billion dollar deficit and the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommends increasing rail fares, you do it.
Harbour Bridge and tunnel tolls will go fully electronic. Tolls will increase during peak and decrease at night. This has been one of the most controversial decisions in the mini-budget. Widely mistaken for a congestion tax, the changes are designed to be a peak travel deterrent. Many commentators and northern residents have asked, quite rightly, why this change has only been applied to the bridge and tunnel, effectively making it a tax on north shore residents. The Government's reply is that the program may be expanded to all toll roads in the near future. Many have argued that this decision is politically motivated with the Government protecting their marginal seats along the M4 and M5 routes and penalising the Liberal voting suburbs in the north.
From 1 July 2009 the First Home Owner's Scheme (FHOS) will be applicable only to homes under $750,000. Hmm... interesting. I don't know how this one will affect the housing sector. My guess is it may discourage a few first home buyers from over-reaching.
The Victoria Road/Iron Cove Bridge upgrade has not been affected. This is probably a good thing since the new tolls on the bridge will probably drive additional cars onto Victoria Road. Ouch.
A small change to the time-honoured M4/M5 Cashback scheme - valid Cashback claims will now be limited to travel undertaken in the last 12 months. How many commuters were putting in bulk claims from the last three years, I wonder?
The North West Metro has been replaced with a CBD metro. I joked here that the Rozelle end of the CBD Metro would have a car park so commuters from Rouse Hill could drive to Rozelle and catch the Metro from there. Well, it looks like they will be building a bus-metro interchange at Rozelle instead.
A $3000 FHOS bonus to newly constructed first homes, in addition to the Federal Government's increases. This is clearly designed to apply upward pressure on the flagging housing construction sector. Unfortunately it will be completely absorbed in the downward pressure applied by increased land taxes.
The M4 extension, M5 expansion, Western Metro and North Sydney Freight line projects are officially on hold until at least 2012 unless the Commonwealth ponies up the cash.
There has been a general negative reaction to the mini-budget. Most of it coming from north-west residents who argue that the entire mini-budget is skewed against them. With the lack of transparency in the decision to replace the NW Metro with buses, increase tolling on the Harbour Bridge and tunnel and increasing rail fares I can see their point. Criticism also comes from analysts and economists who claim that every move to invigorate the housing sector is cancelled out in one way or another and that an economic downturn is the wrong time to be increasing taxes and reducing capital investment.
A lot of people have criticised the Government's focus on maintaining their AAA credit rating. The Government claims a downgrading of their rating would deter investors, increase interest payments, reduce business confidence and represent a reduction in fiscal discipline. Unfortunately the experts say this is exactly the time to increase debt, invest and provide an economic surge rather than save to maintain a high rating.
NSW Labor is looking down the political and economic barrel. My advice is be bold, think big and do it now! Bring in congestion taxes, trains, buses, variable tolling! The only way to win an election is through vision and action. Hearts and minds! If you're still confused try a one-on-one coaching session with Clover Moore.
Just bloody build something other than a tollway!
The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) has called for the NSW Government to revisit its Metropolitan Strategy in light of their failure to provide transport to the area.
Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, has said the population growth estimates that form the basis of the Strategy will have to be revisited.
According to the Strategy the largest areas of population and jobs growth will be in two large 'Growth Centres' one in the North West centred on Riverstone and one in the South West centred on Leppington.
With the cancellation of the South West Rail Link and the North West Metro - the two key transport services strategically designed to complement these areas - the Growth Areas won't accommodate anywhere near the expected growth figures estimated in the 2006 Strategy. This doesn't take into account that more recent analysis puts Sydney's growth at around 40% higher than estimates.
Premier Nathan Rees has been facing a lot of transport related questions in the last couple of days, with the mini-budget coming out next week and the Herald revealing axing of more North West transport projects including the Schofields to Vineyard track duplication.
While he scrambles to justify the deferment of the metro projects and the South West Rail Link and his bid to get the 9km CBD metro funded by the Feds he has said a couple of interesting remarks about the shape of the transport network.
The Metropolitan Strategy is trying to move people out of the CBD by:
"Penrith to the City is the corridor we need to consider."
"The bulk of the people in the north-west are travelling to Norwest Business Park, Macquarie Park and Parramatta, they're not necessarily travelling into the city."
A $66m project to upgrade housing estates, parks, streetscapes and laneways is currently underway in the Campbelltown area according to the Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser.
The high court is holding a hearing today that will decide the fate of the Parramatta Civic Place renewal project.
After the NSW Supreme Court upheld the council's right to compulsorily acquire properties for the project, a number of shop owners appealed to the high court.
The redevelopment of Parramatta Civic Place is a $1.4bn project designed to revitalise the Parramatta CBD, provide a modern setting for retail and community activities and an attractive city heart for business and jobs in the region.
Motorcyclists to park free in Sydney CBD - Will Nathan Rees exempt them from the 'congestion tax' tolls?
Here's a picture of Nathan Rees' proposed CBD Metro.
Today's Sun Herald combines transport with theology:
LONDON buses will carry the slogan "There's probably no God" next year, in a campaign paid for by an atheist organisation. Transport chiefs say it would never work in Sydney, where commuters wait at bus stops for so long that they eventually die and go to heaven, where God tells them: "There's probably no bus."
The long awaited White Bay/Glebe Island/Rozelle Bay master plan won't be coming any time soon according to NSW Planning.
