Light rail brought on board multi-trip tickets
Published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 14 June, 2011
COMMUTERS with MyMulti transport tickets will finally be able to use them on Sydney’s light rail line.
The Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, will announce measures today to incorporate the light rail line into the MyZone ticket structure, an election promise made by the Coalition.
From June 27, commuters who use daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly MyMulti tickets to travel on the bus, train and ferry networks will also be able to use the tickets on the light rail system.
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Pensioners will be able to use their pensioner excursion tickets on the line, and Family Funday Sunday tickets will also be eligible for use on the line.
”This is great news for commuters, tourists, pensioners and families,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Govt puts Sydney Metro project on hold
The Sydney Metro’s future is in doubt with the NSW government announcing it has stopped acquiring properties in the Rozelle area until it has made a final decision on the project.
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says a decision on the future of Sydney’s metro rail network will be announced late in February only after a proper cabinet and budget committee process.
Ms Keneally says this will provide clarity and certainty for businesses in the area.
The blueprint for the controversial $5.3 billion CBD project was due to be announced in November as part of then premier Nathan Rees’ $180 million transport plan, but was put off as the new premier reviewed the situation. Read more »
Controversial $5bn Metro rail-roaded
The controversial $5 billion metro rail project in Sydney’s inner-west is all but dead. Transport Minister David Campbell last night buckled under pressure from inner-city councils to announce the Government was now considering an extension of existing light rail to the inner-west and through the CBD.
Mr Campbell said tenders were being called for a light rail extension assessment study, which would examine two proposed routes through the CBD.
He said the study would be expanded from the original plan for the inner-west to include an extension into the redeveloped Barangaroo precinct near Darling Harbour via George St. Read more »
Gridlock: buses banked up right across the bridge
Sydney’s central business district will be in ”complete gridlock” within six to seven years unless there is radical action to stem traffic and reduce the number of buses from the northern suburbs, the State Government’s own research has forecast.
It predicts a nightmare scenario for commuters in which a line of buses, stretching for more than a kilometre, sits idle on Sydney Harbour Bridge, with some buses unable to enter the city because of congestion.
In a paper presented to the recent Australasian Transport Research Forum in Auckland, researchers from the Government’s Transport Data Centre tested a ”do nothing” scenario against increases in demand for buses over the next decade.
The paper anticipates ”high levels of bus congestion and delay for all passengers, consistent with the observed conditions on the ground”, and has serious implications for the Government’s public transport strategy for north-west Sydney, which relies entirely on buses. Read more »
Complete northern light rail: councils
Northern Sydney councils have urged the State Government to build a light-rail line between the booming residential and employment hub of Chatswood and the northern beaches, completing a project the Greiner government proposed in 1990.
In its submission to the Herald-backed inquiry into public transport, the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils also backs a second harbour crossing to allow extra CityRail services for the north shore and north-western suburbs.
The council body has ”resolved to fight the most recent changes in transport proposals by the State Government, specifically the cancellation of the north-west, south-west lines and Epping-to-Parramatta links and the proposal for the CBD Metro to Rozelle”, the submission says.
Read more »