Testing The New Waratah trains

One of our enthusiastic WSPTU locals spotted this Waratah train in testing at Mt Druitt Station. Are they coming soon?

North West Rail Link - Update

Here is an interesting update by the Daily Telegraph on the North West Rail Link. It discusses the possibilities of extra stations and changes to the route. It also discusses the possibility of the North West Rail Link and the Parramatta to Epping Link being constucted as a joint project.
Daily Telegraph - 27-5-2011

MP joins the fight for more buses

This is a recent article in the Star Newspaper St Marys

 

BY KYLIE STEVENS

Click here for the story, with pictures, reported by Mt Druitt Commuters Improvement Group

24 May, 2011 10:18 AM

A COMMUNITY cry for help from stranded residents for more buses in North St Marys has Londonderry state MP Bart Bassett on board. He will lobby transport minister Gladys Berejiklian for the return of more services after last week’s meeting with residents who had what he called ‘‘very legitimate concerns’’.
Ken Moriarty led a community uproar after the 782 Westbus route servicing the suburb was axed during a transport overhaulin October 2009.
With help from the St Marys-Mt Druitt Star which broke the story, a community campaign led to diversions to the 745 Busways route StMarys and CastleHill, which doesn’t run on Sundays or public holidays.
MrMoriarty was initially grateful— until he learned it takes two buses to get to Penrith. Residents in Griffiths Street and Jakaranda Road remained without a service, like Patricia Guy.
She and Mr Moriarty recently collected 100 signatures in support the old 782 route.
It comes after Westbus earlier this year agreed to divert a 780 morning and afternoon service through North St Marys on weekdays after representations on the behalf of students who attend school outside the local area.
Mrs Guy said some services that now terminate at Werrington could continue to St Marys via North St Marys.
‘‘The previous timetable provided 22 buses a day Monday to Friday,’’ she said.
''We would be satisfied with half that number.''
Mr Moriarty said:
‘‘People don’t want to go to Castle Hill— they need to go to Penrith for medical appointments.
Many elderly people here relied on the 782 for that. What happened to people in North St Marys played a big part in why former MP Allan Shearan was voted out.’’
Mr Bassett couldn’t estimate a timeframe but hopes to discuss the topic with Ms Berejiklian this week.
They and Hawkesbury MP RayWilliams met with residents when the 782 was first axed.
‘‘I’mhopeful there’s enough flexibility in the current system to reduce the number of some high-frequency services and put them back in place in North StMarys,’’Mr Bassett said.

Metro Bus - On Board announcements

The Metro Buses are proving to be very popular. Every day users of these buses are telling our local groups how great these services are, they especially like the high frequency. However, there appears to be a draw back. The onboard announcments and next stop notifications don't appear to be working!

As the Voice of  Western Sydney public transport users, we want to make sure that the users who rely on this transport mode are heard loud and clear..

Would the display and audio announcements make your travelling easier?

Post your comments and views about the lack of onboard announcements on the blog..

Customer Satisfaction Survey of 131500 Transport Infoline

From the 131500 website:

You can now participate in a customer satisfaction survey about Transport Info 131500 services.

Please click here to participate in the short survey that will be used to measure user satisfaction with the Transport Info 131500 service.

Paul Trevaskis Retiring

Paul Trevaskis is one of the heros of public transport advocacy in Western Sydney. He is working toward retiring from his leadership roles with the Blue Mountains Commuters and Public Transport Users group. He has also been a champion of the WSPTU and some other groups. Here is a nice article about him from the Blue Mountains Gazette last week:
Blue Mountains Gazette

Minister Rides New Guardian Train Service

Nice photo series by the Parramatta Advertiser of the Minister riding a new 'Guardian' train service: Click Here

Parramatta to Epping rail link funded in Federal Budget

Story from the Parramatta Advertiser:
http://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/news/story/parramatta-to-epping-rail-link-funded-in-federal-budget/

WSPTU Policy Forum Postponed to Sat June 11

The Policy Forum of the WSPTU has been postponed from Sat May 7 to Sat June 11.

There was not enough material ready for the Policy Forum so the meeting was postponed. The Steering Committee is working on getting WSPTU incorporated.

At the June 11 Policy Forum we hope to:
- brief the Policy Forum about progress on incorporation
- discuss ways to strengthen local groups
- prepare for the Symposium in August.

Reminder about 4 lanes of trains and trams on the Harbour Bridge

At WSPTU we often hear that it's hard to provide more train services because of capacity contstaints into the city and across the Harbour.

We thought we would just remind everyone that the Harbour Bridge was built to have four lanes of trains and trams and four lanes of cars. If a car driver tries to tell you that you can’t take away the car lanes, you tell them that they are not car lanes! If you must have more car lanes, why not put them under the harbour (as Enrique Peñalosa would say) - but it will only encourage more traffic! Maybe the Bridge needs to go on a 'road diet'?

Check these out from the State Archives:
http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Image\2910&format=print
http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Image\2892&format=print
http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Image\2635&format=print

And for those who think that the bridge can’t carry four train tracks – they thought of that too. Here they are testing the bridge by loading it up with four lanes of steam locomotives.
http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/asp/photosearch/photo.asp?12685_a007_a00704_8734000003r

APT: BUS NETWORK NEEDS A CONSISTENT IMAGE

Action for Public Transport (APT) says that there are so many inconsistencies in the Sydney bus system that even regular users get caught out.

Allan Miles, secretary of , said that the variables include the times, places, and routes where prepaid tickets are required.

"There is no standard definition of a Metrobus," he said, "and erratic rules apply to limited stop buses (L route numbers), and express buses (E) and (X).

"Access to sales points for prepay bus tickets is a bit of a lottery," Mr Miles said. "During the busy Easter/Anzac Day very long weekend, the door of the bus ticket office at Railway Square remained firmly locked."

Click here to see the full release.