Comments on: Sydney public transport is great!

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:27:39 +0000

@Scoot: Thanks for your detailed info – it’s fascinating (sorry for the delay in replying!)

@JD: You’re right, it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges.

@Margaret: I really miss the trains and buses now I live in the Southern Highlands (where there are no trains apart from goods/tourist trains, and only 1 bus a day to Sydney!).

By: Margaret

Margaret — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:46:55 +0000

I lived in Sydney for 11 years and found the public transport terrific. If you were unfortunate to live away from a train line, then there was always a bus. Have to admit, I didn’t go out late very often so either bunked down at a friend’s place or shared a taxi.

We now live in Canberra and I so miss the trains. We can get on the train but there is only one station in Canberra, so we do feel cut off somewhat. It’s not as if anyone can “commute” to work from within Canberra.

Trains are far cleaner. I’m sure that if there were concrete sleepers on lines throughout Australia then the trains could go faster and maintenance costs would be down, compared to replacing the wooden ones. Trees would be far happier. Putting more freight onto trains (and of course more train lines) would keep the heavier vehicles off the roads and the pollution down.

Suppose, no matter where you live, it really is a matter of what your preference is and how convenient everything is to your way of life.

I do so miss the trains!

By: JD

JD — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:58:14 +0000

UK and Australia are hardly comparable, the only thing they have in common is a language. 60 million to a tiny island is a tad more congestion than 21 million to a huge island. The income and general cost of living is very different. The city design is also very different and will hopefully stay that way.
One reason why people drive is the lack of stations, then again Sydney hardly has the population density to justify more stations.
Oh, and the congestion charge worked sooooo well in London. I hardly ever drive my car because of the traffic. I live in South Ken and have already prepaid my yearly congestion charging!

By: Scoot

Scoot — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:40:00 +0000

I agree with you, having lived in London (and surrounds including Reading) and travelled to around 35 countries over the years, the Sydney system while not the best, is certainly not the worst. It’s best feature is the cost, it’s worse is the timetabling during off-peak times. I did a little research in 2007 on ticket prices, track length, frequency and age of rollingstock. Some of this was from my own observations, others were gleamed from websites. However this shouldn’t stop any new investment in a Metro style line, or other new “heavy rail” lines as population growth fills in the gaps of land in the Western and South Western and North Western suburbs.

System: Sydney
System type: interurban and suburban
Lines/Stations/Distance: 8/302/2060km
Frequency: 3 (inner peak) – 30mins (outer off-peak)
Rollingstock age: 1986 – 2007
Pricing: AUD 2.80 (4.78mi/7.67km)

System: London
System type: metro
Lines/Stations/Distance: 12/274/408km
Frequency: 2mins (inner peak) – 20mins (outer off-peak)
Rollingstock age: 1960 – 1996
Pricing: GBP1.50/GBP4.00 (offpeak/peak)
(AUD 3.90/9.00)

System: Hamburg S-Bahn
System type: suburban
Lines/Stations/Distance: 6/59/115km
Frequency: 10 – 20mins
(5mins during peak hour some lines)
Rollingstock age: 1984 – 2005
Pricing: short trip EUR1.50 (AUD 2.30)

System: Moscow
System type: metro
Lines/Stations/Distance: 12/172/278km
Frequency: 1.5 – 3mins
Rollingstock age: 1950 – 2005
Pricing: 15.00 rouble (AUD 0.73)

System: Paris
System type: metro
Lines/Stations/Distance: 16/380/221km
Frequency: 2 – 6mins
(on RER around 5 – 15mins)
Rollingstock age: 1960 – 1990
Pricing: EUR1.40 (AUD 2.16)

System: Tokyo
System type: metro, suburban
Lines/Stations/Distance: 4/106/109km
Frequency: 3 – 4mins
Rollingstock age: 1990 – 2006
Pricing: JPY160 (AUD 1.51)

System: New York
System type: suburban, interurban
Lines/Stations/Distance: 26/468/1056km
Frequency: 5 – 20mins
Rollingstock age: 1961 – 2001
Pricing: USD2.00 (AUD 2.45)

System: Berlin U-Bahn
System type: metro
Lines/Stations/Distance: 9/170/146km
Frequency: every 3-5 min (peak), 5-10 min (off-peak)
Rollingstock age: 1986 – 2005
Pricing: EUR2.10 (AUD 3.47)

System: Washington
System type: metro
Lines/Stations/Distance: 5/89/169 km
Frequency: 3-6 min (peak hour), 6-12 (daytime) and 10-15 (off-peak)
Rollingstock age: 1973 (rehabilitated: 1993) – 2005
Pricing: USD1.75 (AUD 2.02)

By: Visas Australia

Visas Australia — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:52:21 +0000

The London Tube is a wonderful example, however it really needs alot of money spending on it to thoroughly modernise it.

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:31:48 +0000

Hey There

I have to disagree about your take on Sydney’s public transport. Try getting a bus into town on a Sunday from somewhere like Clovelly!! In addition, try queueing for a bus on a weekday morning at a stop that is five or six stops from a beach side suburb – you’re stuffed. Weekdays, I usually watch at least five go past (packed) before one comes past that I can squeeze on to. I’m so used to this scenario that I add an extra half an hour to my journey time, if travelling to work by bus. They also stock pile buses at the terminus so that five will come at once, with the last one empty – thus allowing controllers to assume there is spare capacity on that route and therefore no need to add extra buses to the schedule.

Try getting a bus back home from town after midnight!! Not possible.

When you look at how many people London underground moves around compared to Sydney (with a tube train stopping every three to five minutes in rush hour) London is streets ahead. Ditto with regard to late night buses.

Having said all this I’m happy to sacrifice efficient transport for the beachside life I now enjoy.

Cheers

Super_Si