Upgrading signalling on existing heavy rail can deliver a train every 3 minutes (20 trains per hour) in comparison to a train every 4 minutes (15 trains per hour) on Sydney Metro.
The North Shore Line will have 20 trains per hour to City (once Metro Northwest opens in 2019) but once Metro Southwest opens, 9 stations (from Berala to Carramar, Birrong and Yagoona) on the western half (non-Metro) of the Bankstown Line will have 0 trains to the City!
Transport Minister Andrew Constance has confirmed that upgrading signalling on the T1 North Shore Line will allow 20 trains per hour (on existing heavy rail) to the City, a train every 3 minutes. Sydney Metro has 25% less capacity with a 15 trains per hour with a train every 4 minutes in the peak.
Also 9 stations west of Bankstown on the T3 Bankstown Line will have 0 trains to City as a result of the Metro Southwest (Sydenham to Bankstown). Why is the government wasting so much money on a new sub-par Metro when upgrading signalling on existing heavy rail is cheaper and delivers more benefits for public transport?
The divide between the North Shore and Western Sydney is growing with Premier Gladys Berejiklian clearly favouring her own backyard while leaving the West as second-class citizens!
Please share this video and support the Save T3 Bankstown Line campaign! www.SaveT3.org
Benefits of Upgrading Signalling instead of Sydney Metro Southwest: Sydenham to Bankstown
- Upgrading signalling delivers 20 trains per hour which is more than the 15 Metro trains per hour during peak
- Signalling upgrades on the existing Bankstown Line will not involve shutting down the line for many months so 100,000 commuters won’t be forced onto buses
- The cost of signalling upgrades is much less than converting Sydenham to Bankstown into Metro
- 9 stations west of Bankstown (including Berala, Regents Park, Chester Hill) keep the direct train to City Circle
- Lidcombe won’t be overcrowded with up to an additional 19,000 commuters forced to interchange every day
T1 North Shore Line (between Chatswood and North Sydney) had this signalling upgrade completed in early 2019 to allow for 20 trains per hour into the City now
