r/transit

Onion predicted this 10 years ago

The devil is in the details...

The first in a series that takes a look at the draft of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure's "BUILD America 250 Act" and what it spells out for the post-IIJA future of passenger rail.

I still can't get over the fact that the PA is lying about when direct weekend service last ran. Their press releases refer to 2001 as the last time we had weekend service on all lines, and articles in the press go further with references to 9/11. But it's all nonsense. Yes, 9/11 knocked out the WTC station and it took a while to reopen, but it did by 2004. Weekend service was running on all lines until 2006, when it was suspended for construction of the permanent new WTC station.

This is easy to prove thanks to the Wayback Machine. Here is the System Map and route times from a snapshot of April 10 2006. Every line, every day.

April 2006

And here is the same map and route times from a month later, May 23 2006. Note the change in weekend service.

May 2006

So why is the PA lying? Is it an honest mistake or a ploy to confuse the public and play on 9/11 sympathies in order to hide the fact that service could have been restored in 2016 but the PA simply chose not to in order to save money? I would really like to know.

Pour les intéressés, c'est un sudoku version RER, et franchement c'est vraiment bien pour tester ses connaissances. Il y a seulement les RER A,B,C,D,E et pas les transiliens.
Le jeu n'est pas si simple malgré tout 😅

Premier Chris Minns should ignore Treasury bean counters and fast-track a $3bn extension to Sydney’s light rail network that would unlock 50,000 homes and help future-proof the city, industry experts say.

Under a proposal floated by Business Sydney, 8.5km would be added to the existing southeast corridor, incorporating 13 new stops and stretching the light rail route from Kingsford to La Perouse along the Anzac Pde median strip.

In a report prepared by the advocacy group, the initiative is pitched as part-solution to the housing crisis by creating substantial development opportunities, while also delivering a rail commute option to the area.

Former transport minister David Elliott and renowned “city shaper” Tim Williams, who was instrumental in delivering several ground-breaking mass-transit projects in the UK, are on board with the proposal.

But both warned bureaucrats will likely want to derail the plan.

“Treasury is the enemy of civilisation everywhere,” Dr Williams said, detailing frustrations he faced in Britain.

“Every one of the projects I put up as an exemplar (and eventually had approved in the UK), they opposed. They were wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong.”

Those projects included a $7bn Jubilee line extension on the London Underground – completed in 1999 – that drove regeneration of the city’s Docklands area.

Dr Williams worked for the Tim Blair and Boris Johnson governments, moved to Australia, was appointed Committee for Sydney CEO, and is now cities lead for international architecture firm Grimshaw.

He said the southeast light rail extension proposal was “not intimidating, and highly doable”.

“Sydney needs to maximise housing and jobs in well-connected, sustainable precincts, without raising congestion on the roads,” he added.

“Sometimes the things we want to do are crazy. You need tremendous eyesight to see them on the far horizon. But this is on our doorstep. It makes perfect sense.

“We are talking about a place transformation strategy … unlocking homes … no or minimal property acquisitions. This is opportunity hidden in plain sight.”

Mr Elliott said the southeast light rail extension, with an expected four-year timeline from approvals to completion, would require no digging or tunnelling and should be “relatively stress-free”.

“Treasury are always a problem,” he said. “But we can do this efficiently and effectively.

“I think Chris Minns has made a big mistake by putting the brakes on public works.

“He’s preoccupied with budget repair … and he wouldn’t have needed to do that if he hadn’t lifted the (NSW public sector wages) cap.”

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou added: “This is about vision and not losing nerve. More than 50,000 homes … that is transformational.

“We need to progress, not pause. Don’t ignore opportunities of this scale.”

A government spokesman said: “The government welcomes all ideas to deliver more housing in Sydney.”

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiCxOXxy8OUAxWOUaQEHbShGAUQxfQBKAB6BAgPEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnsw%2Fthe-3bn-sydney-light-rail-plan-that-could-ease-the-citys-housing-crisis%2Fnews-story%2F5e7b74ac8b01799ce3b4b27a49febaf9&usg=AOvVaw1oNJIYOccTYXw7wFvmL5oi&opi=89978449