Misplaced Pages

#482517

107-450: Sydney Metro was a proposed rapid transit railway network in Sydney, intended to connect the central business district (CBD) with the inner and outer city suburbs Rouse Hill , Westmead , Malabar and lower North Shore . Initially proposed in 2008 as ‘Metro Link’, the plan was modified and renamed later that year. After half a billion dollars was spent on planning, property acquisitions and

214-446: A derailment at Waterfall , in the city's south. Action for Transport was no longer viable: operationally or politically. Its replacement, announced in 2005, was a Rail Clearways Program to boost the capacity of existing lines and an $ 8 billion Metropolitan Rail Expansion Programme (MREP) to add a new underground line to the CBD and extend the network's reach into the growth areas to

321-462: A "preferred" metro scheme consisting of three lines: Westmead–Rouse Hill (line 1), Malabar–Dee Why (line 2) and Macquarie Park–Hurstville (line 3). The three lines were to be built over nine stages, with the last stage completed in 2036. Although limited in scale, the project was positioned as enabling urban densification, particularly at the Barangaroo and Pyrmont precincts, and forming the "spine" of

428-425: A body of water), which are potential congestion sites but also offer an opportunity for transfers between lines. Ring lines provide good coverage, connect between the radial lines and serve tangential trips that would otherwise need to cross the typically congested core of the network. A rough grid pattern can offer a wide variety of routes while still maintaining reasonable speed and frequency of service. A study of

535-548: A city. As such it is to be distinguished from other measures of population density . Urban density is considered an important factor in understanding how cities function. Research related to urban density occurs across diverse areas, including economics, health, innovation, psychology and geography as well as sustainability . A 2019 meta-analysis of 180 studies on a vast number of economic outcomes of urban density concluded that urban density had net positive effects. However, there may be some regressive distributional effects. It

642-450: A code for its stations. Unlike that of Singapore's MRT, it is mostly numbers. Based on the line number, for example Sinyongsan station, is coded as station 429. Being on Line 4, the first number of the station code is 4. The last two numbers are the station number on that line. Interchange stations can have multiple codes. Like City Hall station in Seoul which is served by Line 1 and Line 2. It has

749-646: A code of 132 and 201 respectively. The Line 2 is a circle line and the first stop is City Hall, therefore, City Hall has the station code of 201. For lines without a number like Bundang line it will have an alphanumeric code. Lines without a number that are operated by KORAIL will start with the letter 'K'. With widespread use of the Internet and cell phones globally, transit operators now use these technologies to present information to their users. In addition to online maps and timetables, some transit operators now offer real-time information which allows passengers to know when

856-448: A contested or challenged one. The link between urban density and aspects of sustainability remains a contested area of planning theory. Jan Gehl , prominent Urban Designer and expert on sustainable urbanism , argues that low-density, dispersed cities are unsustainable as they are automobile dependent . NASA, for example, has established a direct correlation between urban density and air pollution. Others, such as Randal O'Toole of

963-565: A conventional track is often provided in case of flat tires and for switching . There are also some rubber-tired systems that use a central guide rail , such as the Sapporo Municipal Subway and the NeoVal system in Rennes , France. Advocates of this system note that it is much quieter than conventional steel-wheeled trains, and allows for greater inclines given the increased traction of

1070-412: A crucial meeting in late 2007 between Iemma and Labor state president Bernie Riordan during the height of the furore over electricity privatisation: [Iemma] had laid out on his desk a spreadsheet of infrastructure projects … On the bottom half were all the projects the state needed if it was to avoid choking on its own congestion within the next decade. It amounted to more than $ 25 billion. And that

1177-405: A dedicated right-of-way are typically used only outside dense areas, since they create a physical barrier in the urban fabric that hinders the flow of people and vehicles across their path and have a larger physical footprint. This method of construction is the cheapest as long as land values are low. It is often used for new systems in areas that are planned to fill up with buildings after the line

SECTION 10

#1732858978483

1284-399: A dramatic increase in urban density within the city's existing footprint. The inner city lines will all be saturated within the next ten years or so, and there will be a need for a new, alternative route through the CBD. Ironically, it was Carr himself who would have to deal with the consequences of his metropolitan plan, when he was elected Premier of New South Wales in 1995 . At first,

1391-664: A handful in the Southern Hemisphere – the idea was not new. John Bradfield , the Chief Engineer who planned the electrification of the Sydney rail network and construction of the City Underground , was heavily influenced by his observations of the New York City Subway and referred to aspects of his scheme as "rapid transit". A true rapid transit system, separate from the increasingly congested suburban rail system,

1498-418: A large number of factors, including geographical barriers, existing or expected travel patterns, construction costs, politics, and historical constraints. A transit system is expected to serve an area of land with a set of lines , which consist of shapes summarized as "I", "L", "U", "S", and "O" shapes or loops. Geographical barriers may cause chokepoints where transit lines must converge (for example, to cross

1605-629: A large part of the network, for example, in outer suburbs, runs at ground level. In most of Britain , a subway is a pedestrian underpass . The terms Underground and Tube are used for the London Underground . The North East England Tyne and Wear Metro , mostly overground, is known as the Metro . In Scotland , the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway . In Ireland ,

1712-452: A line is obtained by multiplying the car capacity, the train length, and the service frequency . Heavy rapid transit trains might have six to twelve cars, while lighter systems may use four or fewer. Cars have a capacity of 100 to 150 passengers, varying with the seated to standing ratio  – more standing gives higher capacity. The minimum time interval between trains is shorter for rapid transit than for mainline railways owing to

1819-602: A metro. In Spain, such systems are present in Madrid , Barcelona , Bilbao and Valencia . In Portugal, Lisbon has a metro. The Italian cities of Catania , Genoa , Milan , Naples , Rome and Turin also have metro lines. In Germany and Austria they rapid transit is known as U-Bahn , which are often supported by S-Bahn systems. In Germany, U-Bahn systems exist in Berlin , Hamburg , Munich and Nuremberg , while in Austria such

1926-570: A powerful new infrastructure development unit within the Premier's Department. One of the unit's recruits was transport planner and future Sydney Metro director Rodd Staples. The state's transport problem was threefold. First, the existing rail system was expensive to run, not least because the operator, RailCorp , remained tied to old-style industrial practices and excessively high engineering standards. Delivering MREP would lock in these inefficiencies. Second, even if costs could be brought under control,

2033-424: A proposed Bondi Beach extension were to be operated and maintained by the private sector using government-run trains. This represented the beginnings of a major strategic shift, with future rapid transit proposals to incorporate private-sector operation as a core element. The following year, a train collision at Glenbrook in the lower Blue Mountains killed seven people and injured 51. Carr and Scully recognised that

2140-442: A rapid transit setting. Urban density Urban density is a concept used in urban planning , urban studies , and related fields to describe the intensity of people, jobs, housing units, total floor area of buildings, or some other measure of human occupation, activity, and development across a defined unit of area. In general terms, urban density describes the degree of concentration or compactness of people or development in

2247-558: A specialized transit police may be established. These security measures are normally integrated with measures to protect revenue by checking that passengers are not travelling without paying. Some subway systems, such as the Beijing Subway , which is ranked by Worldwide Rapid Transit Data as the "World's Safest Rapid Transit Network" in 2015, incorporates airport-style security checkpoints at every station. Rapid transit systems have been subject to terrorism with many casualties, such as

SECTION 20

#1732858978483

2354-592: A system exists in Vienna . In addition, the small, car-free town of Serfaus in the Austrian state of Tyrol also features a short U-Bahn line. There are no U-Bahn systems in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, but the city of Lausanne has its own, small metro system. In Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, a project for a U-Bahn network was stopped by a referendum in the 1970s and instead its S-Bahn system

2461-451: A tender process, it was cancelled in 2010. The fate of the initial Metro proposal was tied to the fate of a plan to privatise much of the then state-owned electricity sector, a plan which would have released tens of billions of dollars in capital for investment in new infrastructure. When the privatisation plan was dramatically scaled back under pressure from the union movement, the Metro proposal

2568-700: A wider network in future. As part of the proposal, a train stabling and maintenance facility for the future network would be built on the disused Rozelle railway yards. The cost of the project was initially estimated at $ 2 billion, but this later grew to $ 7 billion. Stage 1, which would build the first section of "Line 1" was to feature stations at: Rapid transit Modern services on rapid transit systems are provided on designated lines between stations typically using electric multiple units on railway tracks . Some systems use guided rubber tires , magnetic levitation ( maglev ), or monorail . The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside

2675-770: Is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area . Rapid transit systems such as the Washington Metrorail , Los Angeles Metro Rail , the Miami Metrorail , and the Montreal Metro are generally called the Metro . In Philadelphia , the term "El" is used for the Market–Frankford Line which runs mostly on an elevated track, while the term "subway" applies to the Broad Street Line which is almost entirely underground. Chicago 's commuter rail system that serves

2782-608: Is a single corporate image for the entire transit authority, but the rapid transit uses its own logo that fits into the profile. A transit map is a topological map or schematic diagram used to show the routes and stations in a public transport system. The main components are color-coded lines to indicate each line or service, with named icons to indicate stations. Maps may show only rapid transit or also include other modes of public transport. Transit maps can be found in transit vehicles, on platforms , elsewhere in stations, and in printed timetables . Maps help users understand

2889-744: Is a very specific measurement of the population of an urbanized area, excluding non-urban land-uses. Non-urban uses include regional open space, agriculture and water-bodies. There are a variety of other ways of measuring the density of urban areas: A 2019 meta-analysis of 180 studies on a vast number of economic outcomes of urban density concluded that urban density had net positive effects. However, there may be some regressive distributional effects. A 2020 study concluded that urban density "boosts productivity and innovation, improves access to goods and services, reduces typical travel distances, encourages energy efficient construction and transport, and allows broader sharing of scarce urban amenities. However, density

2996-506: Is built. Most rapid transit trains are electric multiple units with lengths from three to over ten cars. Crew sizes have decreased throughout history, with some modern systems now running completely unstaffed trains. Other trains continue to have drivers, even if their only role in normal operation is to open and close the doors of the trains at stations. Power is commonly delivered by a third rail or by overhead wires . The whole London Underground network uses fourth rail and others use

3103-602: Is commonly asserted that higher-density cities are more sustainable than low-density cities. This is because they reduce urban sprawl, minimize land use, and make services and infrastructure more efficient and accessible to residents. Much urban planning theory - particularly in North America, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand - has been developed premised on raising urban densities, such as New Urbanism , transit-oriented development , and smart growth . This assertion, however, remains

3210-416: Is necessary, rolling stock with a smaller loading gauge from one sub network may be transported along other lines that use larger trains. On some networks such operations are part of normal services. Most rapid transit systems use conventional standard gauge railway track . Since tracks in subway tunnels are not exposed to rain , snow , or other forms of precipitation , they are often fixed directly to

3317-545: Is political death. Giving up on the CBD metro is akin to Stalin abandoning Stalingrad to the Wehrmacht – completely, utterly, absolutely unthinkable. Everything must be sacrificed to it ... Iemma's replacement was the Emergency Services and Water minister, Nathan Rees , who had only been in parliament for less than two years. Like Iemma, Rees recognised that failure to build transport infrastructure would not be forgiven come

Sydney Metro (2008 proposal) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3424-548: Is referred to simply as "the subway", despite 40% of the system running above ground. The term "L" or "El" is not used for elevated lines in general as the lines in the system are already designated with letters and numbers. The "L" train or L (New York City Subway service) refers specifically to the 14th Street–Canarsie Local line, and not other elevated trains. Similarly, the Toronto Subway is referred to as "the subway", with some of its system also running above ground. These are

3531-412: Is serviced by at least one specific route with trains stopping at all or some of the line's stations. Most systems operate several routes, and distinguish them by colors, names, numbering, or a combination thereof. Some lines may share track with each other for a portion of their route or operate solely on their own right-of-way. Often a line running through the city center forks into two or more branches in

3638-733: Is the most commonly used term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. Rapid transit systems may be named after the medium by which passengers travel in busy central business districts ; the use of tunnels inspires names such as subway , underground , Untergrundbahn ( U-Bahn ) in German, or the Tunnelbana (T-bana) in Swedish. The use of viaducts inspires names such as elevated ( L or el ), skytrain , overhead , overground or Hochbahn in German. One of these terms may apply to an entire system, even if

3745-539: The 2007 election with the loss of only four seats. His strategy was to draw a line under the failures of the Carr era and ask the electorate for another chance. The Opposition ran a poor campaign, and the electorate was minded to trust the affable, hard-working new premier. Iemma was returned but with far less political capital than the size of Labor's majority would suggest. Iemma and his close ally, former transport services minister Costa, though loyal to Carr, were reformists in

3852-459: The 2011 state election . Although Labor's Sydney Metro proposals were not revived, an alternative rapid transit system was proposed by the O'Farrell government elected in 2011 . Construction of this scheme, also known as Sydney Metro , began in 2013 and the first line opened in 2019. Although Sydney Metro would have been the first rapid transit metro to be built in Australia – and one of only

3959-453: The Anzac Bridge , two roads it would pass underneath.) The Sydney Morning Herald , which had championed Christie's ideas in the past, welcomed the discussion but noted acidly, "Sound or not, with this Government there is no reason to be confident that anything at all will come of either plan. Sydney has transport schemes which move rapidly from the future to the past without ever arriving in

4066-605: The Dublin Area Rapid Transit is despite the name considered a commuter rail due to usage of mainline railways. In France, large cities, such as Paris , Marseille and Lyon , feature a Métro . Also the smaller cities of Lille Rennes have a light metro. Furthermore, Brussels in Belgium, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands have metro systems in place. Several Southern European contries also have

4173-724: The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad K-series cars from 1958, the New York City Subway R38 and R42 cars from the late-1960s, and the Nagoya Municipal Subway 3000 series , Osaka Municipal Subway 10 series and MTR M-Train EMUs from the 1970s, were generally only made possible largely due to the relatively generous loading gauges of these systems and also adequate open-air sections to dissipate hot air from these air conditioning units. Especially in some rapid transit systems such as

4280-429: The London Underground . In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway , initially a cable-hauled line using stationary steam engines . As of 2021 , China has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world  – 40 in number, running on over 4,500 km (2,800 mi) of track – and was responsible for most of the world's rapid-transit expansion in

4387-722: The Metropolitan Railway opened publicly in London in 1863. High capacity monorails with larger and longer trains can be classified as rapid transit systems. Such monorail systems recently started operating in Chongqing and São Paulo . Light metro is a subclass of rapid transit that has the speed and grade separation of a "full metro" but is designed for smaller passenger numbers. It often has smaller loading gauges, lighter train cars and smaller consists of typically two to four cars. Light metros are typically used as feeder lines into

Sydney Metro (2008 proposal) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-578: The Montreal Metro (opened 1966) and Sapporo Municipal Subway (opened 1971), their entirely enclosed nature due to their use of rubber-tyred technology to cope with heavy snowfall experienced by both cities in winter precludes any air-conditioning retrofits of rolling stock due to the risk of heating the tunnels to temperatures that would be too hot for passengers and for train operations. In many cities, metro networks consist of lines operating different sizes and types of vehicles. Although these sub-networks may not often be connected by track, in cases when it

4601-577: The Prague Metro . The London Underground and Paris Métro are densely built systems with a matrix of crisscrossing lines throughout the cities. The Chicago 'L' has most of its lines converging on The Loop , the main business, financial, and cultural area. Some systems have a circular line around the city center connecting to radially arranged outward lines, such as the Moscow Metro 's Koltsevaya Line and Beijing Subway 's Line 10 . The capacity of

4708-656: The Singapore MRT , Changi Airport MRT station has the alphanumeric code CG2, indicating its position as the 2nd station on the Changi Airport branch of the East West Line. Interchange stations have at least two codes, for example, Raffles Place MRT station has two codes, NS26 and EW14, the 26th station on the North South Line and the 14th station on the East West Line. The Seoul Metro is another example that utilizes

4815-450: The deep tube lines . Historically, rapid transit trains used ceiling fans and openable windows to provide fresh air and piston-effect wind cooling to riders. From the 1950s to the 1990s (and in most of Europe until the 2000s), many rapid transit trains from that era were also fitted with forced-air ventilation systems in carriage ceiling units for passenger comfort. Early rapid transit rolling stock fitted with air conditioning , such as

4922-526: The libertarian Cato Institute , point to how raising densities results in more expensive real estate, greater road congestion, and more localized air pollution. At a broader level, there is evidence to indicate a strong negative correlation between the total energy consumption of a city and its overall urban density, i.e. the lower the density, the more energy consumed. The location and urban setting where densification processes occur therefore need to be considered for sustainable densification. Urban density

5029-409: The linear motor for propulsion. Some urban rail lines are built to a loading gauge as large as that of main-line railways ; others are built to a smaller one and have tunnels that restrict the size and sometimes the shape of the train compartments. One example is most of the London Underground , which has acquired the informal term "tube train" due to the cylindrical shape of the trains used on

5136-616: The "West Metro" (CBD to Parramatta and Westmead) and the "South East Metro" (CBD to Malabar – the other half of the Anzac Line concept). North West Metro was conceived as a 37-kilometre standard-gauge line running from the new growth area of Rouse Hill to the Main North line at Epping via the previously announced MREP North West Rail Link alignment; and on to the CBD via the previously floated 'Anzac' route through Gladesville and Rozelle. Iemma aimed to have construction underway by 2009 – before

5243-463: The "missing link" motorway connection between the M4 Western Motorway and the CBD. But its centerpiece was "Metro Link", a future rapid transit system of underground, privately operated, single-deck, automated trains. The first link in this network would be a $ 12 billion North West Metro . Two further possible routes were identified as next Metro priorities after North West Metro, which are

5350-432: The 15 world largest subway systems suggested a universal shape composed of a dense core with branches radiating from it. Rapid transit operators have often built up strong brands , often focused on easy recognition – to allow quick identification even in the vast array of signage found in large cities – combined with the desire to communicate speed, safety, and authority. In many cities, there

5457-480: The 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and the 2005 " 7/7 " terrorist bombings on the London Underground. Some rapid transport trains have extra features such as wall sockets, cellular reception, typically using a leaky feeder in tunnels and DAS antennas in stations, as well as Wi-Fi connectivity. The first metro system in the world to enable full mobile phone reception in underground stations and tunnels

SECTION 50

#1732858978483

5564-536: The 2010s. The world's longest single-operator rapid transit system by route length is the Shanghai Metro . The world's largest single rapid transit service provider by number of stations (472 stations in total) is the New York City Subway . The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Shanghai Metro, Tokyo subway system , Seoul Metro and the Moscow Metro . The term Metro

5671-421: The 2011 election – with the line opening in stages between 2015 and 2017. There were to be stations at: While Rudd made statements in support of the privatisation plan, he was lukewarm about North West Metro as a way to spend the proceeds. He and his treasurer, Wayne Swan , wanted an iconic Western Sydney project to attach their names to, just as Whitlam had done with Westmead Hospital . North West Metro, serving

5778-614: The 2011 election. But unlike Iemma, he had no plan to fund anything like what was required. In place of the North West Metro, he announced a two-stage project, dubbed Sydney Metro. Stage 1, known as CBD Metro, was a radically truncated version of the North West project: a nine-kilometre shuttle between Central and Rozelle. Stage 2, the West Metro, to be built at a later date, would extend from Central west to Parramatta and Westmead. West Metro

5885-528: The 21st century, most new expansions and systems are located in Asia, with China becoming the world's leader in metro expansion, operating some of the largest and busiest systems while possessing almost 60 cities that are operating, constructing or planning a rapid transit system . Rapid transit is used for local transport in cities , agglomerations , and metropolitan areas to transport large numbers of people often short distances at high frequency . The extent of

5992-470: The CBD. Yet there was little electoral advantage to be gained from digging new rail tunnels under safe seats in the lower North Shore and CBD. The unit's solution – supported by Iemma and Costa – was to sidestep the high costs and industrial risks of the existing RailCorp network and instead begin building a new rapid transit rail system in parallel. The new system would incorporate smaller, lighter rolling stock, reducing construction costs, and be operated by

6099-621: The Opposition and the Labor MPs that threatened to ' cross the floor ', had the numbers to defeat the Government in the upper house. North West Metro could not be delivered without privatisation; Iemma's leadership was doomed. Within the space of a few days, Costa and Iemma all quit politics. Yet for the Rees Government, heir to a decade's dithering over transport by its predecessors, more dithering

6206-451: The Premier knew would be a bruising political fight. Rudd duly won the November 2007 election and Iemma announced electricity privatisation and the North West Metro a few months later. Along with his plan to sell the government's electricity generation and retailing companies, Iemma announced a massive infrastructure scheme called "Sydney Link". Think included MREP's South West Rail Link , and

6313-474: The beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant. Experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. In 1890, the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Prior to opening, the line was to be called the "City and South London Subway", thus introducing

6420-461: The city's most crowded rail line, the Main West , with a fast, single-deck operation between the CBD and Parramatta . But though SROP fundamentally shaped Sydney's growth for the next 20 years, the planned line was never built: improvements to the existing railway always took priority. Forty-four years later, a government report was to observe that in delaying the advent of rapid transit, “we have pushed

6527-497: The complex two-door double deck network further than any other operator.” SROP's eventual replacement, a plan called Sydney Into Its Third Century , was released by Labor planning minister Bob Carr in 1988. Although not a transport policy as such, the document set a radical change of direction that unwittingly built the strategic case for rapid transit. Firstly, it broke with SROP's cardinal rule that new development should occur along existing railway corridors. Secondly, it mandated

SECTION 60

#1732858978483

6634-404: The delay provided more time for Iemma's position to deteriorate with an already impatient media and public. Iemma found himself continually buffeted by scandals not of his own making, followed by demands for minister after minister to be dumped. Iemma had agreed to the delay under pressure from Rudd on the basis of the future Prime Minister's assurance that he would provide political cover for what

6741-414: The display of the transit network. Often this has the effect of compressing the distance between stations in the outer area of the system, and expanding distances between those close to the center. Some systems assign unique alphanumeric codes to each of their stations to help commuters identify them, which briefly encodes information about the line it is on, and its position on the line. For example, on

6848-584: The entire metropolitan area is called Metra (short for Met ropolitan Ra il), while its rapid transit system that serves the city is called the "L" . Boston's subway system is known locally as "The T". In Atlanta , the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority goes by the acronym "MARTA." In the San Francisco Bay Area , residents refer to Bay Area Rapid Transit by its acronym "BART". The New York City Subway

6955-566: The existing CityRail network a more urgent priority, particularly since trains from the growing Macquarie Park area on the soon-to-be-completed Epping–Chatswood line, would have to compete for space on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with existing North Shore Line services. The rail unions were none too keen on a private metro operator competing with RailCorp , but it was the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), ideologically opposed to

7062-505: The floor rather than resting on ballast , such as normal railway tracks. An alternate technology, using rubber tires on narrow concrete or steel roll ways , was pioneered on certain lines of the Paris Métro and Mexico City Metro , and the first completely new system to use it was in Montreal , Canada. On most of these networks, additional horizontal wheels are required for guidance, and

7169-547: The idea by extending the corridor westward, via the underused Carlingford branch line , to Western Sydney ’s chief employment centre, Parramatta. The need for this western extension was questionable: indeed, Carr and Scully’s successor, Michael Costa , were to remove it from the plan five years later, citing low expected patronage. But the political imperative was clear: Carr owed his 1995 victory to just three electoral districts , all of them in Western Sydney. The next priority

7276-431: The inner city lines will all be saturated within the next ten years or so, and there will be a need for a new, alternative route through the CBD, from Eveleigh to St Leonards, in the medium term, most likely by between 2011 and 2015 ... This project is regarded as being of the highest priority. Without it, the metropolitan rail system will face strangulation and progressive operational collapse. Christie's report also flagged

7383-439: The interconnections between different parts of the system; for example, they show the interchange stations where passengers can transfer between lines. Unlike conventional maps, transit maps are usually not geographically accurate, but emphasize the topological connections among the different stations. The graphic presentation may use straight lines and fixed angles, and often a fixed minimum distance between stations, to simplify

7490-472: The issue, but their polling showed that the public was against a sale and – more importantly – tiring of Iemma and his team. They too came down against Iemma's plan. Iemma and Costa were not successful in their privatisation proposal. In August 2008, the Liberal Opposition, led by moderate Barry O'Farrell , saw an opportunity to wound Iemma by denying him the opportunity to build the metro. The Greens ,

7597-587: The lines of the Lyon Metro includes a section of rack (cog) railway , while the Carmelit , in Haifa, is an underground funicular . For elevated lines, another alternative is the monorail , which can be built either as straddle-beam monorails or as a suspended monorail . While monorails have never gained wide acceptance outside Japan, there are some such as Chongqing Rail Transit 's monorail lines which are widely used in

7704-545: The main rapid transit system. For instance, the Wenhu Line of the Taipei Metro serves many relatively sparse neighbourhoods and feeds into and complements the high capacity metro lines. Some systems have been built from scratch, others are reclaimed from former commuter rail or suburban tramway systems that have been upgraded, and often supplemented with an underground or elevated downtown section. Ground-level alignments with

7811-518: The needs of the forthcoming Sydney 2000 Olympics – new rail lines to the airport and the new stadium planned by his Liberal predecessors – took priority. Carr's first new rail proposal was the Parramatta to Epping Rail Link (PERL), announced in 1998. Something like it – a St Leonards to Eastwood line – had figured in Bradfield's 1920 plan. Carr and his transport minister, Carl Scully , built on

7918-418: The network map "readable" by illiterate people, this system has since become an "icon" of the system. Compared to other modes of transport, rapid transit has a good safety record, with few accidents. Rail transport is subject to strict safety regulations , with requirements for procedure and maintenance to minimize risk. Head-on collisions are rare due to use of double track, and low operating speeds reduce

8025-469: The new Department of Transport & Infrastructure, and was replaced in an acting capacity by Rodd Staples. (Staples would go on to head up the North West Rail Link project under Liberal transport minister Gladys Berejiklian . Of Staples' CBD Metro experience, Berejiklian said "We will not blame very, very talented people for the mistakes of the previous Labor government.") The Authority developed

8132-453: The new federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd persuading Iemma to defer his privatisation announcement until after the 2007 federal election . Rudd felt he could ill afford the distraction of a debate over asset sales in the country's most populous state. With the funding source a secret, the rapid transit plan had to be kept under wraps as well. Not wanting to waste time, Iemma used 2007 to further test

8239-402: The next vehicle will arrive, and expected travel times. The standardized GTFS data format for transit information allows many third-party software developers to produce web and smartphone app programs which give passengers customized updates regarding specific transit lines and stations of interest. Mexico City Metro uses a unique pictogram for each station. Originally intended to help make

8346-498: The north-west and south-west. There was, however, no mention of rapid transit. Four months later, Carr quit politics, having become the state's longest continuously serving premier. His replacement, Health Minister Morris Iemma , confirmed the Government would retain its commitment to MREP, including it in the State Plan and Urban Transport Statement the following year. This is why I am the Premier. Journalist Simon Benson describes

8453-898: The occurrence and severity of rear-end collisions and derailments . Fire is more of a danger underground, such as the King's Cross fire in London in November 1987, which killed 31 people. Systems are generally built to allow evacuation of trains at many places throughout the system. High platforms , usually over 1 meter / 3 feet, are a safety risk, as people falling onto the tracks have trouble climbing back. Platform screen doors are used on some systems to eliminate this danger. Rapid transit facilities are public spaces and may suffer from security problems: petty crimes , such as pickpocketing and baggage theft, and more serious violent crimes , as well as sexual assaults on tightly packed trains and platforms. Security measures include video surveillance , security guards , and conductors . In some countries

8560-588: The only two North American systems that are primarily called "subways". In most of Southeast Asia and in Taiwan , rapid transit systems are primarily known by the acronym MRT . The meaning varies from one country to another. In Indonesia , the acronym stands for Moda Raya Terpadu or Integrated Mass [Transit] Mode in English. In the Philippines , it stands for Metro Rail Transit . Two underground lines use

8667-530: The outset. Budapest , Chicago , Glasgow , Boston and New York City all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services. Hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro , which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems. In response to cost, engineering considerations and topological challenges some cities have opted to construct tram systems, particularly those in Australia, where density in cities

8774-417: The potential for a future rapid transit ("metro") network, marking the mode's re-emergence in official thinking after a long absence. However, he sought to delay implementation of a standalone metro system until his report's 2021–51 "long term", at which time he saw the potential for: For a year, Carr and his ministers attempted to suppress the report, but it leaked in 2002. In 2003, seven people were killed in

8881-443: The present." The Anzac line would have been in tunnel, stopping at: Rudd's delay undermined the rapid transit plan in two ways. First, Iemma knew that he could not face the electorate again without first delivering a big-ticket infrastructure project. But the long lead times for required for planning, approvals and construction of a new railway meant that even a full four-year term would not be enough to make visible progress. Second,

8988-420: The private sector, reducing operating costs. But despite the savings available via the rapid transit option, the costs were still beyond the state's means. To prepare the ground for the day when the funding became available, the idea was trailed in the 2006 Urban Transport Statement , though no commitments were made. Despite expectations to the contrary, including within the party machine, Iemma comfortably won

9095-603: The privatisation of the electricity businesses, that led opposition to the plan. The ETU had the good fortune that its then secretary, Bernie Riordan, was also the president of the state branch of the Australian Labor Party. The secretary of the Unions NSW , John Robertson , was also a member of the ETU and opposed the privatisation. The party secretary, Karl Bitar , and his deputy, Luke Foley , were less ideologically committed on

9202-415: The rail system needed a serious strategic review, and commissioned a former State Rail Authority boss, Ron Christie , to conduct one. Christie's conclusions were politically unwelcome. Not only was the scale of investment required vast, but the prerequisite for network growth was an expensive new tunnel under the harbour and CBD, far from Western Sydney. Yet the rail czar's warnings could not be ignored:

9309-908: The rapid transit system varies greatly between cities, with several transport strategies. Some systems may extend only to the limits of the inner city, or to its inner ring of suburbs with trains making frequent station stops. The outer suburbs may then be reached by a separate commuter rail network where more widely spaced stations allow higher speeds. In some cases the differences between urban rapid transit and suburban systems are not clear. Rapid transit systems may be supplemented by other systems such as trolleybuses , regular buses , trams , or commuter rail. This combination of transit modes serves to offset certain limitations of rapid transit such as limited stops and long walking distances between outside access points. Bus or tram feeder systems transport people to rapid transit stops. Each rapid transit system consists of one or more lines , or circuits. Each line

9416-525: The rubber tires. However, they have higher maintenance costs and are less energy efficient. They also lose traction when weather conditions are wet or icy, preventing above-ground use of the Montréal Metro and limiting it on the Sapporo Municipal Subway, but not rubber-tired systems in other cities. Some cities with steep hills incorporate mountain railway technologies in their metros. One of

9523-476: The safe Liberal seats of Greenway and Mitchell , was an unappealing electoral prospect. Instead they offered $ 75 million, to be shared among the mainland states, to progress planning for a range of road and public transport projects. West Metro was on the list; North West Metro was not. The Property Council and the Planning Institute were not enthused by North West Metro either. They considered fixing

9630-507: The sheer scale of investment required to extend an all-purpose heavy rail system was beyond the state's means. Put simply, MREP was unaffordable in its current form. Third, while the need for additional extensions into the new bus and car-dependent suburbs of the north-west and south-west was clear – and would be aided by the partial preservation of corridors in the past – congestion at the existing Town Hall and Wynyard stations meant that to work, any new rail project had to increase capacity in

9737-636: The suburbs, allowing a higher service frequency in the center. This arrangement is used by many systems, such as the Copenhagen Metro , the Milan Metro , the Oslo Metro , the Istanbul Metro and the New York City Subway . Alternatively, there may be a single central terminal (often shared with the central railway station), or multiple interchange stations between lines in the city center, for instance in

9844-706: The term subway . In Thailand , it stands for Metropolitan Rapid Transit , previously using the Mass Rapid Transit name. Outside of Southeast Asia, Kaohsiung and Taoyuan, Taiwan , have their own MRT systems which stands for Mass Rapid Transit , as with Singapore and Malaysia . In general rapid transit is a synonym for "metro" type transit, though sometimes rapid transit is defined to include "metro", commuter trains and grade separated light rail . Also high-capacity bus-based transit systems can have features similar to "metro" systems. The opening of London's steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked

9951-519: The term Subway into railway terminology. Both railways, alongside others, were eventually merged into London Underground . The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset. The technology quickly spread to other cities in Europe , the United States, Argentina, and Canada, with some railways being converted from steam and others being designed to be electric from

10058-453: The tradition of Whitlam and Keating . Immediately following the election, they secretly plotted their strategy for the next four years, under the heading of "bullets to bite". Both knew that if they were to build the new rapid transit system and address the growing crisis in electricity supply, they would need to bring the private sector into the state's electricity industry first. The federal party's immediate political needs intervened, with

10165-511: The trains, requiring custom-made trains in order to minimize gaps between train and platform. They are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities . Some rapid transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. The world's first rapid transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened in 1863 using steam locomotives , and now forms part of

10272-591: The use of communications-based train control : the minimum headway can reach 90 seconds, but many systems typically use 120 seconds to allow for recovery from delays. Typical capacity lines allow 1,200 people per train, giving 36,000 passengers per hour per direction . However, much higher capacities are attained in East Asia with ranges of 75,000 to 85,000 people per hour achieved by MTR Corporation 's urban lines in Hong Kong. Rapid transit topologies are determined by

10379-530: The waters for his rapid transit concept. In September, he announced that a new "world class" and "Euro-style" metro railway – the "Anzac Line" – was under "active consideration". The Anzac Line was to have run from Malabar in the Eastern Suburbs to Ryde , in the northern suburbs via new or expanded CBD stations. (The route, called River Metro in the Christie report, would have taken its name from Anzac Parade and

10486-540: Was Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, which launched its first underground mobile phone network using AMPS in 1989. Many metro systems, such as the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and the Berlin U-Bahn, provide mobile data connections in their tunnels for various network operators. The technology used for public, mass rapid transit has undergone significant changes in the years since

10593-845: Was developed further. Other Central European countries also have metro lines, for example in the cities of Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czech Republic) and Warsaw (Poland). In Eastern Europe , metro systems are in operation in Minsk (Belarus), Kyiv (Ukraine) and Moscow (Russia). In Southeastern European countries, there are metro systems in Athens and Thessaloniki (Greece), Belgrade (Serbia), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Istanbul (Turkey). In Northern Europe , rapid transit systems exist in Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland). Various terms are used for rapid transit systems around North America . The term metro

10700-681: Was low and suburbs tended to spread out . Since the 1970s, the viability of underground train systems in Australian cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne , has been reconsidered and proposed as a solution to over-capacity. Melbourne had tunnels and stations developed in the 1970s and opened in 1980. The first line of the Sydney Metro was opened in 2019. Since the 1960s, many new systems have been introduced in Europe , Asia and Latin America . In

10807-413: Was not built from scratch as a passenger-only network, commuter trains often shared track with long-distance passenger and freight services, constraining reliability. The 1964 introduction of the first double-deck carriages boosted capacity to an extent, but also increased dwell times, swallowing up much of the intended capacity benefit. SROP's solution was a rapid transit system that would have augmented

10914-403: Was perhaps the most stark example of Carr's inaction. The issue, Iemma assured voters, was "my highest priority ... I hear and understand the frustrations of commuters and am determined to drive improvements." The smooth-running Olympic transport arrangements had been a triumph for Carr, and so former Olympic Co-ordination Authority head Professor David Richmond was the natural choice to head up

11021-667: Was previously mentioned in Iemma's Metro Link proposal as a possible future Metro route. Following amendments to the Transport Administration Act 1988 , a new Sydney Metro Authority commenced operations on 27 January 2009 under the leadership of chairman Simon Lane, a former head of the State Rail Authority, and chief executive Les Wielinga , a former head of the Roads & Traffic Authority . In June, Wielinga left to head up

11128-422: Was proposed in 1968 by the new State Planning Authority's Sydney Region Outline Plan (SROP). At the time, a number of cities were planning or building modern, standalone metros, including Toronto (opened 1954), Lisbon (1959), Montreal (1966), São Paulo (1974), Seoul (1974), Santiago (1975), Washington DC , (1976) and Hong Kong (1979). The Authority noted that because Sydney's suburban train system

11235-537: Was reduced to a nine-kilometre shuttle between the CBD and the inner-western suburb of Rozelle , raising questions about the project's value for money. The cycle of announcement, re-announcement and cancellation of rail projects was a familiar pattern under the Labor government that ruled New South Wales between 1995 and 2011. The short life of the Sydney Metro proposal was a significant contributing factor to Labor's rout at

11342-455: Was the North West, where Carr as planning minister had green-lit future development far from mass transit links. The Government's solution was heavy rail from Epping to Castle Hill, and bus rapid transit from Castle Hill to the new suburbs. Although this 1998 plan, called Action for Transport , contained a rhetorical commitment to public ownership of train services, both the Airport Link and

11449-445: Was what they hadn't even announced. "This is why I am the Premier," he told Riordan, emphasising his belief that it was critical for the privatisation to succeed. "… These [projects] need to be done. I need to do these." From the beginning of his turbulent three-year stint as premier, Iemma recognised that the cautious, managerialist character of the Carr government was not sustainable – in policy or political terms. Public transport

#482517