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Canberra 2023

Exploring Canberra’s PT

On our trip to Canberra, I got to spend a few hours exploring a little bit of the public transport system. It’s mostly buses, but one light rail (tram) line opened in 2019, and I was keen to see it. There’s also a railway station in Kingston in Canberra’s south, with regional trains to Sydney  ... [More]

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transport

What ever happened to tram cams?

Yet again, the issue of motorists illegally overtaking trams has been highlighted – by Channel 9 on Tuesday, and the Herald Sun on Wednesday. This follows on from reports as recently as January of motorists hitting tram passengers while breaking road rule 163. Educating motorists has a role here. There have been education campaigns in  ... [More]

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transport

With a little help, trams can be as fast as cars

Here’s a quick tram video for you. It’s only a couple of minutes long. There’s no sound. It was recorded last month on a Sunday afternoon on St Kilda Road and Brighton Road. (There are a few edits – check the dashcam timestamp if you can’t spot the cuts.) What we’re seeing here is how  ... [More]

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transport

Comparing tram speeds

Comparing tram speeds along the different sections of route 109.

Categories
transport

Australia’s top tram routes

Unlike here in Victoria, Transport For NSW regularly releases detailed patronage data. I was wondering how Sydney’s new light rail line (L2, CBD to Randwick, opened mid-December) is performing, so I took a look at the figures. Despite a number of technical problems, the line had than 1.2 million trips in January, which seems not  ... [More]

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transport

What future for the FTZ?

The Free Tram Zone (FTZ) just turned five. It was introduced in January 2015. If you’re wondering why there was so much discussion on it last week, it’s because submissions to a Parliamentary Inquiry on the topic just closed. Transport Matters Party MP Rod Barton, who moved for the Inquiry, posted an article addressing some  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Temporary track to minimise disruptions

I think this is quite clever. When trains or trams are partially closed for planned works, generally the less of the route is disrupted, the better. But this is always limited by the placement of turnaround facilities. Witness the current Sandringham line closure: the major works are at South Yarra, but because (despite what was  ... [More]

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Sydney 2018 Toxic Custard newsletter

Sydney on shanks’ pony

Backdated. Posted 23/5/2018 Hotel buffet breakfast at the Sheraton is an eye-popping $44 per person. This is no big surprise – hotel breakfasts are always expensive. But they’d said at check-in that we had a $50 credit, so that took the cost down to $38 for the two of us, which is probably cheaper than  ... [More]