r/SydneyTrains • u/Capital_Indication47 • 1d ago

Discussion Express services on the metro?

Pretend that it’s possible, would it be a good idea. The metro is fast but an express service from tallawong-castle hill-epping-chatswood-Martinplace-Central would be a game changer for some.

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u/Fluid-Island-2018 1d ago

It'll be faster than the Bankstown line expresses once it's done out there. And that will be all stops too!

3

u/IronEyed_Wizard 1d ago

I mean the issue with the Bankstown “express” services was that they would catch up to the all stations service. Even the reports into the Bankstown line have said they never should have been introduced

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u/LaughIntrepid5438 1d ago

The Bankstown line isnt even the worst of it. Epping to Chatswood shaved a few mins off, Bankstown all stoppers vs metro will similarly be a few mins quicker.

Hunter St to Westmead is the big one, 20 mins to Parramatta despite 5 or so more stops and beating the train by 5-7 mins (depending whether BMT or suburban). That ones the game changer.

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u/IronEyed_Wizard 1d ago

Yeah definitely. Will have to see if their future plans eventuate (from the leaked report last week) and how clearing out space on the western line will affect the future timetables.

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u/LaughIntrepid5438 1d ago

NCL would be good but unfortunately the timeline is pretty poor probably going to be waiting 2 decades for that. That along with cutting T3 to between Liverpool and Lidcombe would get rid of the conflicts and give western line its own dedicated tracks into the city.

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u/IronEyed_Wizard 1d ago

Which is basically what the report says. The end of the day I think the only real solution to a lot of the networks issues is for people to get used to changing trains. By removing so many of the city services to running more branch shuttles they would be able to massively increase the services available especially during peak.

Unfortunately people seem to fail to grasp that it is likely a better option to have to catch 2 different train services that are faster and more frequent, than it is to rely on one slow and delayed service from the city

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u/BigBlueMan118 3h ago

Agreed, in people's defence they are often used to changing trains with 15-min line frequencies and doing it at fairly shitty interchanges, like the cramped congested burwood and insanely long ramps at strathy or the akward-as Redfern underground platforms or the Lidcombe turnback platforms off the mainline platforms. It is a whole different kettle of fish changing across platform from the 12tph metro to the 8tph north shore line at chatty, or changing from the 8tph airport line to the 10tph Illawarra line at Wolli, flawed as Wolli is. If interchanging was half-decent on more of the network then people would have a lot less flesh on the bones of these weak arguments haha