Draft South District Plan

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1 Powered by TCPDF ( Draft South District Plan Submission_id: Date of Lodgment: 15 Dec 2017 Origin of Submission: Online Organisation name: EcoTrasit Sydney Organisation type: Community Group First name: N/A Last name: N/A Suburb: 2041 Submission content: EcoTransit Sydney has developed a full regional rail upgrade plan for Wollongong to Sydney, to obviate the need for an F6 tollway. They involve the following map, if you need for more detail please contact EcoTransit as an organisation: Number of attachments: 2

2 ILLAWARRA VISION PUBLIC TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENTS MAKING THE SOUTH COAST ATTRACTIVE FOR LIVING AND EMPLOYMENT The Illawarra district on the south coast of New South Wales has very poor public transport. Rail travel from Nowra (Bomaderry) necessitates a noisy, uncomfortable, diesel rail car journey to Kiama where time is wasted changing to an electric train to continue to Wollongong and Sydney. The journey north from Kiama to Unanderra is single track with several crossing loops and some trains actually wait at a station for up to ten minutes for a southbound train (sometimes a freight) to pass. If travelling through to Sydney the journey time is at least two hours and forty seven minutes to Central and three hours to Bondi Junction. If joining the train at Wollongong the journey time to Central is at least one hour and thirty one minutes. As a result of these slow journey times many people drive creating unnecessary road congestion. The current NSW Government seems to think that spending eighteen billion dollars on yet another tollway, destroying either many hectares of the Royal National Park, or over five hundred homes and businesses is the solution. For less than one third of that a serious upgrade of the Illawarra (South Coast) rail line to reduce journey times which could not be equalled by car will make this region more liveable, encourage business to develop and thus provide local employment. The upgrades can be phased in over a period of time and the benefits will increase as each stage is completed. The following is the suggested program of implementation of the improvements: Phase 1-1. Obtain and introduce double deck tilt electric trains capable of a maximum speed of 200km/hr. 2. Duplicate the line from Unanderra to Bomaderry and electrify from Kiama to Bomaderry, up- grading the track for 200km/hr operation where possible. 3. Add a third track, bi- directionally signalled, between Hurstville and Waterfall, up- grading the track for 200km/hr operation where possible. 4. Extend the line from Bomaderry across the Shoalhaven River into Nowra. Immediately (after) the double deck tilt trains are introduced journey time reductions can be (introduced) commenced. When points 2 and 3 are completed it will be possible to introduce a faster, convenient timetable similar to the 1

3 attached concept example. You will note that the time taken from Bomaderry to Central would reduce to two hours and four minutes; Bomaderry to Bondi Junction to two hours and fifteen minutes. Travel from Wollongong to Central would reduce to one hour and nine minutes; Wollongong to Bondi Junction to one hour and twenty two minutes. This is without the next phase which would include the Thirroul to Waterfall tunnel. Phase 2-1. Build the Thirroul to Waterfall tunnel that will be approximately 11km in length. This will eliminate one of the sections of track with the tightest curves and the single track Coal Cliff tunnel. 2. Add low level platforms at Thirroul, Waterfall and all intermediate stations on the existing line to allow Tram- Trains to provide a local service to connect with north and south bound trains at both ends. See photos of tram- trains already operating in Germany, where they run on the same main lines used by high- speed express trains. Additional stops could be added by building new low- level platforms, where required, between the existing stations. 3. Complete the Maldon- Dombarton line to take most freight trains off the Illawarra line. This would include a triangle junction at Unanderra to allow freight trains to head south in addition to Port Kembla Completion of Phase 2 would further reduce journey times and bring the Wollongong to Central journey time down to less than two hours. Phase 3-1. Construction of a light rail line to be used by tram- trains from Shellharbour Junction Station to Port Kembla where it would the use the existing rail line into Wollongong. As the patronage on the existing Port Kembla line is relatively low except during shift changes at the steel works this would provide a greatly improved and more frequent service; it would also massively improve public transport in the new light rail corridor compared with the existing buses. 2. The light rail line operated by the tram- trains would continue from Wollongong station along the mall to the beach and then by following roads and replacing some of the existing bus services eventually reach Thirroul. After the junction with the new tunnel line the tram trains would then continue as described in phase 2, item 2, to Waterfall. There is also scope to extend rail services south of Nowra using Tram- Trains. The cost of an extension to Huskisson and Vincentia could be kept low by constructing it to light rail standards using a single track with passing loops. This extension would provide an invaluable service for the many retirees living in and around these two towns, giving them a rail service to Nowra, Shellharbour, Wollongong and Sydney. 2

4 Diverting the Metro Another cost effective alternative to the F6 would be the diversion of the Metro from Sydenham, along the F6 corridor to Miranda. This would not only save the Sydenham to Bankstown corridor from over development and urban destruction but also provide a new rail line linking the Sutherland Shire with the CBD. Appendix: PHOTOS OF TRAM-TRAINS KARLSRUHE 3

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6 3. CONCEPT TIMETABLE AFTER PHASE 1 STATION BONDI JUNCTION EDGECLIFF KINGS CROSS MARTIN PLACE TOWN HALL CENTRAL REDFERN SYDENHAM WOLLI CREEK HURSTVILLE SUTHERLAND LOFTUS ENGADINE HEATHCOTE WATERFALL HELENSBURGH OTFORD STANWELL PARK COALCLIFF SCARBOROUGH WOMBARRA COLEDALE AUSTINMER THIRROUL BULLI WOONOONA BELLAMBI CORRIMAL TOWRADGI FAIRY MEADOW NORTH WOLLONGONG WOLLONGONG divide DIVIDE DIVIDE CONISTON LYSAGHTS CRINGILA PORT KEMBLA NORTH PORT KEMBLA UNANDERRA KEMBLA GRANGE DAPTO ALBION PARK OAK FLATS SHELLHARBOUR JCT MINNAMURRA BOMBO KIAMA GERRINGONG BERRY BOMADERRY

7 STATION BOMADERRY BERRY GERRINGONG KIAMA BOMBO MINNAMURRA SHELLHARBOUR JCT OAK FLATS ALBION PARK DAPTO KEMBLA GRANGE UNANDERRA PORT KEMBLA PORT KEMBLA NORTH CRINGILA LYSAGHTS CONISTON WOLLONGONG attach attach attach NORTH WOLLONGONG FAIRY MEADOW TOWRADGI CORRIMAL BELLAMBI WOONOONA BULLI THIRROUL AUSTINMER COLEDALE WOMBARRA SCARBOROUGH COALCLIFF STANWELL PARK OTFORD HELENSBURGH WATERFALL HEATHCOTE ENGADINE LOFTUS SUTHERLAND HURSTVILLE WOLLI CREEK SYDENHAM REDFERN CENTRAL TOWN HALL MARTIN PLACE KINGS CROSS EDGECLIFF BONDI JUNCTION

8 3. SYDNEY MORNING HERALD ARTICLE 14 JULY 2017 Benefits from a Wollongong-to-Sydney rail upgrade would exceed costs, Cabinet told Work needed for an upgrade to the Wollongong to Sydney rail link that would deliver passengers to Central in 66 minutes produces benefits at up to twice the cost according to a previously unreleased Cabinet in Confidence report. The proposed schedule, also seen by Fairfax Media, has express passenger trains taking 20 minutes to get from Wollongong to Helensburgh, 35 minutes to get from from Wollongong to Hurstville, 54 minutes to Wolli Creek, and 66 minutes to Central. 7

9 Wollongong to Sydney in 66 minutes possible with a Maldon to Dombarton freight link. Photo: Rob Homer The main expenses would be a $2.9 billion tunnel from Thirroul to near Waterfall on Sydney's southern tip and completion of the long-stalled freight link from Dombarton near Dapto to the commuter line. Costed at between $700 million and $800 million in the Cabinet in Confidence document seen by Fairfax Media, the freight link has a benefit-cost ratio of between 1.5 and 2.4 depending on the scenario chosen. Related Articles F6 planners told to ignore public transport, build roads More than Westconnex: F6 Extension to cost $18 billion A benefit-cost ratio above 1 means the project is worth doing. A benefit-cost ratio above 2 is exceptional. Among the benefits quantified are time savings, transport cost savings, avoided environmental externalities, avoided crash costs, road congestion, and avoided road damage. Advertisement The biggest benefit, transport cost savings, is estimated at $2.4 billion over 50 years, or $560 million in present day dollars. Time savings are worth around $1 billion, or $200 million in today's dollars. 8

10 To convert future benefits to present-day dollars the 2013 study used a discount rate of 4.4 per cent "in accordance with the federal department of infrastructure and transport's nation building appraisal guidelines". A more recent assessment, released in February this year by Infrastructure Australia, used a higher discount rate of 7 per cent, even though interest rates had fallen during the intervening years. It awarded the project a benefit-cost ratio of only 0.9 meaning the project "would not generate sufficient benefits to justify its costs". Projects with high upfront costs and benefits years out into the future look better when low discount rates are used and worse when high discount rates are used. Answering a question in parliament, on behalf of roads minister Melinda Pavey in June, primary industries minister Niall Blair quoted only the Infrastructure Australia conclusion and not the conclusion of the minister's department. On the same day primary industries minister Don Harwin, also replying on behalf of Ms Pavey, misled parliament when answering a question about the rail tunnel under Thirroul saying it had not been the subject of a strategic assessment or strategic paper. Fairfax Media has seen the assessment, contained in a Cabinet in Confidence document entitled Rail Corridor Strategy: Sydney to Wollongong produced in 2014, when premier Gladys Berejiklian was transport minister. On Wednesday a spokesman for Ms Pavey distanced the minister from the Maldon to Dombarton benefit-cost study conducted when Ms Berejiklian was transport minister, saying the 2013 study "relied upon assumptions about growth in the iron ore market that did not eventuate". The less favourable 2017 Infrastructure Australia assessment was "in line with an earlier report from 2011 by the then-labor government which found the project had a benefit cost ratio of 0.56." Asked whether Ms Pavey would release the study that found a much higher benefit-cost ratio, the spokesman did not reply. Three-quarters of the 35 kilometre link was completed by 1988 when the NSW government suspended the project in the midst of an economic downturn and lower than expected coal traffic. The line stops in mid-air on either side of the Nepean River. The unpublished benefit cost study finds costs at around $780 million in present-day dollar terms more than offset by benefits at $1100 million. The total cost of upgrading the Sydney to Wollongong commuter line would be around $5 billion. An F6 Extension motorway, under active consideration by the government as an alternative to the rail project, has a price tag of around $18 billion. 9

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