In Rhodes and other areas in the Drummoyne electorate, the rail and road networks are already completely overloaded (see quote below from Council report 2016). Before COVID, many trains travelling to or from Rhodes or Concord West in peak period were so packed that many residents could not get on – this still occurs. The T9 Northern Line remains the most congested railway line in Sydney. Also, as Rhodes is a peninsula connected only by Concord Road, frequent traffic jams cause huge problems. Yet the government is still planning on development that will add another 10,000 residents to Rhodes regardless.
Similarly, the “Rapid Transit” public transport promised to support new medium and high-rise (some over 20 storeys, coming soon) in Concord and Five Dock along Parramatta Road now looks like it will take another 15 or 20 years by the time the bus lanes get sorted out after future redevelopment. Sydney Metro West, while very welcome, cannot mitigate congestion on Parramatta Road. The government is happy to spend mega-billions on congested, costly motorways which can’t move enough people, but not on public transport which can carry much more people.
Drummoyne electorate has two key transport projects which the government must give urgent attention:
- A substantial increase in train throughput on the Northern Line (T9), most likely by increasing its capacity from currently one line in each direction to two in each direction.
- A “Rapid Transit System” along Parramatta Road from the CBD to Burwood station – promised in 2016 and later as part of the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy (PRCUTS) for delivery at the same time as Westconnex opened. Note that this is quite different to the Metro, used for longer distance travel.
A third key transport project, the Stage 2 Parramatta Light Rail, will be enormously beneficial for Rhodes, because it will relieve the enormous pressure of Wentworth Point residents who rely on Rhodes station for regular commuting.
Overloaded trains
Quotes from:
Rhodes Station Precinct Traffic and Transport Review
[for] Canada Bay Council
Final Report, 6 December 2016.
The whole report makes the clear point that – as of 2016 with lower approved levels of development – the road and rail system are already operating at full capacity or more. The quotation below is from section 2, “Broader Transport Network”, sub-section on Rail existing conditions, pp 7-8.
Rail patronage at Rhodes Station has experienced significant growth over the past 10 years due to the development of high density residential precincts on remediated industrial lands. As a result, the number of journeys to and from Rhodes by rail has increased from 122,000 journeys per year in 2004 to 1,813,000 journeys per year in 2014. There has been a corresponding increase in the number of station barrier movements, where the total number of daily entries and exits increased from approximately 2,360 in 2004 to13,300 in 2014.
Rhodes Station Precinct Traffic and Transport Review: Given the continued growth in demand along the T1* Northern Line including Rhodes, the majority of AM and PM peak rail services already reached their loading capacity in 2015. Inbound T1* Northern Line trains via Strathfield have an average load of 135% (or 148% without the express services) of their nominal capacity when they reach the city during the AM peak hour, with a maximum load of 162%. Similarly, outbound trains have an average load of 100% leaving the city during the PM peak hour, with a maximum load of 153%. This means that during peak periods, some passengers travelling to or from Rhodes are unable to board trains as they are overloaded.
[* Note: The Northern Line is now referred to as the T9 line, not T1.]
Rhodes Station Precinct Traffic and Transport Review, pp7-8.
See more [TBA]