I expect sector 1 will be a 24 hour operation for 2032 Games.
20 trains per hour, 1000 pax per train, 20000 pph/d
Spread over 24 hours 200000 is achievable.
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It will be good to see the rail system actually being used to its potential for possibly the first time.
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Yo! Indeed. I seem to recall that during the 2018 Commonwealth Games the Goldie was 24 hour operation, but the numbers not as intense as the 2032 Games I would think. With ETCS-L2 and more trains available, it will be interesting. Letâs hope there are no â bridge strikes â or â boom gate strikes '. G-Link will be in a full on 24 hour operation mode too I would expect.
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Yes I can imagine there may be a few faces squished against the windows on the tramsâŚ
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Maybe itâll be worth closing access to those crossings on the Beenleigh line for those couple of weeks just to be sure. By then it should only be at Runcorn and Salisbury is that right? In the scheme of things that shouldnât ruin too many lives.
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Closing the 3 level crossings temporarily in Runcorn would be pretty disastrous for the road network. Warrigal road in particular is a major arterial. We should focus on advocating for them to be removed. You could probably permanently close Bonemill. The others need a solution
I agree - they need removing. But Iâm just thinking about if they donât remove them before 2032 which is a very likely scenario. If thereâs trains every 4-5 minutes each direction the amount of time those gates will be down will be insane, and will potentially lead to hold ups and impatient drivers trying to get through which is where the problems come from.
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For those crossings the only option I can see as workable is SkyRail to Sunnybank.
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Actually that might work. The constraint is the Gateway Motorway overpass between Fruitgrove and Kuraby. If the elevations on Google Earth are correct, the train line actually goes downhill by 2m between the Gateway and Warrigal Road. It would also mean less of a grade to Altandi from Runcorn and you might be able to straighten out some curves in the process.
^^ That sounds about right. There was some discussion over on Skyscrapercity about why sky rail wasnât used between Kuraby and Trinder Park, as opposed to the planned Acacia Road over rail option, and someone with knowledge of the project said that it wouldnât have been possible due to the Gateway Motorway constraint, and that the line towards Woodridge will end up in a cutting - the current Trinder Park curve is there to circumvent a hill.
Also, the Gold Coast Bulletin is running a story spruiking the LGCFR and quoting the Transport Minister:
We know that the Cross River Rail upgrade will shorten the final leg into Brisbane for Coast commuters. This is about the section further south.
Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg, in a Budget chat with your columnist about light rail and the Coomera Connector, when asked about fast rail, provided some stunning statistics.
âIt will mean an increase in volume. We will move a lot more people,â he replied.
âBut also, more importantly, we will be able to run a lot more express trains.â
âŚ
A trip currently stretching into an hour starts being reduced to 40 minutes. No loo break.
âThe numbers Iâve been given. We are (will be) moving to about 200,000 movements from the Gold Coast to Brisbane daily. Not just morning and afternoon peaks, peaks during the day,â Mr Mickelberg said.
Iâm guessing this is quoting the Olympic passenger number projections. I doubt this would be a daily reality, although I feel the line has so much more potential.
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Yes, I believe it is. Here are the lines directly below what I quoted above (I was trying not to quote the entire paywalled article):
This is about the Olympics and the reality of athletes and officials being based in Brisbane and the rest of the partygoers living elsewhere.
âMost spectators will be on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. The movement of spectators will be from the two Coasts, which why we are investing so heavily in rail,â he says.
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i have allways felt a rail line down the corridor of the m1, should have been the way to go but i am all for the rail network finaly being well utilised
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I always felt the South East Busway should have been rail. Imagine a 4 track corridor from Beenleigh with 2 tracks all stations and 2 tracks Gold Coast express with perhaps a stop at Upper Mount Gravatt. Frequent services with frequent cross town bus connections at many if not all stations.
Even better if it went under the CBD and up through Chermside to connect with the north coast line around Carseldine with frequent cross town bus routes on the north side.
Now that kind of investment is what would lead to a real mode shift. But short sightedness and what seems like an anti rail bias got in the wayâŚ
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I mean, we wouldâve basically had to build Cross River Rail 25 years earlier to make that work.
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You can do the South East Busway with light rail instead. Extensions to Chermside can follow the Northern busway. You can link Carseldine with buses.
Otherwise the NWTC could connect Bald Hills to Alderley but that wonât ever happen because they still want a tolled motorway tunnel there.
Agreed - although thatâs where I think the short sightedness came in. It could have been done together and for a much cheaper price than it would be today.