gascoyne wrote:The aim was to do 36 km from Cudgegong Rd to Chatswood in 36 minutes and have the passengers on a North Shore train zero minutes later.
That requires 130 km/h on the skyrail and 100 km/h in tunnels. I simply don't believe they'll achieve that, especially in the curve from Lane Cove River to Chatswood. 40+ minutes is more likely, plus waiting time at Chatswood.
Perhaps take a comparative cue from the present Richmond line service where a look at the timetable tells me that a train takes 47 minutes to cover the 35 km from Richmond to Westmead with 11 intermediate stops. Cudgegong Rd to Chatswood is also about 35 km (you say 36) with 11 intermediate stops. It's obviously going to be faster in a metro train than 47 minutes. Sydney Metro's present travel calculator says 37 minutes, that's an average of about 60 km/h which seems perfectly feasible to me. Don't forget the metro trains will have shorter dwells and faster acceleration and deceleration than the suburban trains, thus will be able to maintain higher
average speeds, which is the critical point.
I reckon the real estate hotspot to be in Sydney (if you can stand the heat in summer!) is in Schofields in all that new housing between Schofields station and Cudgeging Rd station (the lines should actually connect and will eventually). You have a choice. Both lines will get you to Central in 51/52 minutes. The metro will have 17 intermediate stops connecting you with significant employment/education/activity centres at Norwest, Castle Hill, North Ryde, Chatswood, Crows Nest/North Sydney and the Sydney CBD. The suburban train has 9 intermediate stops and Westmead/Parramatta is really the only major centre served along the way (some minor ones too), then a few more minutes/couple of more stops into the Sydney CBD proper.
The total metro route length Cudgegong Rd to Central will be about 45 km; Schofields via the Richmond line a couple of kms less. So basically both modes will have the same journey time for the same distance, but the metro has 8 more stops to make. Now do you start to get a picture of what a performer the metro will be compared to a suburban train service, even over long distances? Those lucky Schofields people will also definitely get a seat on the metro on the inward and would probably not have to wait long for one (if they didn't already get one) on the outwards. I see some certain arguments dissolving like fairy floss.
Perpetually on a T3 to "I. P. Pavlova, přestup na Metro. Příští zastávka, Náměsti Míru"