CBD & South East Light Rail

[boronia]

I've seen some portable signs around approaches to overhead crossings warning "Truckies - know your height" but no mention of what the height is.

Telling drivers to "Check RMS website" when they are 100 metres away and in busy traffic does not seem very practical.

Seems to be an ongoing problem in Melbourne where I think there is greater clearance.

[hornetfig]

It definitely is.

So it is. Frankly it'd want to be after two weekend shutdowns! (But it really should have been after just one. Though nothing on this project happens with haste)

[CityRail]

I've seen some portable signs around approaches to overhead crossings warning "Truckies - know your height" but no mention of what the height is.

Telling drivers to "Check RMS website" when they are 100 metres away and in busy traffic does not seem very practical.

Seems to be an ongoing problem in Melbourne where I think there is greater clearance.

Also no street signs of new height limit too.

I do worry we will see major delays because truckies didn't know it and tear down the wirings.

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[moa999]

Except they'd be overheight then, other than for the low Eddy Avenue bridge ubderpasses

Height

The height limit for heavy vehicles is 4.3 metres unless it is a:
vehicle built to carry cattle, horses, pigs or sheep - 4.6 metres
vehicle built with at least 2 decks for carrying vehicles - 4.6 metres
double-decker bus - 4.4 metres

[Swift]

The height limit for heavy vehicles is 4.3 metres unless it is a:
vehicle built to carry cattle, horses, pigs or sheep - 4.6 metres
vehicle built with at least 2 decks for carrying vehicles - 4.6 metres
double-decker bus - 4.4 metres

I can't see the distinction -except for the horses.

[matthewg]

I've seen some portable signs around approaches to overhead crossings warning "Truckies - know your height" but no mention of what the height is.

Telling drivers to "Check RMS website" when they are 100 metres away and in busy traffic does not seem very practical.

If their load is high enough to foul the tram wires, they should be running on a permit and know both their height AND that the route is clear for the overheight load.

It does appear that there are truckies out there that think the RMS hight limits are merely 'advisory' The signs are aimed at those who want to 'explore the boundaries' of the limits.
Some drivers probably pick up loads like diggers and probably genuinely don't know how high the load really is. They should.

Loftus had overhead torn down by a truck carrying a digger. As there was no photographic evidence, the driver denied it, end of the investigation by the police. (Verbal evidence from a passing motorist who dodged the falling trolley wire isn't enough apparently)

[matthewg]

The signs about the overhead were probably true - I walked up Devonshire Street. The Moore Park substation was humming quite loudly and all the safety earthing links have been removed from the overhead.
Nothing to stop trams making it all the way to Central now. There were people with clipboards inspecting the track at Chalmers Street, I assume this was a defect walkthrough in progress.

[boronia]

The "danger" signs have been there for a few weeks

[STMPainter2018]

Oh my God I can't believe it... progress is actually being made!!! https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/tra ... 1558423113

[Swift]

Those track pics look a lot more attractive than motor traffic. It reminds me of old photos of Sydney tram tracks. A good sign.

[boronia]

Can't say the same about the overhead decorations.

[CityRail]

Some good photos in SCF showing the work of the chair-polishers:




20 down to 10 then 30 up to 40, all within eyesight. I wonder how the average bus driver among you would feel about having to approach and leave a bus stop under this sort of regime? Can't just accelerate intuitively using your training and experience, have to watch the speedo carefully a step at a time. In Europe (indeed in Melbourne) you mostly won't see any speed signs on tramways. The highly-trained drivers know that the system speed limit is e.g. 50 km/h or whatever the prevailing road speed limit is and they adjust their speed according to the circumstances. Isn't that what you train your drivers for?

The only guidance these guys get on this line is "line speed limit 60 km/h", the rest is up to them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En5qP1XpMSo

Are you serious those light rail tunnels are all concrete grounds?

If you have concrete grouds other than those in Inner West Light Rail, there is going to be cars driving in the light rail tunnel!

I have friends who because they are not familiar with roads in Newcastle, driven into the light rail tracks west of Civic!

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[tonyp]

Sydney light rail: tram testing reaches Central Station
Heath Parkes-Hupton, Central Sydney
Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2019 6:00am

‘We’ve turned a corner’: tram testing to Surry Hills to begin
New concourse in $100m revamp
A smattering of residents lined a Surry Hills street for hours on Tuesday night to catch a glimpse of history, as testing for Sydney’s controversial light rail project hit a new milestone.

At about 11.50pm, a tram emerged behind a police escort from the tunnel that runs under Moore Park from Anzac Pde and onto Devonshire St, before it crawled up the hill toward Central Station.

It had been more than three years since construction started on the flagship transport project, expected to cost more than $3 billion when completed early next year.

Robin and Millie take in the moment as the first tram of Sydney's new light rail hit Surry Hills. Picture: Heath Parkes-Hupton
“It’s like waiting for royalty,” Devonshire St resident Robin said as the clock ticked towards 11.30pm. “It’s like all this three years has been worth it.”

Neighbour Millie remembered the businesses that had been lost as a result of the devastating impact construction had on foot traffic in the area.

“We have to watch it because we have lived through these four years,” she said.

They had waited on the same spot near Nickson St the last Thursday, when a rumoured test run had been cancelled.

Workers watch on as the tram reaches Central Station. Picture: Heath Parkes-Hupton
But when the tram finally crawled past they followed it down the street to Central Station, where it came to a rest at 12.17am, thanking workers as they went.

People spilt out of bars along the road to take pictures of the tram as it passed by.

The tram would return to Lang Rd, Moore Park, before a second run was carried out later in the morning.

Low-speed tests are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday nights, and will continue next week between Monday and Thursday from 9pm-4am. Day testing will start in coming weeks.

The tram coming up Devonshire St. Picture: Heath Parkes-Hupton

It crawled at walking pace. Picture: Heath Parkes-Hupton
The 12km project has been dogged by delays, legal battles and cost blowouts, but on Tuesday Transport Minister Andrew Constance said officials had been “pushing really hard” to have it finished as soon as possible.

“We have both daytime and night-time testing well underway in Randwick, where trams are running through there for the first time in almost 60 years,” he said.

“The barriers are being removed, the drivers are being trained and the finishing touches are being put in place … now we’ve turned a corner.”

Services from Randwick to Circular Quay could start in December 2019.

[swtt]

If you have concrete grouds other than those in Inner West Light Rail, there is going to be cars driving in the light rail tunnel!

I have friends who because they are not familiar with roads in Newcastle, driven into the light rail tracks west of Civic!

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Even if some sections had ballast, Sydney drivers will still manage to plow a car on to there.

[moa999]

Vids from 7
https://7news.com.au/news/light-rail/wa ... 125833.amp

[Swift]

Even if some sections had ballast, Sydney drivers will still manage to plow a car on to there.

Adelaide drivers are known to drive onto the Obahn.
They don't get far .
We'll see how long until boom gates appear.

[boronia]

At about 11.50pm, a tram emerged behind a police escort from the tunnel that runs under Moore Park from Anzac Pde and onto Devonshire St, before it crawled up the hill toward Central Station.

Really??

Oh, it was in The Telegraph

[tonyp]

At about 11.50pm, a tram emerged behind a police escort from the tunnel that runs under Moore Park from Anzac Pde and onto Devonshire St, before it crawled up the hill toward Central Station.

Really??

Oh, it was in The Telegraph

The Telegraph says - accurately - that it was a low-speed test. Naturally they will want to make sure clearances, track, power etc are all OK before gunning the tram along any new line.

[CityRail]

If you have concrete grouds other than those in Inner West Light Rail, there is going to be cars driving in the light rail tunnel!

I have friends who because they are not familiar with roads in Newcastle, driven into the light rail tracks west of Civic!

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Even if some sections had ballast, Sydney drivers will still manage to plow a car on to there.

We need a Wrong Way - Go Back sign urgently.
Or else, prepare 100 buses to replace trams should accidents happen.

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[boronia]

Tony, last time I went there, it was not UPHILL from Dowling St to Central.

[tonyp]

Tony, last time I went there, it was not UPHILL from Dowling St to Central.

The article referred to what the tram did after it left Moore Park - it entered Devonshire St and proceeded up the hill towards Central. This is indeed correct. The article doesn't talk about the journey after it crested the hill.

[matthewg]

[quote="CityRail"

If you have concrete grouds other than those in Inner West Light Rail, there is going to be cars driving in the light rail tunnel!

I have friends who because they are not familiar with roads in Newcastle, driven into the light rail tracks west of Civic!

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Forget the cars - one of the traffic controllers at Anzac Pde Junction where the buses share with the trams alongside Allison Rd told me, one driver of an artic drove up the tram tracks at Moore Park instead of onto the adjacent bus road. He had to offload all passengers before trying to back up.
He' also seen more than one bus joining the shared ROW drive onto the inbound track instead of the outbound one leaving the potential for a bus to come face-to-face with a tram (or another bus!) (The intersection IMHO is badly designed and encourages this kind of error)

It's just as well at this stage the trams and buses are using the Allson Rd shared track at different times of the day - some more training on the bus driver front appears to be required.
This is probably why the trams don't run in the peak hour at the moment, give the bus drivers some room to stuff up in a not so fatal manner and get used to the new road arrangement BEFORE having to share with trams.

[matthewg]

Tony, last time I went there, it was not UPHILL from Dowling St to Central.

The article referred to what the tram did after it left Moore Park - it entered Devonshire St and proceeded up the hill towards Central. This is indeed correct. The article doesn't talk about the journey after it crested the hill.

No - leaving Moore Park inbound is DOWNHILL. I walked it yesterday. Bourke Street is the valley and the low point. So it IS downhill for one block after crossing South Dowling Street. You could get picky and say Devonshire Steet starts at Bourke and it's uphill to Surry Hills from there I suppose. But you have well and truly left Moore Park by that point!

[tonyp]

Pedantry is amusing until it becomes tedious.

"from the tunnel that runs under Moore Park from Anzac Pde and onto Devonshire St, before it crawled up the hill toward Central Station"

The Telegraph gets the guernsey on this one.

Part of my earlier life was that, after I gave up on expecting UTA/STA to run anything remotely like decent bus services, I walked these suburbs daily (first a trajectory from the city across to Annandale, then across to Randwick, then across to Woollahra, then across to Paddington and later across to Artarmon (that was the p..ed off with Cityrail phase). Through a combination of ground-truthing and an early background in Geography, I'm familiar with every single contour of inner Sydney!

[CityRail]

[quote="CityRail"

If you have concrete grouds other than those in Inner West Light Rail, there is going to be cars driving in the light rail tunnel!

I have friends who because they are not familiar with roads in Newcastle, driven into the light rail tracks west of Civic!

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Forget the cars - one of the traffic controllers at Anzac Pde Junction where the buses share with the trams alongside Allison Rd told me, one driver of an artic drove up the tram tracks at Moore Park instead of onto the adjacent bus road. He had to offload all passengers before trying to back up.
He' also seen more than one bus joining the shared ROW drive onto the inbound track instead of the outbound one leaving the potential for a bus to come face-to-face with a tram (or another bus!) (The intersection IMHO is badly designed and encourages this kind of error)

It's just as well at this stage the trams and buses are using the Allson Rd shared track at different times of the day - some more training on the bus driver front appears to be required.
This is probably why the trams don't run in the peak hour at the moment, give the bus drivers some room to stuff up in a not so fatal manner and get used to the new road arrangement BEFORE having to share with trams.[/quote]Huh! I seriously worry about my safety when travelling then!

So there's a chance that buses can collide with trams if the bus went outside the line!?

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