Perth might provide greater speed, but certainly not greater capacity.
Unlike Tony, I didn't just get in touch with Paris, I went there and timed
at the busiest node. It held 2 quite happily, until there was a
cancellation gap, doubling the load on the following train. Normally a
second train was half way up the platform as the preceding one drew clear
(longer platforms and carriages than in Australia). In an Australian
context, a second train would just be entering a platform as the preceding
one cleared. That was done with normal track circuits and train stops in
Sydney in 1955.
Even if it can't sustain 2 min headways, 2.5 with double deck beats 2 with
single deck for capacity. People get hung up with the need for speed.
Frequency, capacity and comfort count for more. Australian cities were
built for tidal flow long-distance commuting.

Roderick

On Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 4:44:12 PM UTC+10, Prescott wrote...I was in a
small group of transport planners here that got in touch with the French...
in reality more like 25 trains per hour....

> Wheelchairs and scooters make no difference on the level access available

> on Sydney metro and in Perth - they board and alight as quickly as the rest

> of the passengers and within the dwell.

>

>