Hi Greg. I was on the interdepartmental planning committee for the airport
line at the time (similarly for the inner west light rail around the same
time) so was directly interfacing with the parties working on the line.
Whoever wrote this article is pretty on the ball with the history and
current situation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_Link,_Sydney
There were private contractors to the government building the line (which
is owned by the government) and a private company, AirportLink, carried the
cost of building four stations in return for the rights to impose a ticket
surcharge on those stations (the last government later covered the
surcharge cost on two of the stations). That agreement expires in 2030 and
ownership of those stations will return to the government.
The government planned and designed the route through State Rail and
Department of Planning and made the operational decision to connect it to
the East Hills/Campbelltown line, necessitating the use of double deck
stock. The private contractors were not allowed to make planning, design or
operational decisions on their own.
Tony P
On Tuesday, 5 December 2023 at 16:29:58 UTC+11 Greg Sutherland wrote:
> Sorry Tony P but the Airport line was not a State Rail concept or design
> and build.
>
> It was a PPP project pitched by a private company and agreed to by the
> then LNP state government against the recommendations of State Rail.
>
> The design, including narrow curved platforms, was private sector and the
> tunnels were of minimum diameter rather than CityRail standards. That is
> why to relamp a signal post you must have the maintenance electrician ride
> in and lean out from the driver's cabin to lamp change.
>
> Greg
>
>
> On 5/12/2023 11:16 am, TP wrote:
>
> David, have you ever used the Airport line in peaks when you discover that
> it's also the Campbelltown line? Those vestibules are jammed up with
> standing people (double deck users in Sydney loving to congregate around
> the doors) and it's hard enough inserting your body among them, let alone a
> suitcase or two. It's a mess. It should have been designed as a single deck
> line with its own trains and the Campbelltown service separated from it and
> kept on the main line. Also narrow, curved platforms along the line. It's
> not one of the former State Rail's greatest acheivements by any means.
>
>
>
>
> Tony P
>
> On Tuesday, 5 December 2023 at 10:40:55 UTC+11 David McLoughlin wrote:
>
>> TP wrote:
>>
>> > The reason the Western Sydney Line trains are wider is because a lot of
>> people will have luggage on board. They're obviously determined not to
>> repeat the mistake of the the double deck Sydney Airport line with its
>> appalling luggage carrying "capability".
>>
>> It's obviously down to personal opinion, but I have used the Sydney
>> Airport trains to get to and from the international terminal dozens of
>> times since January 2009, as recently as June this year. I have never had
>> any problems with my luggage. I always sit (or stand) with it in the lobby
>> at the doors, where I have always found there is ample room. I'd never lug
>> it up and down those stairs. Even without luggage, I usually only use the
>> lobby when I travel on Sydney trains. I go upstairs to the seats there if I
>> am with Judith as she likes sitting there.
>>
>> Ditto with double-deck buses, I would never go up the stairs. I did once
>> go to the top deck of a Hong Kong tram to take photos there.
>>
>> So yes, I prefer single-deckers. Though I love the A380, the quiet,
>> graceful queen of the skies.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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