Newcastle Light Rail

Newcastle Light Rail
Overview
Garage Wickham
Vehicle 6 Urbos 3
Status In planning, from 2017 construction
Began service 2019
Predecessors Newcastle railway line
Route
Locale Newcastle, Australia
Start Wickham Transport Interchange
Via Newcastle central business district
End Pacific Park
Length 2 km (1.2 mi)
Transfers Bus
Train
Ferry
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The Newcastle Light Rail is a proposed Australian light rail line in Newcastle, New South Wales, running from Wickham Transport Interchange through the central business district to Pacific Park. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2017 and finish in 2019.[2] The network will be controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport authority, Transport for NSW, and will be part of the authority's Opal ticketing system.

Development

For decades the Newcastle railway line had been seen by some as an impediment to the redevelopment of Newcastle's central business district with many proposals for its closure.[3][4]

In December 2012, the Government of New South Wales announced its intention to close the line east of Wickham with the closure of Wickham, Civic and Newcastle stations.[5] The line closed between Hamilton and Newcastle stations on 25 December 2014, with a new Wickham Transport Interchange to open in late 2016.[6][7]

Two options were put forward for the light rail route - reusing the heavy rail corridor or using an on-street route. In May 2014, it was announced a light rail line would be built using a predominately on-street route. About 500 m (1,640 ft) of the existing rail corridor east of Wickham station will be reused, before the light rail proceeds along Scott and Hunter Streets to terminate at Pacific Park.[8][9][10]

The decision to use a predominately on-street route drew mixed reactions and led to speculation that the railway corridor could be sold to property developers.[11][12][13] It also went against the advice of Transport for NSW, which supported reusing the heavy rail corridor and advised the government that an on-street route could cost almost $100 million extra and deliver a slower service.[14] In December 2014, the Government announced that Newcastle City Council would have the final say in determining any future development in the former rail corridor.[15]

The replacement of the heavy rail line with light rail has also been controversial. Several newspapers in the Hunter region led a campaign to retain the heavy rail link.[16] Newcastle City Council was initially supportive of the light rail project, but following a mayoral by-election in November 2014 the council advocated retaining the heavy rail line instead.[17]

In August 2015 Transport for NSW put out a tender for a technical advisor to assist in the development of this project.[18] Registrations of interest for companies to design and construct the Newcastle Light Rail were called in January 2016.[19]

In December 2014 it was estimated that construction would commence in late 2015 but by January 2016 the date has slipped to the second half of 2016.[19][20] In April 2016 it was stated that major construction would start in 2017 and be complete in 2019.[21]

A list of stops along the route was released in April 2016. Stops proposed are: Wickham Transport Interchange, Honeysuckle, Civic, Crown Street, Market Street and Pacific Park. Each light rail vehicle will carry at least 100 passengers and frequency will be every 10 minutes at peak times.[22]

In April 2016 CPB Contractors, Downer Group, John Holland, Laing O'Rourke and McConnell Dowell were shortlisted to bid for the contract to build the infrastructure.[23] Downer was awarded the contract in August.[24]

Operation

In November 2015, the Government announced its intention to incorporate the Newcastle Light Rail and Newcastle Buses & Ferries into a new organisation called Transport for Newcastle. The operation of bus, ferry and light rail services is intended to be contracted to a single private operator.[25][26] Keolis Downer and a Transit Systems/UGL Rail consortium have announced their intentions to bid.[27][28]

Potential extensions

Several options to extend the network were released in April 2016. The options are:[29]

Other proposals made by the community include extensions to John Hunter Hospital, University of Newcastle at Callaghan, Newcastle Airport, Glendale, Merewether and a CBD loop. Transport for NSW stated that these routes suffered from high costs and engineering challenges.[29]

Rolling stock

A fleet of six Urbos 3 trams will operate the service.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Light rail route confirmed as government releases new detail | video The Herald 5 April 2016
  2. ↑ "Government releases further details of Newcastle's light rail". abc.net.au. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Working group releases Newcastle city rail report ABC News 21 November 2003
  4. ↑ Iemma backflips on Newcastle rail decision as Cabinet set to meet ABC News 21 February 2006
  5. ↑ The deepest cut...Newcastle's rail line to go ABC News 14 December 2012
  6. ↑ "Revitalisation of Newcastle CBD underway with truncation to begin on Boxing Day". Transport for NSW. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Tender awarded to design and construct new Wickham interchange Transport for NSW 18 December 2014
  8. ↑ Newcastle Light Rail Announced Transport for NSW 23 May 2014
  9. ↑ Light rail route for city finally unveiled ABC News 23 May 2014
  10. ↑ Map Fairfax Regional
  11. ↑ Light rail decision draws mixed reactions Newcastle Herald 23 May 2014
  12. ↑ Bielby, Nick (22 October 2014). "Premier Mike Baird refused to rule out development of the Newcastle rail corridor after the truncation of the line at Wickham". The Maitland Mercury.
  13. ↑ Nicholls, Nick (17 February 2015). "NSW parliamentary inquiry to examine Newcastle rail line cabinet documents found in disgraced MP's office". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  14. ↑ Nicholls, Sean (21 February 2015). "Gladys Berejiklian backed preferred Newcastle light rail route in draft consultation document". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  15. ↑ Revitalisation of Newcastle: The People's Project Transport for NSW 4 December 2014
  16. ↑ "Help preserve the rail line linking the Hunter to Newcastle". Maitland Mercury. 7 September 2014.
  17. ↑ Council switches track on rail plan Newcastle Herald 11 December 2014
  18. ↑ Tender released for light rail technical advisor Transport for NSW 4 August 2015
  19. 1 2 "Transforming Newcastle: Call for industry to design and build light rail". Transport for NSW. 21 January 2016.
  20. ↑ New era for Newcastle Transport for NSW 26 December 2014
  21. ↑ "Newcastle Light Rail report and expansion options released". Transport for NSW. 7 April 2016.
  22. ↑ Transforming Newcastle: Community to have its say on next steps to revitalise city transport Transport for New South Wales 5 April 2016
  23. ↑ Shortlist announced for Managing Contractorof Newcastle Light Rail Transport for NSW 27 April 2016
  24. ↑ "Change on track for Newcastle Light Rail". Transport for NSW. 9 August 2016.
  25. ↑ Building tomorrows Newcastle: A New Approach to Transport Transport NSW 5 November 2015
  26. ↑ Transport for Newcastle: private operator to integrate city’s public transport ABC News 5 November 2015
  27. ↑ Keolis Downer eyes acquisitions ahead of Newcastle public transport bid Sydney Morning Herald 3 December 2015
  28. ↑ Transit Systems and UGL announce intention to jointly bid for Newcastle iso Transit Systems 26 February 2016
  29. 1 2 "Newcastle's public transport future - April 2016". Transport for NSW & UrbanGrowth NSW. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  30. ↑ Baird government announces progress on Newcastle light rail Newcastle Herald 21 June 2016
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