Vlog

Here it is, our Video Blog, Hope all you fun lovin Train enthusiasts enjoy this one!!

This video relates to the blog because it shows what it’s like to use Sydney Trains daily. We give you a general rundown on what it is like to ride on Sydney Trains and cover some common train safety. Not all of this is serious, so please dont take it all seriously.

Opal Card Available for Students

 

New South Wales tertiary students are starting to take advantage of the new Concession Opal card providing discounted fares on public transport. The release of the card was timed to coincide with the start of the first semester in 2015.

The Concession Opal card is a NSW Government initiative that promises big savings on all forms of public transport from Newcastle to Illawarra and everywhere in-between.

• Sydney Trains
• NSW TrainLink Intercity services
• Buses in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Newcastle, Central Coast, Illawarra and Hunter
• Sydney Ferries and the Stockton Ferry
• Light rail

Who is eligible?
Although there was some initial reluctance due to privacy concerns, tertiary institutions are getting onboard the Concession Opal program. The rollout commenced in early February and since many prestigious universities and institutions are participating. Some of these include:

• The University of Sydney
• UNSW Australia
• The University of Notre Dame Australia
• Australian Catholic University
• Macquarie University
• University of Wollongong
• Navitas English

Benefits of the Concession Opal card
Half price adult Opal fares and off-peak savings on trains are around 30%. With Opal, you will only pay for your first 8 journeys for the week. After that – its free! Some students travel long distances to get to university, but with Opal their fare will be capped at $7.50 for the entire day of public transport travel. There is also a weekly travel cap of $30 making it a lot easier to stick within tight student budgets.

**Stay tuned to see the Concession Opal cards in action on our upcoming Vlog post!
 
Source: https://www.opal.com.au

- Tim

Graffiti on Trains

Graffiti Art on Trains:

Graffiti on trains happens all around the world which costs tax payers millions in repairs to fix this vandalism. In Australia alone Removing graffiti cost taxpayers $34 million last financial year, up from $30 million the year before. Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said it was a big problem.

Sydney's trains are being fitted with sniffing technology to catch graffiti artists in the act of vandalising Sydney's trains. 30 offenders have already been caught in the act proving that this technology is key to stopping vandalism on trains.

In Auckland, New Zealand a passenger on board a suburban train was struggling to breathe as 4 youths were vandalising the train with spray cans in the carriage.

Source: aicgov
-Alex

The Future of Trains

Future of Trains

People want trains to go faster but with speed comes more problems to the train including passenger comfort and the trains stability on the track. If trains were to increase their speed greatly then the air turbulence can make passengers feel nauseous and can also leave them with a very unpleasant trip. 

Future technologies for these trains include introducing maglev to other countries apart from Japan, Creating more aerodynamic trains and increasing the speed the trains can go around a bend by using tilting trains. These are the key concerns in upgrading existing trains but to do that as well infrastructure needs to improve dramatically before newer trains can be put onto the tracks.

Source: How stuff works

Should there be a Northern Beaches train line?

The need for a line to the northern beaches is critical. The lack of proper transportation is putting the Northern Beaches into gridlock at peak hours and weekends. To get to the city from Avalon or Newport, the travel time is est. 1h25m, and at peak times this can rise to just under 2hrs.

Today I decided to go and investigate a little more. I went to my local shops in Northern Sydney to find out what the public had to say on the train line debate. Here is what a few had to say -

Matt: 
If you asked the people that live there i bet 90% say no to a train line, the beaches are nice on don't need to be destroyed by the masses, if you live on the Northern beaches then you brought knowing there is no line. Concrete and mass transit has its place in the city and other places need trees and less people or they will be destroyed and turn into a Bondi/Manly look and feel, which is not good. The cost would be massive as per the landscape and it wouldn't be profitable or the power that be would have done it 80 years ago or last year.

Anonymous:
The problem is the masses are moving there. Congestion is getting worse and beyond the point of ridiculous. Rail is the only the means of transport than can move massive amounts of people. If you were to ask this question in the 1990s, you would get a 90 percent disapproval. Its 2015 and Sydney is chocking, especially the Northern beaches. Well over 50 percent of the Northern beaches residents want rail.

Nick:
The Northern beaches line should've been built 80 years ago. Some of the longest commutes in the world are from the Mona Vale to the city

I also ran a survey across 50 random people.

 

- Tim

 

The Monorail

 

Source

A monorail is a railway in which only has one track that supports it as opposed to the standard two. The monorail is very often elevated and are fundamentally similar to the light rail trains however the single track holds significant advantages. Monorails are generally much cheaper than other forms of transport due to the need of only one rail. Monorails despite having only one rail actually are proven to be one of the safest forms of transport, in almost all cases rescue from a monorail will be easier than rescue from a subway.

Monorails can be automated allowing them to run 7 days 22 hours a week without the need for night shift drivers. Monorails are also more environmentally friendly than their counterpart due to less energy taken while building it and less stopping and starting due to no traffic lights.

There are also good reasons to not use the monorail option such as having no space above ground or an already available transport system that accomplishes the same thing.

Sources: Wiki Monorails Australia

-Joseph