Name: Expansion Plans for Sydney Light Rail
Uploaded: 2024-07-08T23:25:47.493Z
Description: Duncan Edghill, CEO of ALTRAC Light Rail discusses the transformative impact and expansion plans for Sydney's light rail network. Duncan highlights the economic and social benefits of rejuvenating urban corridors with light rail and addresses the challenges around integration with other transport modes.

Duncan Edghill 2.vtt

Subtitles

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Duncan: When you rejuvenate

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the corridor, you have

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people, you have houses.

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What else happens?

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You have shops

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you have retail.

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So there's obviously a clear

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economic benefit from that.

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And then light rail in

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that corridor will move

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millions and millions

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of people from day one.

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Tuan: We're here at the Urban

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Rail Conference in Brisbane

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today and for this video we're

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going to be talking about

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Sydney's light rail network.

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I'm here with Duncan.

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If you could just introduce

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yourself to our audience.

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Duncan: Thank you Tuan

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my name's Duncan Edghill.

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I'm the CEO of

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ALTRAC Light Rail.

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ALTRAC Light Rail has

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the contract with the New

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South Wales government

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to have designed, built,

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financed and now operate the

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Sydney light rail network.

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Tuan: Great.

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My first question, what

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are the current expansion

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plans for Sydney's

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light rail network?

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Duncan: So I think if we

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look at the Sydney light

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rail network as it stands

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today, the system is going

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absolutely gangbusters.

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We've had more than 40

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million passenger journeys

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over the last 12 months.

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But just as importantly, light

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rail has had a transformative

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effect on Sydney in terms

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of the urban realm and in

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terms of the investment

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that it's attracted in

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property and housing and so

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forth along the corridor.

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So it's proving

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exceptionally popular.

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So the logical question then

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of course is, well it's so

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popular where, where to next?

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So within ALTRAC, we're

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not the New South Wales

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government, but from an ALTRAC

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perspective, we've looked at

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where the network could go in

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the future, where the current

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custodians of the network.

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And there's not necessarily

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any right or wrong answers.

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There's a compelling case

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for expanding the network

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in many different directions

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and indeed it should grow

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as a network over time.

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But we think that there's a

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really compelling case for

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the next stage of the Sydney

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light rail network to be along

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Parramatta Road via Central

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Station to Green Square.

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It's a corridor that

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has a lot of potential.

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I think there's a lot

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of housing potential in

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particular along Parramatta

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Road, at the Green Square

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part of the alignment.

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It's one of the densest,

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if not the most dense

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part of Australia and

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it's only going to grow.

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It needs that connectivity

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into the universities and

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hospitals and the broader

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public transport network.

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So there's definitely a very

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compelling housing reason

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for that particular route.

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It's probably not

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controversial to say that

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Parramatta Road is in need

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of some love and attention.

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And we've seen that light rail

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does something really, really

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special to the urban realm.

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Not only on George Street,

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that's a great example.

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But elsewhere along

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the alignment.

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So a little bit of that light

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rail magic dust sprinkled

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down Parramatta Road would

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be something that I'm sure

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would be welcomed by many.

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But we also expect it

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to be extraordinarily

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popular from day one.

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So in terms of housing,

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in terms of the urban

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renewal effects and in

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terms of the transport

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need, that Parramatta Road

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to Green Square Corridor

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has a lot going for it.

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Tuan: And what do you

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see as some of the key

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challenges to this expansion?

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Duncan: Of course whenever

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you're building linear

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infrastructure at grade

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in an urban environment,

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there's going to be a

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whole heap of design and

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construction challenges that

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need to be worked through.

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It's no secret that utilities

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and utility services are

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one of the key things

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that need to be addressed.

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But we also would need

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to ensure that we're

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minimizing disruption during

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construction and so forth.

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But a couple of, a couple

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of really important points.

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I think Sydney in many

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respects has already done

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the hardest part of light

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rail in terms of building

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down George Street.

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There's a lot of lessons

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that's been learnt from

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that initial build process,

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but also lessons that have

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been learnt from other

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light rail and other major

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projects on the Gold Coast,

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Canberra, elsewhere in

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Sydney, anywhere where

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light rail has been built.

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So there's certainly, a lot

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that we have learned that we

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can use to minimize disruption

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and manage risks and so forth

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during that delivery process.

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But probably one of the key

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items for us is that the

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earlier that you can start

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with these things and the

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earlier that you can actually

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begin consulting with the

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community and stakeholders

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and so forth, not only the

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better outcome you'll get

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at the end of the of the

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project delivery phase, but

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it also helps to better manage

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those risks and de risk the

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delivery phase of the project.

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So yes some challenges, but

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I think if you look at the

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way that Sydney has been

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transformed by light rail.

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If you look at the

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sheer popularity of

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light rail in Sydney.

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Then pretty clearly the

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benefits will vastly

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outweigh any challenges

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that come through the

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ordinary project process.

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Tuan: Could you expand a

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bit more about the economic

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benefits of this expansion?

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Duncan: The economic benefits

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I think are multiple, and

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I mentioned housing before.

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There is very clearly

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an opportunity for light

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rail to attract housing

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investment on Parramatta Road.

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You've had the Prime

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Minister for example, part

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of Parramatta Road's in

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his electorate, and the

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Prime Minister's been out

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there talking about the

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need to build more houses

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and accommodation on

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Parramatta Road supported

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by public transport.

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So very clearly I think

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the proven ability of light

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rail to attract housing

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investment and appropriate

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housing investment along the

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entirety of the corridor.

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The stops are, you know,

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roughly 500 metres apart.

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It's an at grade system,

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so rather than simply

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having development at

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stops kilometres apart from

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each other, there is an

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opportunity to have mixed

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housing development across

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the entirety of the corridor.

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So in terms of the economic

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benefits, clearly what

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it does from a housing

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perspective is one.

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When you rejuvenate

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the corridor, you have

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people, you have houses,

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what else happens?

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You have shops, you

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have retail, so there's

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obviously a clear economic

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benefit from that.

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And then light rail in

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that corridor will move

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millions and millions

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of people from day one.

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So taking those people out

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of cars and encouraging

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mode shift very clearly

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has not only an economic

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benefit in terms of reduced

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traffic congestion, but

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also has a sustainability

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benefit as well.

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But I think probably even

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more important than just

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the pure economic benefits

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is the benefits that will

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be derived for actual real

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people living in the corridor.

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It's very easy to imagine,

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you know, a nurse working at

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Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

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living in Green Square and

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having a safe and secure and

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simple connection to work.

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Or students living along

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Parramatta Road attending any

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number of the universities

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in that corridor.

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Sydney University,

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UTS, Notre Dame.

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Economic benefits, definitely.

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But we think there's real

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and very tangible and

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proven people benefits which

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are even more important.

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Tuan: And how do you see

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the light rail expansion

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integrating with other

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modes of transport?

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Duncan: One of the beauties

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of this proposed line is

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that it's almost got the

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perfect public transport

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integration point at Central.

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And that offers with

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it advantages too.

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I think there's an

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opportunity for us to work

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with the New South Wales

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government in thinking

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about how Central Station

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will work in the future.

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New South Wales government

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has developed its

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thinking significantly

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around Central Station.

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Central Station's

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changing, we've got Metro

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coming through, Tech

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Central and so forth.

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There's definitely an

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opportunity for us to think

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about how light rail to

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light rail, but also light

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rail to the broader public

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transport network can be

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even more efficient for

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passengers at Central Station.

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But it's not just

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Central Station as well.

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The proposed line would

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interchange with the L1 line

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at Summer Hill for example.

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So that's an example of

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another interchange point.

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But the other opportunity

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that we have in delivering

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this line is to think

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about  how the bus network

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and the light rail network

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can complement each other.

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And I think one of the neat

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things is if you can use

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buses to improve frequencies

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or be redeployed to increase

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coverage in other places

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that not only are you

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integrating with the public

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transport network, but you're

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actually improving buses and

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light rail and the public

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transport network as a whole.

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So   there's a lot to be said

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about this route that connects

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through Central Station,

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but also traverses the most

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densely populated part of

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Australia and a key arterial

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road, which is in much need

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of some tender love and care.

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Tuan: What are the expected

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ridership numbers for

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the expansion and how

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do you encourage people

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to adopt light rail?

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Duncan: Yeah, great

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great question.

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So we've done some reasonably

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high level analysis and we

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would expect that straight

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from day one, you'll have

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somewhere between 7.5

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million to 11 million

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people using the line.

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That's obviously a big number,

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but it's realistic in the

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context of the existing two,

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three lines that we've got

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at the moment moving over

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40 million people per year.

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So the ridership, the

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patronage will definitely

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be there on day one.

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In terms of how do we attract

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people onto light rail?

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This is one of the really

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special things I think

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about light rail in

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that it sells itself.

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Like once that new line

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is built, we're not going

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to have to go out there

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and do a big sell job

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to get people to use it.

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People intuitively flock

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to it in any event, and

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you know this isn't kind

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of fantasy thinking here.

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It's actually what we've

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witnessed on the ground today

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in Sydney and what other

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cities have experienced with

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their light rail system.

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It's visible.

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It's safe.

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It's at grade.

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It's simple to use.

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You get onto a light

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rail vehicle, you

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know where it's going.

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The tracks on the ground

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give you that certainty,

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it's not going to take a

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detour and go somewhere else.

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So what we've seen elsewhere

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in Sydney is that people

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will flock to light rail.

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They flock to it in

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numbers that exceed

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business case projections.

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So from our perspective,

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yeah of course we'll be

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out there and selling the

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benefits of the new line.

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But it's something that

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really sells itself and will

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sell itself once it's built.

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I can almost guarantee that,

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well not almost guarantee, I

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can guarantee as soon as it's

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built it will be exceptionally

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popular with commuters.

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Tuan: That's all the

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questions I had for today.

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Duncan thanks for your time.

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Duncan: Thank you

{{00:10:46}}
for your time.

Urban Rail

Expert Insight

Duncan Edghill, CEO of ALTRAC Light Rail discusses the transformative impact and expansion plans for Sydney's light rail network. Duncan highlights the economic and social benefits of rejuvenating urban corridors with light rail and addresses the challenges around integration with other transport modes.