Transport for Sydney Vlog 830: Carlingford Light Rail Stop Update & Vehicle Testing

Vlog 830
Carlingford Light Rail Stop Update & Vehicle Testing
This video provides and update of the Carlingford Light Rail Stop and includes light rail vehicle testing.
Filmed: July 13th, 2024
#lightrail #trams #transport
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[@ChadTransportshorts24]

Nice video

[@JuanAntonioSegoviaSorian-tw5wz]

Thanks for the video. Hi from Spain, I see CAF on the front, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, a Spanish company, nice to see they supply trains all over the world. I hope they offer a good service to the city of Sydney :)

[@aussiejohn5835]

Hi Sean 👋 I must say that this station has no resemblance to the heavy rail station that it has replaced. I can see the tram being very popular from this stop, and I am looking forward to the opening of this service in the near future. Excellent video. Well done, Sean 👏 👍

[@mgp1203]

Crazy I lived right behind this station when I was growing up about 15yrs ago, but instead of all these blocks and apartment we rented a large block of land with a small house. Looks unrecognisable now. My mum and I were usually always the only people using the train back then.

[@kyletopfer7818]

Yeah I lived at Dundas for a while and the old Carlingford line was just totally useless to us, we used to prefer just walking to Eastwood (which back then used to get InterCity trains stopping so we had an express train to the city). This line is now so much better as light rail.

[@mgp1203]

​@@kyletopfer7818 I moved from here to Dundas as a child and grew up there by Silverware Rd, I completely forgot Trains in Sydney even existed at that point, goes to show useless this line was. Stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail running towards Ermington would've been a game changer for my family back then. We had a car, but my mum would always prefer to not drive.

[@kyletopfer7818]

@@mgp1203 interestingly it Looks like internally Transport bosses have decided it isnt worth extending this new Light Rail line to Epping and instead are planning the next Metro project to take the Leppington-Liverpool-Fairfield-Merrylands line and tunnel that from Merrylands to Parramatta, Carlingford and terminate at Epping whilst also extending the southern end from Leppington to the new Airport.
This will be much faster than the tram or the Pennant Hills Rd buses, documents show about 9min travel time from Parramatta to Epping; but it does mean anyone going from say dundas or rydalmere to Epping will need to change train, and If you're going to Macquarie Park you need to change a second time, which i am sure will annoy people but thats also Just the realizy of Transport systems in big cities.

[@mgp1203]

@@kyletopfer7818 Is this referring to the “New Cumberland Line”? Would be amazing if it comes to fruition, and I’m glad they’re opting for a metro over an extension of the LR… let’s hope there’s a stop near Carlingford Court this time, and there would be a great deal of improvement if Carlingford Village was acquired and redeveloped to provide more housing and retail options.
Rapid transit between Liverpool and Parramatta is already sorely needed, as is an airport line connecting both hubs. Although part of me is saddened by another Sydney Trains conversion, I’m sure it’ll benefit frequencies on other lines. My only gripe is that Liverpool and Blacktown will lose direct access to one another, but I can overlook it as patronage between the two was low anyways (also I’m biased as I currently live in Blacktown). I think the current T5 served as a good alternative to the overcrowding on the T1 between Parramatta and Blacktown. SO many people travel between these stations.
Hypothetically speaking, what do you think of The New Cumberland line eventually being extended past Epping through Macquarie Park and onto Chatswood? Mirroring the existing M1 and killing multiple birds with one stone (connecting Parramatta to Macquarie Park and Chatswood, maybe with a stop at Lane Cove in between). I think it makes the most makes sense.

[@kyletopfer7818]

@@mgp1203 Sydney is too big to connect everywhere with single-seat rides and it has been for some time. Taking a T1 Express train from Blacktown to Parramatta then changing to the new Cumberland line heading down to Liverpool would be way faster than sitting on a T5 currently and both will be running much more frequently than the T5 could. The stations between Blacktown and Parramatta would have a lot more trains don’t forget, potentially twice as many as current or even more if you do more upgrades.
It wouldn’t necessarily need to be automated Metro in fact I think it shouldn’t be, I think it should run like Melbourne or Perth does their lines, but I think it should be taken away from Sydney trains and put under the METRO management who are a more competent Organisation. Just like Perth or Melbourne I think it should use single-Deck suburban-Style trains with 3 doors and using digital signaling but with only a driver no guard plus platform screen doors, so it is still able to be used by freight and intercity and it doesn’t cost anywhere near as much to convert.
I think an extension of the new Cumberland line beyond Epping is so far into the future it isn’t worth thinking about, if I had the money after building the new cumberland line to Epping I would be doing the following:
1. Metro West extension from Parra to Prairiewood
2. Parramatta Road and Oxford St light rail lines plus extension of L3 to Maroubra
3. Bankstown-Liverpool SW Metro Extension
4. New north/south line Miranda-Kogarah-Kingsgrove-Campsie-Strathfield-Olympic Park-Ryde-Macquarie park
5. Eastern suburbs line extension from Bondi Junction to Bondi Beach and North Bondi
6. Metro West extension from cbd to Randwick
7. Northern Beaches line from St Leonards or chatswood to Willoughby-forestville-Brookvale-Dee Why