Our elected representatives really need to move their focus away from bus rapid transit and concentrate on light rail. I am sure many are aware of Peter Newman’s work on a light rail proposal for Perth, and this should just be the start of a wider comprehensive light rail network extending to the coast, through development corridors, and be integrated with the heavy rail network.
That’s a great piece of technology. My concern would be, is it suitable for longer sections of track, as Perth would require a system with far more length in its tracks than Bordeaux. Looking at that article, it seems like it is only used in small sections.
Even though this is a great method of reducing emissions in the city centre, I do not think that this is a good idea at the moment.
People will start walking less, becoming less active in the main commercial areas, also, it will create more traffic congestion and pollution as people find it hard to manage the new road rules with trams along side them in the day.
The trick is to keep people walking and staying active and not just relying on transport to see the city.
Vital that we get the light rail up and running asap. Future planning for the greater Perth area should include provision for the development of tram services. Peter Newman’s plan is a wonderful starting point. Governments need to include similar experts as members of their ‘planning’ committees as they have no political agenda to restrict their vision!
Roe Hwy and Reid Hwy have brilliant medians on which heavy rail can be built. Both also have the ability to connect with the Northern Line at Balcatta (Reid), and the Mandurah Line at Jandakot (Roe). I still believe that light rail is a necessity around the suburbs as both a feeder to the heavy rail, and as an alternative way of getting to the city (Alexander Dv, Beaufort St, The causeway etc.
To Future Perth and all other bloggers here, much much more noise needs to be made about this topic. Perth is crying out for a world class transit system to bring social, economic and environmental benefits. Hannover, Germany has a population less than a third of Perth (500,000 vs 1.78 million), yet has an 8 line system covering 150 linear km. According to the transport authority CEO, more people use the LRT system than use cars. Technical drawings and diagrams are available to view over the net, they show the proposed route, how the streetscape may appear, how the roadways will need to be modified to accomodate platforms and other infrastructure. The time for action is now. Keep up the good work Future Perth.
More like a light rail to the past, adding more congestion to the city, did we not learn anything from the trams, they were taken out of the city for a reason. We must compliment the future, not today or the past! Maybe set something up for a possible future of Teleportation or a futuristic mono rail around the city and burswood and the Airport.
We really need light rail/trams now! I catch the train 10 times per week, and in all of these times the train is completely overflowing. We need a LONG-TERM solution built in the short term to help supplement our trains and buses, because, after all, most cities of our population have way more public transport options than us! For example, Hanover, which has just a third of Perth’s population, has a public transport network consisting of seven subway lines and eight tram lines. When you see that Hanover has 500,000 pop. and we have 1.7 million, and then you look at our network, we are very behind! Currently, Perth has five train lines and a spur, as well as buses that are infrequent and slow. We need light rail to fill in the gaps of areas without close proximity to a train station. I believe light rail should be in the following places: A line along South Perth starting at UWA, then Wellington Street and the new Perth Arena into the WACA, going past the causeway into Victoria Park, and down to Curtin University. We should then also build a line from Scarborough Beach down to Fremantle and down to the Cockburn Coast. The last particularly important line should go along Ellenbrook, through Morley and Dianella, then Mirrabooka and connecting with the Joondalup line. If the frequency is introduced at about 4 minutes, we could have a revolutionary tramway in Perth, so get a move on Troy Buswell, we want light rail now!
Definitely yes – the bonus is that the tram stops will be differentiated from the bus stops.
Our elected representatives really need to move their focus away from bus rapid transit and concentrate on light rail. I am sure many are aware of Peter Newman’s work on a light rail proposal for Perth, and this should just be the start of a wider comprehensive light rail network extending to the coast, through development corridors, and be integrated with the heavy rail network.
There is a ground level power supply option available, now in use in Bordeaux. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-level_power_supply So no need for overhead power lines.
That’s a great piece of technology. My concern would be, is it suitable for longer sections of track, as Perth would require a system with far more length in its tracks than Bordeaux. Looking at that article, it seems like it is only used in small sections.
Even though this is a great method of reducing emissions in the city centre, I do not think that this is a good idea at the moment.
People will start walking less, becoming less active in the main commercial areas, also, it will create more traffic congestion and pollution as people find it hard to manage the new road rules with trams along side them in the day.
The trick is to keep people walking and staying active and not just relying on transport to see the city.
Vital that we get the light rail up and running asap. Future planning for the greater Perth area should include provision for the development of tram services. Peter Newman’s plan is a wonderful starting point. Governments need to include similar experts as members of their ‘planning’ committees as they have no political agenda to restrict their vision!
More Heavy Rail is needed. Trams are also a must but we need to have heavy rail to get people around the city
Roe Hwy and Reid Hwy have brilliant medians on which heavy rail can be built. Both also have the ability to connect with the Northern Line at Balcatta (Reid), and the Mandurah Line at Jandakot (Roe). I still believe that light rail is a necessity around the suburbs as both a feeder to the heavy rail, and as an alternative way of getting to the city (Alexander Dv, Beaufort St, The causeway etc.
To Future Perth and all other bloggers here, much much more noise needs to be made about this topic. Perth is crying out for a world class transit system to bring social, economic and environmental benefits. Hannover, Germany has a population less than a third of Perth (500,000 vs 1.78 million), yet has an 8 line system covering 150 linear km. According to the transport authority CEO, more people use the LRT system than use cars. Technical drawings and diagrams are available to view over the net, they show the proposed route, how the streetscape may appear, how the roadways will need to be modified to accomodate platforms and other infrastructure. The time for action is now. Keep up the good work Future Perth.
More like a light rail to the past, adding more congestion to the city, did we not learn anything from the trams, they were taken out of the city for a reason. We must compliment the future, not today or the past! Maybe set something up for a possible future of Teleportation or a futuristic mono rail around the city and burswood and the Airport.
We should think ahead of melbourne and sydney…
Set up teleportation hey….ok mate seriously you need help.
We really need light rail/trams now! I catch the train 10 times per week, and in all of these times the train is completely overflowing. We need a LONG-TERM solution built in the short term to help supplement our trains and buses, because, after all, most cities of our population have way more public transport options than us! For example, Hanover, which has just a third of Perth’s population, has a public transport network consisting of seven subway lines and eight tram lines. When you see that Hanover has 500,000 pop. and we have 1.7 million, and then you look at our network, we are very behind! Currently, Perth has five train lines and a spur, as well as buses that are infrequent and slow. We need light rail to fill in the gaps of areas without close proximity to a train station. I believe light rail should be in the following places: A line along South Perth starting at UWA, then Wellington Street and the new Perth Arena into the WACA, going past the causeway into Victoria Park, and down to Curtin University. We should then also build a line from Scarborough Beach down to Fremantle and down to the Cockburn Coast. The last particularly important line should go along Ellenbrook, through Morley and Dianella, then Mirrabooka and connecting with the Joondalup line. If the frequency is introduced at about 4 minutes, we could have a revolutionary tramway in Perth, so get a move on Troy Buswell, we want light rail now!