200911 – Thompson – Implementation of a metro signalling system

This paper is attempting to answer the question of how to move towards a “Metro” style of
rail operation, from the traditional state wide based urban systems of today.

Australia has a rapidly increasing population and current government projections suggest
that by 2050, Australia could reach 33M people #1. This equates to over a 40% increase in
population from today, and further Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane accounts for 45% of
the total Australian population #1. This makes our “big brown land” one of the most major
urbanised population spreads in the world. If the current trend is maintained, the need to
have higher density public transport systems becomes an essential requirement. So, for
rail passenger transport in the major cities of Australia, it is contended that there are only
two realistic options: either build new rail lines with the associated timeframes which are
typically 10 years+, not including land purchases and public consultations. In NSW for
example the Parramatta – Chatswood rail project, took over 11 years to open and that was
only ½ of the line, #2.

The recent suspension of the Sydney metro project again highlights
just how difficult it is to build new railways. The alternative and far more attractive option is
to “sweat” more out of the existing rail network.