Randwick Tram Traffic Priority Sydney - Driver’s View

36 Minutes. This is essentially a Driver's View video of the line with emphasis on punctual running.

[@elmar001]

If you set the playback speed to 2 on this video then you can get the Melbourne tram experience!

[@tressteleg1]

When you cut out some long traffic light delays in Melbourne too.... 😊

[@theend9494]

The train at Disney land goes faster

[@robertryan7204]

How true

[@planetx1595]

This is a tram not a train

[@ThomasNing]

Despite tram priority at most of the lights, the sensors are not early enough, still coming almost to a stop before lights turn. I know the circumstances are different, but if you look at canberra's light rail every intersection is green and can breeze through every one at 60. Here, even 1 second faster change would be highly beneficial. And trams leaving stops should get their light asap, otherwise it's just like a bus getting stuck at every intersection because there is a stop before every light.

[@tramwayjohn]

Well said! Authorities are afraid that the trams 'might' hit somebody crossing the street. . . . . OK then, why not speed the service up when the Kingsford branch is opened in March? Why not some EXPRESS trams in the peak hours? An express could depart Randwick one minute ahead of the all stations service and run non stop to Central station, then stopping only at Town Hall Wynyard and Circular Quay. Is the concept of an express tram too radical for the government to consider?

[@ThomasNing]

John Coyle Trams run at all times with near minimum separation on a singular set of tracks with the only spaces available for crossover being Central Chalmers street with 3/4 platforms iirc. You can't have services going faster than others on the same tracks because there's no opportunity to overtake. The only way to make it work would be to wait longer after the last service to run the express, but then you ruin the 'every 6-8 minutes service', and for people waiting for the all stops along the way will have to wait significantly longer because not only do they have to wait for the express' extra separation to the tram in front, but also the slower all-stops tram no longer being '1 minute behind' the express. Have you thought it through? Also, what has speeding up the service got to do with hitting people crossing the street? Honestly though, could you show me an example of a city in the world which runs express tram services alongside all stops at all, let alone on the same tracks? that would be pretty cool

[@arokh72]

@@tramwayjohn maybe they should get hit, might stop them wandering all over the road like a bunch of sheep. Heck the stock out here move with more coordination than those Sydney twats.

[@Distritatv]

This speed is a reason for politicians to say that trams are slow. Why? This is just hurting. Trams should be fast.

[@tressteleg1]

While I would like to see the trams running faster, the several blocks of pedestrian area in George Street is lucky to be allowed a speed as fast as 20 km/h. Melbourne’s similar Bourke Street Mall allows only 10 km/h.

[@malcolmgeorge1180]

Just be grateful your city and country have them around, many other countries and cities wished to have them😊

[@craigblundell2031]

12 kms in 52 minutes = 14 km/hour !!!

[@tressteleg1]

Far from impressive.

[@craigblundell2031]

@@tressteleg1 mind you buses from this area aren't much better - the 338/339 averages about the same speed

[@rabidsminions2079]

I can ride that distance at about 17 km/h.

[@tressteleg1]

anthony mills It would not be hard to beat the tram.

[@robertryan7204]

@@craigblundell2031 not really ones going back to Central flew by the Tram, it was very slow

[@yggdrasil9039]

Fantastic tram line. But typical Sydney useless uncoordinated traffic light system designed in 1970s using reel to reel magnetic tape, and traffic lights responding only to local conditions from vehicles entering side streets that then trigger off the main road lights to red. The only priority of the main road or tramline is the traffic light system makes a "best guess" on how long to make the vehicle in the side street wait based on whether its peak hour or not. Totally divorced from whether there's no cars on the main road or 500. The same has clearly been applied to this tram line and that is bordering on ridiculous to spend 3 billion on a priority line and then not give it priority. This happens on Sydney's A roads as well, where side streets, shopping centres you name it will stop 300 vehicles on an A road so that a 2 cars can then exit the side street. Green waves were invented decades ago but Sydney's traffic management system currently being used was clearly designed before then.

[@tressteleg1]

ygg drasil There were clear signs that traffic light priority was gradually being introduced. Hopefully it will extend to all the line and Kingsford as well. It seems to me that the line opened somewhat before it was really ready.

[@yggdrasil9039]

@@tressteleg1 That's good news. It's not hard to have a sensor tell when a tram is approaching and give it priority. It still means the signalling is localised and uncoordinated, but at least it prioritises mass transit.

[@tressteleg1]

ygg drasil Comparing the situation before opening and afterwards, it was obvious that tram priority only commenced after the opening. Trams are detected in advance so hopefully fine tuning of the system will continue to shorten running times. We will just have to wait a bit longer to see.

[@yggdrasil9039]

@@tressteleg1 That's good to hear.

[@robertryan7204]

Same thing happens with the Newcastle LR. I nearly missed a Train going back to Sydney because the Tram was held up by traffic lights!

[@vicwhiteley5185]

Typical NSW "nanny state" speed restrictions and priority to crossing motor traffic. Now it's not running on New Year's Eve because of fear for pedestrians!

[@robertryan7204]

That is what is killing it. It is more a precious folly rather than an effective form of transport. Like a comment from a Wollongong Counsellor when a LR was suggested for that City, the idea was totally voted down. He said " The light Rail is a solution to a problem , that noone has found"

[@netlehien]

Robert Ryan Wollongong definitely needs a light rail solution. What's the name of the councilor saying that?

[@georgeronn1263]

Seems like if the trams were a single set instead of a double set they would be less of a traffic issue at intersections and reduced speed curves, as well as being able to provide more frequent service, but that would mean they’d need to hire more drivers.

[@tressteleg1]

When trams are running too frequently they are much more likely to bunch together. There are places where drivers could take off faster but don’t for any number of reasons.

[@samturner4406]

Was this video in slow motion? Hah why is it 20km/h in the bus way :/ needs to speed up!

[@robertryan7204]

Major criticism with this Tram it is certainly no Light Rail, it is incredibly slow

[@cats0182]

@@robertryan7204 This ain't Interurban railways. This is today's street car. You may not be old enough to remember them. I do. Goes any faster, it'll kill someone.

[@robertryan7204]

@@cats0182 I am certainly older to remember them. Unfortunately even older ones in Sydney were considerably FASTER than the mockery we have noe

[@TaurusI76]

@@cats0182 Go to any European city and watch how trams operate there, how fast they go and what priorities they are given. It's day and night. Some go up to 60 km/h and have priority over any other road user (including pedestrians, excluding police etc). Plus waiting times at stops are way shorter. This all doesn't make it the fastest means of transport still, but pretty useable inner city.

[@TaurusI76]

@@cats0182 kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5Cah4WBopWbg6M is a good example. Stop times are about 12-18s and only two times in its run it has to stop at a red for about 20 to 30 secs (not counting the stop time it had to do anyways). Accelerations are quicker too.

[@crackwitz]

glad I'm not the only one who noticed the snail's pace if THAT is the service you give people, don't be surprised that nobody uses it

[@tressteleg1]

Well people are using it, but not necessarily people who live around Randwick.

[@robertryan7204]

I would guess the numbers using it would drop off. Way to slow. I have used it took 55 mins to do the Journey. Took the Bus back second time I used it. No comparison much faster

[@jasperlaw26]

Heaps of people use it in the city i went on 2 trams 2 weeks ago and they were both packed with people

[@tressteleg1]

Hopefully I will get to Sydney next week and will check it out myself. I will be particularly interested to see what number of university students are using it from Randwick. I think Kingsford also serves another side of the university. I have yet to ride to Kingsford and of course cover it with video.

[@Simi11e]

I mean good on them to build a tram, but it will never work with that operating procedure. They should check out European cities to see how it should be run. This tram is basically crawling along. Trams also need priority at every intersecion, because it just makes sense. It can cross a intersection in second with up to hundreds passangers on. Just think about how long a intersection for cars needs tobe opened to let hundred people (around 80 cars) through. Also why are they waiting so long at stations?

[@tressteleg1]

DarkShark This video is the third I made of this run during the week. I chose it because it got the best run along George Street with almost acceptable traffic light priority at most of the intersections. This suggested to me that they are trying to fine tune traffic light priority for trams although clearly some patches still need a lot of attention. Hopefully these improvements observed during the first week will continue to spread to all the other locations needing attention and additionally that the operators will become more proficient at operating a swifter service smoothly.

[@peregrinemccauley5010]

In the 60's I lost my bus fare whilst at Randwick Primary School . I walked home to Stanley St . East Sydney , down near the ' Cross . This journey today was like being Rod Taylor strapped into the ' Time Machine ' with the handle pushed forward , and witnessing centuries old trees and dwellings disappear before my eyes , only to be replaced by concrete , glass and steel .

[@tressteleg1]

Oh well, I suppose sometimes these videos bring back unhappy rather than happy memories…

[@sillyoldbastard3280]

Wow... that was painful. I used to catch the 399 from college st as a kid to Coogee which was a 20min journey in those days. And this is progress. This should have been underground along George St to Central. The cost would have been minimally more considering they had to deal with services along that stretch and there are spare platforms at Central.

[@robertryan7204]

Why build it in George Street in the first place, too narrow too congested.Always was a problem with the old trams

[@nicholaslever-naylor8315]

Isn't underground to Central just the actual train anyway?

[@slycat1939]

A very nice comfortable scenic ride. Just love Australia. I can see it thru yours and others videos. Ty for all the videos last yr. I hope to see many more from you this year. Happy New Years to you and all your family. God bless you and thanks again for such nice enjoyable videos.

[@tressteleg1]

Thanks for your kind words. I expect to publish a new video every Friday - until I run out. Happy New Year to you and yours!

[@Ztbmrc1]

Thanks for sharing this driver's view of the Randwick Tram.

[@tressteleg1]

Marc van der Linden Thanks. Newcastle and Canberra will follow in coming weeks.

[@what_up777]

So what happened to the buses that used to go down George St? Where do trucks park for deliveries? So glad I don't live in Sydney any more.

[@tressteleg1]

Max Turbo I suppose all the buses were shoved into Elizabeth St but I can only guess. In April they will be fed into the trams at various outer locations.

[@deanl4575]

Max Turbo You mean Shitney? Trucks are allowed on certain parts though.

[@trainluvr]

Sydney is very beautiful. The tram will improve in time. Lucky to get this built now, for you never know what obstacles the future may present. We need this in Brooklyn but it will cost a minumum of $4 billion and several years, so will likely never be done. Anyway, smart people will adopt electric micro-mobility soon enough.

[@tressteleg1]

True. They have been talking about some particular line in NY for decades but nothing ever happens.

[@nullsecau]

33:50 Wasn't a T light, but a B light.

[@tressteleg1]

True, my mistake. I had been rushing all day to finish it and did not look closely enough. See if anyone else notices.

[@marcconyard5024]

Is the driver isolated from all that chatter? Wonder if they'll incorporate regular "Wynyard terminators" to clean that crossover? My god it has to be the slowest tram I've ever seen. I know it isn't a fair comparison, but the 891 Uni express from Eddy Ave we get around 18" to Gate 8 and 20" to Gate 3 where the trip terminates. When exams are on we make one stop near Darley Road but no extra running time. Since going on my new "Early AM" roster I no longer get any 891s so not sure if they're still running? I know if they are the Uni crown will still catch the bus as it takes less than half the time- won't take them long to twig! Surely they can do better with "T" priority? I remember my trips on the Bundoora line the B class flew in sections. Once I rode in an empty car back to the Depot and the driver really let rip, getting up to around 80kph.

[@tressteleg1]

I don’t think the driver would hear much behind a closed snuggly fitting glass door. They probably have not thought of running regular trips over rarely used crossovers just to keep them clean. Perhaps the shoes of pedestrians keep them fairly clean.

[@nathyatta]

It is much slower than I expected. I use to catch the bus from Central to UNSW. It looks like that would be quicker.

[@tressteleg1]

I think you will find that most buses to the uni will disappear. I just hope they speed the thing up a lot.

[@lachd2261]

@@tressteleg1 It has definitely sped up now they've fixed some of the traffic light priority. Trip planner has it as a 16-17min journey from UNSW high st to central now, which is almost quicker than the express buses.

[@tressteleg1]

Lach D Well I certainly hope so. I note you seem to be quoting Trip Planner. Anything can be ‘put on paper’. I will be a lot more impressed when you can tell me you have taken a few rides and they actually met the scheduled times. Anyway I will visit again after buses are integrated. However if Trip Planner shows just where each tram is (like my Gold Coast line) I would appreciate the link 😊

[@islandgirl6576]

Was thinking the same...

[@tressteleg1]

😊

[@automandan3066]

Thanks for this . Love the signal explanations

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@aussiejohn5835]

I felt like I was driving the tram. Lots of poles and wires. Town Hall to Circular Quay, poles only!! Just in case the third rail is a total failure, the wires can be easily added. Millions of dollars to keep Clover happy!!! You have given us a great video. HAPPY CHRISTMAS to you & your family.

[@tressteleg1]

That is the idea - make you feel like the driver. Unfortunately the ‘poles in waiting’ are slender pipes with a fat cladding. They simply don’t have the strength to hold up the weight. Thanks for your kind greetings. All the Best for Christmas and New Year to You and Yours.

[@anguscovoflyer95]

It doesn't really make sense having two tram stops super close together (The QVB and town tall ones).

[@tressteleg1]

I suppose the planners knew what they were doing. You must also consider that with these very long trams, in some places side streets are so close together that a tram stop would be longer than the block. So it would have to be put elsewhere.

[@stevending4817]

I felt like walking is faster in CBD area

[@GanderBeaver]

faster, but it's hot outside and everyone is too lazy to walk

[@carisi2k11]

It actually is if your young and fit or have a motorised scooter or wheelchair. Not so if your old walking with a stick.

[@N330AA]

It would be if you could jaywalk in Sydney or the crossing were a bit faster

[@timosha21]

Ding ding I'm a tram and I approve this video! Great footage!

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@kcobley]

The Randwick tram route in the 50's ran down Flinders St, Oxford St, College St, St James Rd, Elizabeth St, Liverpool St to Oxford St. Comparisons with the new Trams much longer route are unfair. I caught trams to La Perouse with my mother to Bare Island from St James in Elizabeth St.

[@tressteleg1]

Yes the present route is longer and of course comes from George Street not Elizabeth Street but nevertheless running a speeds seem to be somewhat lower than they need to be in a lot of places and hardly any of those traffic lights existed in tram days.

[@robertryan7204]

@@tressteleg1 well that is the reason the thing is mighty slow. In this era of mobility systems, a inflexible ,slow method of transportation is not going to cut it and will be eventually abandoned

[@tressteleg1]

Your anti-tram mind is clearly made up. I don’t have time to argue further.

[@robertryan7204]

@@tressteleg1 no I think many are rejecting it, worst infarstructure project in Australia. It will not last long at this rate. Twitter is full of anti Tram sentiment. It will die faster than the Monorail, which in comparison was at least useable. I am of the age I rode on the earlier trams and did not mind them, but this disaster needs to go

[@netlehien]

Heard that the equipments producing real-time data of trams are currently being installed so once that's completed then the trams' running time should be much faster

[@robertryan7204]

Problem is going to be pedestrians in the George St end slowing the Tram down. They said they can take 15 mins of the Journey, but agsin 40 mins to do 7kmh is not very fast at all when a Bus takes 25 mins and even the Okd Trams could do it in roughly the same time

[@wavemaker10111]

Wow...I didn’t think anything could go slower than the San Francisco streetcars I was just watching, but alas, this can!!!

[@tressteleg1]

For sure! I believe it has been sped up since then but is still nothing spectacular. I want to visit there again, but at this stage cannot say when.

[@markm8035]

So slow.... may as well ride a push bike. The issue is there are way to many rules when it comes to speed limits. Should have it as the default and let the tram driver work out the appropriate speed (Like in Melbourne).

[@tressteleg1]

They no longer trust tram drivers to think for themselves in most places. Pity.

[@markm8035]

@@tressteleg1 what is the max speed of these trams, 70kmh? I'm assuming they could do over 100kmh with correct equipment.

[@tressteleg1]

mark m I expect they could do 70 but with the design they probably would not be very safe much faster. Nevertheless I saw only one or 2 spots on the line where 60 km/h was briefly permitted and I don’t think the driver even did so.

[@markm8035]

@@tressteleg1 tracks look a "tad" bit smoother than the good old 5'3.

[@tressteleg1]

mark m I think almost anything is smoother than the 5’ 3”. Sydney train lines are so smooth you can barely feel that you are moving.

[@foreignparticle1320]

I am mystified as to why there are stops at Bridge St and QVB, when Wynyard and Town Hall (respectively) are so close by, and actually represent interchange points.

[@tressteleg1]

It is quite a walk between Town Hall and Wynyard so a stop somewhere halfway along the trip would be desirable for street transport. Probably near King Street would have been closer to halfway but it’s done now. As for the Bridge Street stop, it is about halfway between Wynyard and Circular Quay and I feel that it is fairly well placed. The traffic lights however need to be significantly improved for trams at this location. Don’t forget that the trams have replaced buses along George Street and there would have been bus stops somewhere near where those tram stops now are.

[@peterstone6307]

The last intersection where you said the driver sat at the T light, it was actually a B light. And only after then did you pass the tram tram that was in front of you at the race course.

[@tressteleg1]

Yes my mistake re B light. Rushing to complete the video...

[@IanHollis]

I think they literally got their priorities mixed up. Shouldn't trams have right of way?

[@tressteleg1]

Yes, and in George St that is largely the case even if too much time is spent at stops. Unfortunately it seems that the service is still erratic with some trams getting a much better run than others. That must be fixed. For Sydney, it is something not short of a miracle that the trams have been given any hint of priority at all.

[@markgainford5976]

The tram in the "stub" at Moore Park is a school special shuttle to Central.

[@tressteleg1]

Thanks. I did not know they ran them. At the moment I’m preparing the L3 outbound.

[@tressteleg1]

To Ed Moribus, I have no idea why your comments never appear. If anyone is banning them, it is not me. Hopefully you can see this. Ed Morbius Both my replies seem to have disappeared. Gremlins? Trying again: I have worked several decades in the area of transport safety, mostly in aviation, rail, and road. In terms of speed and safety, nothing is a patch on airline travel, but monorail is second. Full-size Rail and genuine Light Rail is a close third - the downside of these being when level crossings are involved, with occasional accidents there. TRAMS and other forms of road transport come way down near the bottom, particularly in “boutique” cities like Wellington which has very limited choices in terms of width of roads and alternative routes. Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge that Rail and genuine Light Rail work very well for many cities worldwide - hence their numbers. The important factor is having access to wide, dedicated corridors for these. Large numbers of Trams masquerading as LR don’t really count. I have not been in Sydney since its trams were installed, but my impression is that it has a nice wide corridor, and with some tweaking could be moderately satisfactory; and, as you say, the city fathers are wedded to particular styles of transport. But Trams can NEVER (because of design factors involving intersections) be as fast as “heavy” rail or genuine LR that is properly separated from other road traffic: The reason is having to comply with road speed limits. You edited your video from 52 minutes to 36, removing much downtime. But 36 minutes is still not good for 12km. Chiba Urban Flyer, more than 30 years in operation (see Wikipedia) does 12 km in 20min with 13 stops! Interesting that you should talk about monorail being “ugly”. That is the one criticism that is difficult to rebut, because “ugly/unsightly” is in the eye of the beholder. In places like Wellington, I find it ugly to see traffic jams because of accidents, roadworks, burst water mains, and special events! The city grinds to a halt for hours or a whole day at a time. No, I don’t consider deluded fools have been putting genuine Light Rail in multiple cities around the world. However, I do think it is a con job to call TRAMS “light rail”, because they are not as safe, sure, or swift as better options... Have a look at this website - www.FASTR-Wellington.com. :-) “Light Rail” was a phrase coined to give the public the impression that they were getting something much more modern than the noisy old trams they remember. Some had no choice but to run on the street, some had the luxury of a ‘railway alignment’ but most have a mix of both. The Helensvale extension of the Gold Coast light rail luckily put it close enough to my house to be useful and I regularly use it once or twice a week. Despite all the genocide predictions, nobody has ever been killed by a Gold Coast tram while collisions with it are quite rare these days. I had occasionally used the buses it replaced, and I’ll just say that the timetable was wishful thinking whereas the tram usually is on time or at the worst a minute or two late anywhere along the line. It certainly carries more people that were ever carried by the buses but like everywhere else, patronage is still picking up only slowly post Covid lockdown. Street running is a viable alternative when there are no funds to put a line underground. It is either surface trams or buses. I have ridden the Wuppertal monorail several times over the years. It serves a very useful purpose in a very constrained location but I would be amazed if any such structure were permitted by city fathers these days. Some cities object to the so-called unsightly overhead tram wires and insist upon a ground current supply as is the case in George Street Sydney. The unsightliness of a mono rail over city streets causing constant shadow without doubt would never see such an idea get accepted these days. Wellington got rid of its trolley buses recently thanks to the transport department or whoever and I expect they are wedded to a love for diesel buses just like Sydney so it will be a battle to get any other form of transport introduced to the city. I may have said before, experience has shown that when you adopt a monorail system, you are locked into just one supplier of equipment and if their system is not taken up by other cities, they just walk away and leave you without spare parts. That is what happened with Von Roll in Sydney and the Gold Coast.

[@user-pu8ty1ki6l]

What actually was the point of that short section ground level power supply if they were just going to stick those bulky light poles up every few metres anyway? Compared to the poles the wires are barely visible, and with such a short section of wireless track it seems hardly worth it introduce the added cost and operational complexity.

[@tressteleg1]

J954 The female Lord Mayor of Sydney demanded no wires even though most of the section has few aesthetic buildings, and those lumpy poles are ugly anyway.

[@dalalonda]

They could have used the Dublin Luas system where poles are not attached And the DC overhead wires are attached to the buildings so that the area would be free of ugly poles

[@tressteleg1]

Saptarishi Chakravarty Agreed but all the red tape that goes with it these days including finding engineers willing to declare that a building is strong enough to hold the wires is another difficult hurdle, so the just don’t bother, I believe.

[@SwingWestBand]

It's not for nothing that many call it "The Sydney Snail."

[@nathyatta]

Drove down from the Central Coast to ride it today. It really nice to ride on. I just feel like it is too slow, especially for how much it all cost. Between Central and Circular Quay is really.slow.

[@tressteleg1]

Naithí O'rea Pedestrian zones are always slow. It needs speeding up in other places, however.

[@ekichannelworld2239]

I enjoyed the beautiful cityscape of Sydney. Nice video.

[@tressteleg1]

The line can’t look quite attractive in the evening as well. Maybe you will like this one too. Driver's Twilight View L2 Randwick to Circular Quay kzbin.info/www/bejne/norQg3usgrdria8

[@Royal_BloodLust]

33:55 He stopped for a red T light... It was a B light that was white.. It is clearly displayed on the lights ahead. Looks as though he was trained correctly.

[@tressteleg1]

It is total stupidity that a bus can go but not a tram when both are running in the same lane. I will check it out in a few weeks from now. Usually there are some improvements from one annual visit to the next.

[@hughenden6]

im guessing Sydney cars lost two car lanes for most of the tram track? Do you have radios to talk to control or other trams? thanks for the video

[@tressteleg1]

George Street has effectively been closed to road traffic and that has been the case for over four years now. I’m not sure what the motives were for closing George Street to road traffic.

[@graememellor8319]

I dare say it will get better with time and timetable tweaks, but I can't see why they have a such a long dwell time at stops not as if they are charging batteries, like the Newcastle system that requires dwell times to recharge batteries at the stops a shorter dwell will give quicker trip times..

[@tressteleg1]

Graeme Mellor The testing time was too short and all the things which should have been fine tuned then were not. Let’s hope that it quickly improves.

[@nickhiscock8948]

Canberra new trams are far quicker than this for a longer distance too. The Canberra trams take 24 minutes end to end a distance of about 14km. Also they have absolute traffic priority on all but one junction. Hopefully when the other line opens in march there will be timetable speed improvements. The 1st thing is shorten the stop times to no more than 20 seconds per stop. The 2nd thing more traffic light priority throughout the route. Finally 60 kph running on the reserved track and middle of the street track further in the suburbs. When I hopefully ride them in May things will be faster and more reliable.

[@tressteleg1]

Nick Hiscock The operating company, Transdev, seem to have little idea of what they should be doing and unfortunately seemingly unnecessary delays are still common.

[@morganlambley8655]

Looks like a nice tram, but slow. I’m saying this as a Melbourne person though, our trams seem to gun it as soon as they can plus the traffic/tram lights are coordinated here to go hand in hand, seems like something they could look into up there. Just as an opinion from this video, there’s a fair bit of room for improvement, but they do have something to go on.

[@tressteleg1]

Yes it is slow and even the government knows that now. But whether they will bite the bullet and do what is needed to speed it up is another matter. Unfortunately I must disagree with you about Melbourne traffic lights. There is no tram priority there. Just minor things to help trams WHEN THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS GET AROUND TO CHANGING. Look at my video Gold Coast Tram Traffic Priority to see how it can be done.

[@15sixmedia]

22:35 the statue is indeed there to this day. It is a small statue in a case which is the patron saint of tunnelling.

[@tressteleg1]

Thanks. I had heard about the statue but did not know where it is. I will have to look closely next time.

[@chrismckellar9350]

Did you pass your thoughts and video on to Transport NSW? I am not sure why the outbound tram is directed to the outer line a Central Chalmers Street, slowing it down on entering/existing where it could have proceeded directly to platform . During the weekend, when there where short runnings between Central and Circular Quay using the inner platform. I do agree with you that the traffic light phasing needs major improvement.

[@tressteleg1]

I don’t think they would be interested in my comments if I approached them but I suspect that all government departments and related entities keep a close watch on social media to see what people are saying about them. The left turn into Central Chalmers Street is excessively sharp and gentle points should have been installed. Terminating trams were going into the straight road and I expect that in the future that platform will be used only by Kingsford trams with Randwick on the left so one way or the other, there is no way to cut down on use of the slow crawl into the left-hand platform. This was only one of three trips I recorded and gave the best traffic light run up George Street. That ridiculous holding back of the tram at Royal Randwick I put down to Transdev incompetence. Hopefully one day they will learn how to run a tramway.

[@chrismckellar9350]

@@tressteleg1 - I agree with your comments, especially with Royal Randwick. Personally, the left track at Central Chalmers Street should be used for short runnings between Central and Circular Quay or as overflow outbound peak overflow services if necessary and allow the main (second) out bound track for L2 and L3 services like with the inbound track for L2 and L3 services. Doing this would help to speed up services.

[@tressteleg1]

Chris McKellar From observations at CQ and Central, even Randwick, I think they want to have each service always use the same platform. And the current Central terminators will all go on to Kingsford with no normal short workers. I don’t think they know what they are doing at present, and that may continue into the future. But certainly that left track is poorly engineered for that type of tram.

[@chrismckellar9350]

@@tressteleg1 - I agree with your comment that Transport NSW don't know what they are doing. I read an article in Sydney Morning Herald that outlines the reasons why the L2 services is experiencing operational issues. Have a read - www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/why-sydney-s-south-east-light-rail-is-so-slow-and-how-to-fix-it-20191216-p53kd7.html I agree with your comment, Melbourne expertise would have been better, if Transport NSW adopt Melbourne's input to set the operational parameters for the new operation. I am not sure if coupling two 5 unit LR sets is going to improve dwell and operation times, I would have thought using higher frequency single 5 unit LR sets will reduce dwell and operational times but then that means more drivers to employ which will cost money.

[@paulhoare9184]

At 33.59 you state T light is on and driver waits. The B light was on for Buses not the T light for Trams.

[@tressteleg1]

Maybe I made a mistake. I’m in Sydney at the moment and already made two return trips on each line with the camera and hope to get more in coming days when hopefully it will be sunny with better results. I’ll keep an eye open for B and T lights.

[@Laws51]

This trip highlights the bottleneck from Liverpool Street through to Chalmers Street caused by uncoordinated traffic signals. Compare the journey from Bridge Street to Town Hall with the journey from then on.

[@tressteleg1]

Laws51 I think there was no priority before opening. I suspect it will be improved bit by bit. Some sections are clearly done, others hopefully on the list to be speeded up.

[@cats0182]

People are commenting on speed. This is today's street car. If you're not old enough to remember them, I do. This is about the speed they went in city. Interurban railways went faster between cities; that's not what this is.

[@hqqns]

So slow (compared to Melb) and ped's have a death wish :) Nice vid thanks. Nice to see trams in Sydney though, it makes a Melbournite feel more at home :D

[@tressteleg1]

No worse than Bourke St Mall where the speed limit is 10, not 20. Eventually the traffic lights will be sorted out. Melbourne’s assistance to trams at traffic lights is hopelessly bad. There is almost nothing.

[@jarnosaarinen4583]

It's not trams in Sydney, It is one tram line in Sydney to Randwick only and it cost $2.9 Billion!

[@tressteleg1]

Jarno Saarinen Wrong. It is not just one line. The L1 has been running to Dulwich Hill for years and the L3 to Kingsford, serving the west side of the uni, will open in March. That is 3 lines according to my arithmetic. And it will be speeded up with time.

[@robertryan7204]

@@tressteleg1 Generally unlike Melbourne this LR has been a debacle on a massive scale. I cannot see it bering warmly received by the general public when rhe buses are more flexible and a lot faster. One criticism I had of Melbourne was buses running to the airport, that should have been a heavy underground rail link to Melb Airport and rhe Tram link to Tullarmarine is woefully slow

[@jamesgovett2501]

Gee, it must get a bit stressed for the drivers as at the start of the film going thru the city l can’t believe the amount of stupid pedestrians that just walk out in front of the tram without looking! I was even reaching for the brake! It will only get worse with people too glued to their phones etc. anyway thanks for your really good video & printed commentary, very informative and l hope they can get their system to run more efficiently re-priorities with signals etc sooner rather than later.

[@tressteleg1]

I used to drive trams through the Bourke Street mall in Melbourne. That never worried me and putting myself in this driver’s seat, I never saw anyone to cause me concern although no doubt that can easily happen. Having the horn on these trams would be useful as you saw with the young couple jumping back, ha ha. With experience you get to recognise who is likely to get in the way, who is not, and act accordingly. I’m pleased that you like my style of video 😊

[@DVDPlus]

You should see the Tram in Jerusalem, it's even worse with the pedestrians, lol

[@tressteleg1]

DVDPlus How fast are the Jerusalem Trams in the pedestrian areas?

[@florencegomer7937]

As a new system, people are not really aware of it or thinking about it yet. It should improve over time.

[@tressteleg1]

Florence Gomer While there may be some minor delays from unfamiliar passengers, the vast majority of problems are from the way the operations are set up and run.

[@schienennahverkehrDE]

20 kp/h is fast. O_o Here in Germany only 10 kp/h are allowed in pedestrian zones. Interestring to see the new trams that my City will get too. 45 of them will arrive in the next couple of Years.

[@tressteleg1]

SchienenNahverkehr FFM Interesting. I hope Sydney does not get to hear of your 10 km/h limit. I used to drive trams through the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne and no speed limit was stated but you soon get to recognise people likely to get in your way and adjust your speed and be ready with the bell when necessary. So I am against fixed limits. Years ago a tram convention I was on in Germany had a meeting with an official from Mannheim I think it was. We were told that Mannheim found that the faster the trams went through the mall, the less accidents they had.

[@Bobrogers99]

I noted intersections where tram priority was denied yet there was no cross traffic. I agree that the signal system needs to be better coordinated! Sometimes I think timetables are created at midnight with no car traffic, and using passengers trained to leap on and off the tram in just a few seconds.

[@tressteleg1]

When the video was made on the Wednesday, I suspect that traffic light coordination for the trams had only been underway for a few days. I will be interested to see how it progresses, if at all, in coming weeks.

[@Roadrunnerz45]

1:40 - a bit early with the "this stop" announcement. although at least the accent is nice and fluent and not computerized like the sydney metro is

[@tressteleg1]

😊

[@iFlyTheWorld]

Agree that these announcements are too early or should say "the next stop is..."

[@samturner4406]

Agree. I witnessed people trying to open doors when the tram stopped at lights before the platform due to this early announcement.

[@florencegomer7937]

They should have built the platform at that first stop.

[@TrishBolan]

@@tressteleg1 Is that Gretel Killeen still ding the announcements?

[@Techno-Universal]

Definitely a very fascinating system! I’ve only seen them have electric trains in the UK before that can run on both a third rail or overhead lines though because of the third rail going along the road it would have to be safe by ether using a low voltage with a lot of current or having the actual live contacts protected under a couple of plates so the pick up would run through a narrow gap between two rails to reach the live conduits underneath! :)

[@algrigg9039]

Low voltage/high current is unsafe. It's the current that kills you, not the voltage. That's why most countries use 240V rather than 110V. High voltage/low current would be preferable.

[@Chris-mh1hv]

Thx for the vid and the many answers to many questions, unfortunately I had the displeasure to drive on the roads during construction and noted how slow the workers worked , a cunning ploy by the State government to make it all look like the contractors problem but in fact it was delayed by the government itself with their safety bylaws, I delivered to the marshalling yards and the hoops I had to jump through were ridiculous, oh what happens when all the coal power stations are closed, will there be enough power 24/7 to run all government departments ?

[@tressteleg1]

Personally I think it was the contractors fiddling the government coffers and demanding more money to finish it. According to those who watched its construction, the rate of work was terribly slow and I blame the contractors for that. I think that at least some highway widening projects are also stretched out to justify inflated costs. Fortunately Queensland only relies on limited privatised electricity and I don’t think we will run out any time soon, unlike the southern states which could well have troubles on hot days. I suspect that domestic power will be turned off before public transport power on bad days.

[@pwhnckexstflajizdryvombqug9042]

If the speeds don't increase dramatically when the L3 opens, we should all protest and start a petition.

[@tressteleg1]

Agreed!

[@deplorabled1695]

Time really for Sydney to go a skytrain model same as in BKK. Build one all the way down the major city thoroughfares,.... Parramatta Road, Canterbury Road, Princes Highway, King George's Road, Botany Road, Anzac Parade, Liverpool Road etc. It's the only way this can work at speed.

[@tressteleg1]

Unfortunately the unsightliness of elevated railways along streets, as can be found in New York, Chicago and a few other places, for better or for worse, are sure see that these will not be built.

[@deplorabled1695]

@@tressteleg1 It ca be done well if you jkeep it to major thoroughfares and it is constructed sympathetically. The BTS does this and it works. Parra Road is a blight in any case. The S-Bahn style services in many German cities operate very well and are a part of the landscape. I would tear down all the abominations built in the 60s onwards before worrying about the effect of an elevated rail line above a major road.

[@dberk71]

Nice video tressteleg1. A real eye opener. Did we get our moneys worth as this cost a fortune?

[@tressteleg1]

Darryl Berk Not yet but I saw signs of improvements in the week I was there. With sufficient will it can succeed.

[@SparenofIria]

Watching this video, I felt like I was on a bus stuck in rush hour traffic. Except that the tram has its own ROW and the bus does not. Hoping that they manage to improve service quality.

[@tressteleg1]

SparenofIria Agreed.

[@railman8454]

As someone who used to drive these, I find your comments, particularly towards the end of the video, somewhat uneducated... so I'll correct for you for the benefit of the viewers. Point one: The scissors crossover at Town Hall is not just for emergencies, it's a strategic crossover to be used when there are works on the line. It's the same sort of principle as the trains. If these crossovers were not there then bigger sections of line would be out of action when these works take place. Point two: The "stub" at Moore Park is a turn-back location. This is used for different purposes. The "school/events shuttle" uses this often to ferry crowds of children or visitors to the Sydney Cricket Ground to/from Central. It's also used for service recovery during delays or where there is a line blockage ahead. Since the reopening of the university following the end of Covid lockdowns the school shuttles don't use this turn-back as often, on order to service the university to/from Central. Point three. The lights at the top of Wansey Road (closest to UNSW High Street) do not delay trams due to a minor property entrance. The lights actually form part of the intersection with the racecourse entrance you refer to but also with High Street ahead, therefore they actually delay trams so that the other traffic can finish their cycle on green. There's a huge risk of giving trams the go ahead (white T) when conflicting traffic goes on green. Once traffic gets the green it needs a minimum time to remain for safety before reverting back to red, this includes provision for pedestrians to cross. However, at the time of me writing this, this intersection has improved dramatically, but there is still a delay if another tram has just departed UNSW High Street due to the timing out of bi-directional priority (as you alluded to at Chinatown by saying you "robbed" the priority for the tram in the opposite direction). Point four: If you watch your own video again, you'll see that the driver did NOT have a white T to go after departing UNSW High Street. That was a white B for the buses while the T remained red. Trams can't go on a white B even when there is no conflict and my esteemed ex-colleague who was driving this tram (an excellent driver trained by excellent training staff) did well not to be distracted by the white B as if a tram goes past a red T without authority it is classed as a dangerous incident (similar to trains at red signals) and these B and T signals should be allowing these movements together. To this day it's still a problem here at UNSW High Street (at time of writing) because the ground-mounted loop that the driver calls the signal for is in the wrong position relative to the tram's stopping point on the platform. This means that the T remains red until the tram sits at the stop line which triggers another loop to call for the signal. Hope this helps.

[@tressteleg1]

Uneducated, eh? Well I had six years as a Melbourne tram driver, routinely drove on every other line on the system up to 1994 at least once, and was qualified for all classes of trams up to the B class and including historic vehicles. Additionally I have ridden on around 100 overseas tramways and had test drives on some of them. I think I have a reasonable understanding of how Sydney works, and how it could work better. How long did you say you were a driver? Obviously not six years! As for point one, as the timetable has no services shown as reversing at the Town Hall crossovers, they are obviously there for unusual occurrences. In my videos I keep the text as short as possible so that the viewer is not distracted from the scene . While routine maintenance may not be a sudden unexpected emergency, it nevertheless is an abnormal situation and the word emergency is probably the best shortest word to cover all eventualities. Point two. Obviously the stub at Moore Park is to help out when special events are at the MCG, or there is a potential sudden surge of passengers from some other happening in the area. There is nothing new about this concept, and the old Sydney system had storage capacity for a large number of trams outside the Showground and SCG. In the peak hour it could be a handy spot to leave a tram to help out with any unexpected gaps in the service or a sudden influx of riders. If empty, it could be a handy spot to dump a defective tram until later. Point three. Racecourse entrance is an insignificant little cross street. If I had any say in the matter, the white T light would continuously be showing for the trams, and would only change when a road vehicle needed to cross the track with lights only changing if it would not delay an approaching tram. As for one T light being confused with the next, drivers should be able to distinguish between one crossing and another nearby. The point is with proper tram priority, the approaching tram would stop all conflicting road movements just prior to its arrival, which does happen at some other places on the L2 and L3. As the video was prepared after my first trip to Sydney, I may have missed read the B and T lights but certainly understand them now. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why the T light should not come on every time the B light appears. It’s ludicrous that a bus can proceed but not a tram. Loops? That’s old technology. I guess I made a mistake assuming that the Sydney lines use GPS location to alert traffic lights of a tram’s approach. That is certainly what happens on the Gold Coast, my local line. Anyway I’m visiting Melbourne again at the moment, to keep myself up-to-date with happening here.

[@railman8454]

@@tressteleg1 I don't see why you needed to be so defensive. I'm not going to engage in an immature conversation with you, I just pointed out some errors. I actually enjoy your videos but will not watch if I'm dealing with such an attitude. If you post videos, you should be at least able to handle some constructive criticism. You having experience with Melbourne trams has nothing to do with the ones in Sydney as they are completely different systems so I'm not sure what your point is about that, it's certainly not some sort of competition on my part (if it is so on yours, congratulations... you win). I agree with many of your points though. The loops system is quite old from my conversations with more experienced colleagues and indeed the Bs and Ts should be "clearing" together... if you think that was bad, you should have been here when L3 to Juniors opened. They got it all completely wrong with the lights like this here too. I've been on the trams in Melbourne as well (as a passenger) and I must say I think the network is a bit too complex for tram priority as many intersections stay red for trams often in the city part. I'm not even sure how the timetable is supposed to work (I've been at docklands and some trams go in after others and come back out first!) Did you do a video on that as I'd love to know how timetabling works on Yarra trams without resorting to Wikipedia or the like

[@jarnosaarinen4583]

Why did the Bin Chicken Bitterjokelien need a $3billion tram from the Quay to Randwick anyway? Who lives in Randwick Grand Ma Bitterjokelien?

[@tressteleg1]

It is not a matter of who lives there, but the million Uni students who go there each day and which the feeble bus service cannot handle. Even with uni closed, plenty of students were using it last week. Children’s hospital visitors are likely to find it useful too.

[@melonnnnnn]

And for easy train access to key sections of the city i.e George St.

[@tressteleg1]

DaWatermelon TM 😊

[@hassansayyab1194]

Awesome video Mate keep it up.

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@hassansayyab1194]

tressteleg1 All good 👍

[@jdtayloruk]

I agree those trams are slow Compared with europe

[@tressteleg1]

jdtayloruk The Mall section will never be fast. We can only hope that the rest is sped up before long.

[@deplorabled1695]

As a former bus operator, I have to say that one of the things slowing this service down is a lot to do with poor transition times. On a bus you can pull into a bus stop at a fairly decent speed safely, lower the bus, open the doors and get people on and off then pull away all within 15 to 30 seconds (except at very busy stops during peak). The tram shown here is pulling into stops painfully slowly, and the embussing is taking far too long, then they are pulling away at a snail's pace. Those slow transitions alone can add 30 - 45 seconds per stop that is unnecessary.... that adds up to 5-10 minutes late running at the end of your service.

[@tressteleg1]

I was a tram driver in Melbourne for six years and as you have possibly noticed, prepare quite a few driver’s view videos of trams and trains there so I know what can be done. Observations in Sydney are that the tramline is being run by incompetent fools and over-controlled by technology which must be slavishly followed, heavens knows why. The transport department has been a Pro-bus organisation since the 1930s so the possibility that they are keeping it slow in their timetables should not be overlooked. And the more that the George Street lines look to be failures, the less chance there is of more annoying tramlines being introduced to Sydney, to the pleasure of the transport department. My local Gold Coast tram and the line in Canberra are good examples of what can be achieved when there is a desire to do so.

[@deplorabled1695]

@@tressteleg1 I am a tram and train lover. I prefer to travel on them over buses, which I loved driving, but generally didn't enjoy nearly as much travelling in. The malevolence of govt agencies acting against the interests of the general public for their own benefit has been well documented so I wouldn't put it past govt to act in this way. Some examples - when the Lane Cove Tunnel was constructed, the operator lobbied the NSW to ensure patronage, and as such, they reduced the trains operating on the nearby North Shore Line, and closed off road exits to channel as many cars into the tunnel as possible. Even worse were the decisions stretching back decades to rip up existing tram and rail lines in the 50s and 60s in heavy favour of the road system; as it was lobbied for heavily by the oil industry - this was a phenomenon that started in the USA and became contagious almost everywhere in the western world, including infamously of course in Sydney.... but also cities like London, but also in NYC, Chicago, Paris and many more besides.

[@deplorabled1695]

@@tressteleg1 The Gold Coast tram is ace.

[@tressteleg1]

Gold Coast is fast (70km/h in places) with good punctuality. While it is hard to pinpoint transport department sabotaging the Tramway, you have to wonder why they gave the operating contract to the same mob that has been unable to produce reliability on the Lilyfield line for all the years they have been operating it. As for scrapping trams in western cities in the 1950s and 60s, unfortunately they were only doing what London and New York had done in the foolish belief that buses would better solve transport problems. It was simply the fashionable thing to do. I’m well aware that congestion charging has worked well in other cities but for the time being in Australia that would be political suicide so it’s not going to happen any time soon.

[@gbsailing9436]

I could have told everyone that this transport system was always going to be a joke - in fact I have been saying it ever since it was announced. But none will listen to me. I guarantee that in ten years, perhaps less they will run dedicated bus along this corridor. This has been he BIGGEST waste of public funds ever !!! Useless council. Useless Clover Moore!!!

[@tressteleg1]

GB Sailing What makes you such an expert in predicting? Have you been to the Gold Coast or Canberra to see how it can be done?

[@gbsailing9436]

@@tressteleg1 You must be young.

[@tressteleg1]

GB Sailing Not at all. I was quite old enough to watch the last tram routes close in Sydney. As for my experiences, I was a Melbourne tram driver from 1988 to 1994 when a motorcycle accident bought a early close to that. I had visited there regularly since 1965. I travelled overseas chasing tramways in most nations from 1975 until 1992. In that time I rode something like 100 tramways around Europe and others in the USA and had test drives of trams in quite a few places. I regularly use the Gold Coast tram and it is the only fast and reliable form of street transport. Tramways and light rail operate very successfully everywhere else except in Sydney and that is purely because of a combination of the transport department hating trams and Transdev the operators having little idea of what they are doing. Those two are problems which can be rectified with determination. So based on what knowledge is this Tramway going to forever be a joke?

[@gbsailing9436]

@@tressteleg1 Well that really does surprise me. I would have thought an adult such as yourself would realise that there are many other adults out there that have gained suitable tertiary educations. Are quite capable of conducting research and study of data concerned with such a venture, then combining that with knowledge from geographical, topographic and demographical areas, only to analyse it all at length, which ultimately would enable them to come to such simple conclusions. I may just be one such person.

[@tressteleg1]

In the absence of any facts to back up your assertions you simply resort to insults. I have more to do with my time than waste it with you.

[@davidquin8689]

What a joke. Too slow, far too long at stops, too little priority for the tram, too many corners and bends.

[@tressteleg1]

I believe that traffic light priority and stop dwell times are still works in progress. Can’t help the corners.

[@AlonsoRules]

Sydney wasn't built for trams

[@tressteleg1]

Anthony Kernich well it used to have the biggest tramway in the Southern Hemisphere and a lot bigger than Melbourne today.

[@robman2095]

David Quin They also have to give the pedestrians a chance to get used to looking for trams otherwise they are going to kill too many of them

[@tressteleg1]

Robert Manly Every day they will always be people seeing the trams for the first time. A bit more assertiveness by tram drivers including use of bell and horn will get most people awake sooner or later. But drivers will always have to look out for the odd day dreamer.

[@MichaelPolios]

I don't why they bothered putting the tram on George Street, from Central to Circular Quay. There's already a transport option, and it's also an easy walk (31 mins according to Google Maps). The light rail options takes 25 mins. They should have just had it pedestrianised and left it that.

[@tressteleg1]

Michael-Francis Polios There had been a ‘conga line’ of slow moving buses crawling along George St especially at busy times. The intent around April 2020 is to feed those bus services into the trams which by then should be providing a faster service along George St. That is the theory anyway. Wait and see.

[@nicholasdemetriades3480]

I catch the tram daily...it has improved since day 1

[@tressteleg1]

Picatchu g It would want to! But just yesterday on the Trams Down Under discussion group there was yet another report of a hopelessly slow trip. It is not good enough. Gold Coast and Canberra work like clockwork.

[@samturner4406]

They really need more priority on Alison Rd crossing

[@tressteleg1]

Sam Turner It may be a fluke, or maybe they have got around to treating that crossing, but in this video Priority was fine. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rauwkIJrjJdpmc0

[@asimplecheeseburgerwfries469]

After not being to the CBD in years, a few months ago I took the Light rail for the first time to get from the QVB to Circular quay. It would have been cheaper and quicker to just walk the distance. They got rid of the monorail for this garbage? What a disgrace. Besides, what was the point of scrapping the old Varios? Why couldn't they have supplemented this new fleet?

[@tressteleg1]

The monorail I knew went nowhere near Circular Quay and managed to have its stops nowhere convenient to any other transport. The reason it closed was that the technology was crap, Sydney was one of the few places that fell for it, and eventually Von Roll who devised this one gave up, quit the product leaving users without spare parts. If you don’t like the tram, walk next time.

[@tressteleg1]

Regarding the Varios, some bean counter decided that buying new trams cost the same as giving a half-life overhaul to the Varios and we ended up with the CAF rubbish that started falling apart after 13 years (and in a number of overseas cities as well).

[@grandpacocky7618]

Slow as a wet week. If we had one to compare it with!

[@tressteleg1]

Gold Coast or Canberra are good comparisons - faster ones, that is.

[@robertryan7204]

@@tressteleg1 They are actual LR's although the Canberra one was built using Walter Burley Griffins plan. Most Canberrites still feel it was a waste of money

[@tramwayjohn]

PAINFULLY SLOW! Trams should do 50 km/h in the street or 70 km/h on reserved track, as happens on the Gold Coast!

[@tressteleg1]

Unfortunately it seems that speed Demons are set by people who most likely have never driven trams. The days when tram drivers are allowed to think for themselves seem to be long gone, unfortunately. Even my local Gold Coast line has stupid restrictions in places.

[@tressteleg1]

Should say Speed Limits...

[@tramwayjohn]

@@tressteleg1 BUT those speeds are observed when that is viable, depending on traffic conditions. Just as a highway might be 110 km/h but the traffic is at a standstill! The trams on the Gold Coast DO the 70 km/h often but the Sydney light rail has to observe 20 km/h and 40 km/h ROAS speed limits, when the trams SHOULD be allowed higher speeds. . . . in my opinion. The fastest light rail is in Canberra and the slowest is in Newcastle, as you know, I think.

[@tressteleg1]

John Coyle I use the GC line regularly. Certainly it has 70km/h limits in places but is still governed by road speed limits. South of Northcliffe the line is 70 quality but trams are only allowed 60, same as traffic. A few blocks through Surfers are 25 limited and this must not be exceeded. Tram drivers can assess what speed is appropriate taking into account the number and nature of people in the street, but are not allowed to take that into account. There are some needlessly slow limits between the eastern curve entering Smith St and also the rarely used controlled footpath just west of there. The biggest hindrance especially affecting northbound is that T lights only activate for the requested direction and at times, particularly northbound at Admiralty Drive the northbound tram is sitting at the Red T light watching the southbound tram come and go. Both Canberra and Sydney suffer from T lights ‘stolen’ by the opposing tram but Canberra delayed trams seem to have the shortest wait. GC is not perfect, but rather good. As for Sydney...

[@Parker6432]

What is the knocking at 32.16???? Sound like a flat spot? on the bogie wheels?

[@tressteleg1]

I think a wheel ran over something which stuck to the wheel as it seemed to fade away with distance.

[@stephenthompson5260]

Thanks for the video with excellent explanations. 10:50. What was the “A” signal? We removed trams from Sydney when I was a child. Why we decided to put street level trams back in Sydney’s relatively narrow streets is beyond me. A monument to some politician. We should have put all of that money into the (off-street) Metro system. Unlike busses, street level tram systems are totally inflexible and do not work in with other traffic,

[@tressteleg1]

But the trams carry a lot more people with just one driver. Riders never know where a bus will go. With a tram you can be certain. Passengers prefer trams.

[@tressteleg1]

I did read what the A stood for. I think it was something like the system has recognised the presence of a tram at the stop/signal.

[@florencegomer7937]

The time is coming when the other traffic (in the form of cars) will largely disappear. Maybe a decade or two away, maybe sooner.

[@tressteleg1]

Florence Gomer City centres should not be clogged with cars. Many European cities excluded them years ago.

[@florencegomer7937]

tressteleg1 ... Yes. A smaller number of large vehicles moving lots of people all at once is the way to go. Light rail, trams, buses, whatever. It frees up masses of space for cycling and walking.

[@florencegomer7937]

Some of those turns are a bit too tight, e.g. 18:25 where you can hear the extra wear on the wheels and rail.

[@tressteleg1]

Florence Gomer I am sure the trams are designed for the sharp curves. It’s only trains that have real limits.

[@bar10ml44]

How long before the windows are all scratched. Every tram in Melbourne has been vandalised in some way.

[@algrigg9039]

Let's be clear. This is a tram line, NOT a Light Rail system! For those of you who are old enough, it has pretty much just replaced what was removed in the late 1950's. And no improvement in the technology or timing, either. Unless they can get these trams prioritised, and to not waste over a minute at each stop, oh, and to run FAST, it is a total waste of money.

[@tressteleg1]

The term Light Rail was a sales pitch to try to convince people that new trams were nothing like the noisy clanking trams of the past. Nevertheless when ‘Light Rail’ is (re)introduced into a region, nearly everyone in the populace simply calls them trams. Even the most dogmatic LR proponents like Sydney end up having the word tram used somewhere or other on official publications or street signs etc. There is nothing wrong with the new Sydney trams. Just incompetence, malice, or both which which makes the trips so dreadfully slow. The latest timetable has a running time of 37 minutes so even if a tram does get a good run, it cannot leave any stops early and do the trip faster.

[@algrigg9039]

@@tressteleg1 Yep. I agree with all of that. But geez, for a new 'tram', it sure sounds noisy and clunky!!

[@algrigg9039]

And I can tell you that Melbourne trams do a much better job under worse circumstances!

[@tressteleg1]

Al Grigg Melbourne trams get absolutely no priority except for the occasional sevensecond T light which many intersections lack. Trams are often stuck for over a minute at red lights. You need to go to Canberra or Gold Coast to see what real priority is like. And don’t waste your time in Adelaide on the street sections.

[@tressteleg1]

Al Grigg Really? No different from anything in Melbourne.

[@jesusflonch7955]

Why do they seem to drive so slow?? Are the drivers just to nervous to add speed or just fresh?? Also the priorities at lights seem to be such an easy programming fix but seemingly overlooked?

[@tressteleg1]

Hopefully all the issues will be solved soon.

[@15sixmedia]

There’s no issues with drivers. It’s the speed limits. 20km/h through City North, too many issues with dwelling at traffic signals.

[@tressteleg1]

15sixmedia There are signs that some traffic light priority is being improved. At least the limit is 20. The Bourke St Mall in Melbourne is now 10km/h. When I drove it around 1990 the drivers were allowed to decide how fast to go for safety. Few problems.

[@tressteleg1]

peterhoz I don’t have time to reply to all your comments in detail but it does seem as though things like fine tuning of traffic light priority did not happen, and was probably prevented by, the traffic light people until after the opening and hopefully further find tuning will continue. As for whether it is a tramway or light rail line is nothing but sales pitch from the New South Wales transport people. During construction they were adamant that they were not building a Tramway and as such refused to consider any Melbourne practices. As the railway lines were already nominated T1, T2 etc obviously the trams had to be called something else so L1, L2, L3, is reasonably logical. As the use of T for tram on traffic lights, that is an Australian wide convention and no matter what it is, the white T light for a tram or light rail is law. Just as the symbol of a Melbourne style W tram is the Australian convention for any street running rail vehicle.

[@melonnnnnn]

I don’t know but personally, I don’t want to hit some dumb pedestrians at 40kmph

[@younghart2745]

maybe the light rail needs to be 4 cars instead of 8, just more frequency

[@tressteleg1]

As I have explained before, shorter trams will block cross streets more frequently and I found out when tram driving in Melbourne, if headways are too close, bunching of trams occurs much more easily and this results in slower running.

[@johnparry7917]

How old is the system, it was not there in 2011 when I was last there. Also the signaling needs adjustment to give priority but nice video

[@tressteleg1]

Opened Dec 2019. Apparently it has been sped up a bit but with Covid have not got back yet to check.

[@netlehien]

Seems to me like the QVB and Town Halll stops are located too close to each other, people walking would be quicker than e trams having to wait at the traffic lights

[@tressteleg1]

Hien Le Agreed but I suppose there was some reason for its location there. Traffic lights seem to be on the improve.

[@pwhnckexstflajizdryvombqug9042]

I have never fully understood there dogmatic insistence on the fact that it is a "light rail" it's like they employ an entire department to ensure that the word "tram" is NEVER used. Even with signs which say tram in any other state, in NSW they have their own version with light rail on them instead. While most states don't seem to care, Sydney pushes it so far that it is comical. Even if they want to make it clear that this is not like the old tram system, they aren't doing a very good job because every news outlet and even the transport minister have made direct comparisons to the old network. Really, most people would rather the old network because at least those trams went reasonable speeds.

[@tressteleg1]

‘Light Rail’ was originally a sales pitch to avoid the mental image of noisy old trams. Sydney also uses that as an excuse not to learn anything from Melbourne’s expertise. Hopefully those stupid attitudes will change before long. I expect that most people will simply call them trams. That’s what they actually are. It just needs to operate a lot faster.

[@harrygoldun5779]

Try the L1, signage along that line at crossing points for pedestrians, states “Beware of the trains”. Go figure!!

[@harrygoldun5779]

I wanted to slash my wrists watching that, how painfully slow to travel nigh on 2.5 kilometres in 20 odd minutes. You could almost get to St. Kilda Beach from the corner of Swanson St on Route 96 in that time. Bloody awful service, needs tweaking desperately.

[@tressteleg1]

Harry Goldun Exactly, and that run to Chinatown was the best of 3 recordings I made.....

[@melonnnnnn]

I see it that Sydney’s “light rail” fits the definition of LR better than trams as the majority of the network doesn’t run ON road surfaces.

[@riley9663]

There is ALREADY a train from circular quay to central that takes a few minutes. I know no Sydney Sider that would waste their time pulling their hair out on this lame tourist attraction.

[@tressteleg1]

Riley Lauder It is a bus replacement service. Plenty were riding it during last week, without bus passengers yet added.

[@vicwhiteley5185]

Does it stop at Chinatown?

[@tressteleg1]

Vic Whiteley If you watched all the video, you would know the answer 😊

[@fordlandau]

Just travelled on it. The tram stops too frequently. The traffic lights should be programmed to give it the green all the way. Long stops at ‘stations’. Slow running in the right of ways. The trip took over 50 minutes. A lot of work is needed to sharpen things up.

[@tressteleg1]

This is just one of three trips I recorded and the other two were under 44 minutes which is still too long. I chose this version as it had the best run along George Street. It was also the newest of the recordings and this suggests that some work is being done on improving traffic light priority for trams. We can only hope that stop the well times become a lot shorter as well as the running time in general. I hope that regular riders keep us up-to-date with any improvements.

[@tacitdionysus3220]

My understanding is that this route is planned for 38 minutes, but they're deliberately running it slower for the present (about 50 mins). There's the other section to Kingsford yet to be opened in 2020 and the buses to then be re-organised to integrate with the LR. I suspect the speeding up will occur after that. I'd have to say though (and you can see it on this clip in places) it's not the light rail that the 'learning' so much as people getting their head around how to relate to it (so many with eyes glued to mobile phones when crossing, etc).

[@tressteleg1]

Tacit Dionysus 38 Minutes is nothing spectacular. Let’s hope it will do better than that. It will be interesting to see what happens when all the bus routes feed into it. People not watching what they are doing because their heads are stuck into mobile phones is not a rare event anywhere these days.

[@tacitdionysus3220]

@@tressteleg1 I'd agree with that, even though it's about a 25% improvement, it's nothing like the speed of Sydneys trams prior to the 60s. As for the mobile phone zombies, it is incredible how they will enter a roadway or tram tracks doing that. They probably think they should have an app that will warn them, sigh!. (Wonder if it will ever look like 2.40 in kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5WWZnqMoLOHeac)

[@tressteleg1]

Tacit Dionysus A few times I rode the original trams in George St and elsewhere. The world and Sydney has changed since then. George St was not a mall and so speeds could be faster. Give it time. It could become something good.

[@leroyybrown]

I was a bit concerned with the rough ride between Wansey Rd and UNSW, sounded like a flat spot on the wheels

[@tressteleg1]

I heard that but I suspect that the tram ran over something that stuck to the wheel. The noise faded after a while.

[@ds1868]

It would faster to walk than to take this tram!

[@tressteleg1]

True. That must be fixed.

[@daciatravel.647]

Very good video!!!

[@berenscott8999]

I'm sure things will improve over time. But, I think acceleration looks a bit slow due to the length of the tram. Trams in Melbourne are notorious for sending standing passengers flying, especially when the floor is wet. Dwell times are a problem, I mean, it's a huge tram, no shortage of doors. Gotta teach those passengers how to get on and off faster. I mean, you are stopping longer then a train at this point. The T lights need to be given priority, no question. But, this looks very successful, lots of passengers already, and it's only a new service.

[@tressteleg1]

On straight track there is no reason to limit acceleration except for standing passenger comfort. On my local Gold Coast tram, I make a point of run walking its length without holding on while moving along even at 70 km/h. The drivers are smooth but I would never do this in Melbourne and not just because in mixed traffic use of the track brake may suddenly be needed. Virtually all the drivers in Sydney never drove trams before so it may take time to gain confidence but nevertheless a lot needs to be done to improve traffic lights which do have some facility for priority which needs to be improved. If you have not seen my latest video about Melbourne, you will see that the operation is far from perfect. Driver's View Tram 96 East Brunswick to City - Melbournekzbin.info/www/bejne/nnPIep5jfbWffKM

[@berenscott8999]

@@tressteleg1 I'm 50 50 on the length of the trams as well. That has to cripple your acceleration. But, I am pretty sure that the major issue here is the number of lights along the route, better priority definitely. Sydney needs more trams and less vehicles on the road, so converting more roads into tram only is the key here.

[@tressteleg1]

Beren Scott As both trams have the same number of electric motors and the power supply is not limited, except for going around curves there is no reason to accelerate slower. Certainly the traffic lights need to be improved. The fiasco behind this line at this stage makes the chances of more city street conversions totally unlikely. Everyone would be opposed to it.

[@berenscott8999]

@@tressteleg1 It's like this, as I will explain. You know the tram squares in Melbourne with the extremely low speeds. Well, a longer vehicle needs to reduce down to the lower speed for the entire length of the vehicle. So, let's say that slow speed zone is not even very long, a longer vehicle would need to dwell in that area for much longer due to length. By design, these vehicles are long and meant to have long dwell times at stops. Whereas Melbourne trams are meant to have a much higher frequency and low dwell times. Sydney is a city that suffers from too many people and a lack of infrastructure to move those people around. So, the instant you put any type of infrastructure down, it's instantly at full capacity, like this tram. It's entire double length is completely full to the brim, and dwell times are crazy. More tram lines and less cars would always help, but imagine convincing people of this. Long term, people will get used to the trams, and over time, they will come to love it.

[@SalocinDotTEN]

nice! really feels like and brings back memories of Melbourne. no unsightly overhead wires too for city centre. although unlike Melbourne, it stops at every station.

[@tressteleg1]

Gold Coast, Canberra, Newcastle and Dulwich Hill lines also stop at all stops.

[@paulcarpenter926]

The biggest obstical on the roads are the trams and by the way theyclosed off roads to normal traffic to accomadate the poxy trams. The trams are just like the New Sydney Air Port wrong place and wrong time.

[@norbertfransewitz8486]

Sprachlos 😁👍 Danke für diesen ganz Tollen Einblick

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍. Danke, aber mein ‘Lokalbahn’ ist ganz besser und sneller! Gold Coast Tram Traffic Priority kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZ3IkmOvasaBgKM

[@yetifuzz]

TLDR (too long didn't ride)

[@florencegomer7937]

The bridge street stop would have been better off built where the tram stopped at the lights. One productive stop instead of wasting time before the real stop.

[@tressteleg1]

Florence Gomer The so-called expert planners don’t seem to have much of an idea what they should be doing, unfortunately.

[@OliversElevators]

I thought the new ION LRT in Waterloo, Ontario was the slowest light rail/tram system, but I have to say, this one takes the cake. This is painfully slow - why? I get that it’s in a very busy area with lots of pedestrians, but can’t they at least put a fence on the sides of the tramway to allow the trams to go faster than walking speed?

[@tressteleg1]

The mall is what the council and state government wanted, so a fence is not wanted. However the bureaucratic ‘experts’ have dictated unrealistically low speeds in other places along the line. That is the way of ‘modern engineering’ unfortunately. The implementation of traffic light priority for trams has only been half-heartedly implement by the traffic authorities. I suppose the miracle is that they allowed any to be done.

[@elricho117]

Ridiculously slow!! I lived in Europe for a few years and every tram i caught (in every city) was 2.5x-3x faster!! I'm embarrased for Sydney. Tourists would be laughing at us.

[@tressteleg1]

El Richo Ride the Canberra or Gold Coast lines to see how it could be done. No heart for speed in Sydney it seems.

[@hamwank]

I bet this is the last time you use these trams judging by the amount of complaints made during this vid

[@tressteleg1]

Greg White In the week I was there I saw clear signs of some attempt to give better priority for trams, something which appeared nonexistent before the opening. Hopefully speeds will gradually increase with more fine tuning and hopeful gains in competence by the operators.

[@robertryan7204]

@@tressteleg1 still woefully slow and the length cuts off side traffic

[@nevillemignot1681]

It does beg the questions of why so slow, and why so long at stops?

[@tressteleg1]

neville mignot Those are the questions on everyone’s lips. Let’s hope some improvements are made soon.

[@deplorabled1695]

Ban all private motor vehicles from CBD and Inner suburbs from 0600 to 1800 during the week.

[@tressteleg1]

Probably a good idea but shopkeepers will scream blue murder and any government keen to hold onto power will never respond.

[@deplorabled1695]

@@tressteleg1 Then make them pay like they do in London. The movement away from cars is inevitable. We need to make our CBD pedestrian/cycle/mass transport accessible and make it entirely unfavourable for private cars.... the Dutch and Germans have done it and it works.

[@fuoco13]

Great line but, the light rail should be given priority over other traffic, just as in most other overseas cities that have trams.

[@tressteleg1]

fuoco13 Agreed. I thought that in the week since I was there that priority improvements would have continued, but somebody who rode it yesterday said it took 53 minutes to get from circular Quay to Randwick which is truly quite appalling.

[@ricky5538]

Bring back the monorail ! Much faster in the air and better, but not just in a circle path, but in and out of the city from Anzac bridge way, through city on to Randwick instead of this.

[@tressteleg1]

If monorails were such a great idea the world would be full of them, but those over 5km in length are few.

[@marektarnowski1958]

Hello from Poland. Are these trams powered by a third rail? How is the topic of safety for pedestrians crossing the tracks?

[@tressteleg1]

Yes it is the French APS (Alimentation Par Sol) System and the third rail sections are quite short and only energised when a tram is passing over the top. Nevertheless when I cross the road, I make sure not to step on that third rail just in case it is alive. The system was first used in Bordeaux France and later a few other places in the world. It could probably be argued that its use in Sydney was a bit of an extravagance and not very necessary.

[@marektarnowski1958]

@@tressteleg1 Thanks for the clarification. This undoubtedly improves the appearance of the city's architecture (without the catenary). In terms of security, the system had to undergo extensive testing. However, as you said, there is a fear when crossing the tracks .. Sincerely.

[@tressteleg1]

Not so much so fear. Can you name a machine that has never ever ever failed to work just once? I just see it as a simple precaution not to step on the rail. Overhead work can be very unobtrusive, especially when it is anchored to existing buildings but so-called ‘light rail planners’ who seem to always have a heavy rail background Choose the heaviest, ugliest, most obvious poles you could ever think of installing. ‘Old-fashioned tramways’ often do things much more neatly.