u/holyhesh

By the year 2035. Assuming that the SRL, Melton electrification & Upfield extension to Wallan, the Airport Link and the Sydney Metro all go ahead we'll see

Sydney:

• 112km of metro
• 335km of suburban train network.
• 447km total transit network.
• 25% of their total network will be a metro.
• 2 Airports, 2 Airport lines.
• 2 proper CBDs (Parramatta - This one is more of a geographical advantage that Sydney has, really can't compete here).

Melbourne:

• 26km of an automated metro line.
• 1 Airport line.
• 0 proper secondary CBDs. (Just look at the station precinct impression plans, and tell me if you think they can rival Parramatta, they can't.)
• Total suburban network of 492 km (+62km in extensions and Airport Link)
• Total train network of 518km. (+26km from with SRL)
• 5% of our total network would be a metro.

Someone explain to me, how Sydney can build 112km of metro in 22 years (2013-2035), or about 5.0km every year and we'll be stuck building the SRL North and East (~35km + 26km) which is 61 km in 28 years or about 2.1km every year. They're building twice as fast as we are and they're building it cheaper. I find it difficult to believe that this is purely because of geological difference in the stones that both our cities sit on.

People here like to claim that it's because Sydney is just sandstone while Melbourne is more difficult to dig through. Sure, but TBMs can dig the tunnels anywhere between a few months to a year, right? That doesn't explain why it takes so long to actually install the rails and the wirings within the tunnels themselves. I swear saying it's geology and just geology is just copout answer at this point.

A part of me think's its in part of the CFMEU corruption which is certainly true to an extent but I don't think it can account for Sydney building more than twice as fast.

Delayed, unreliable and forced into long detours due to construction: Germany no longer sets the pace when it comes to rail travel — and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The company is mired in a deep crisis.

- Nissan CEO touts vehicle quality, new models in U.S. turnaround effort
- Nissan veering away from rental-car sales in bid to lift brand image
- A hybrid version of Rogue SUV is planned for late this year

So the one thing that I will "fault" our transit for is the major lack of commuter rail.

WCE was acceptable for 95, but it's 2026 and we still only have a part time one directional heavy rail line.

Montreal and Toronto have several all day or at the very least daily including weekend services.

I know we're up against leasing the lines from cp/cn, but I'm sure just like go we can acquire our own rail or build some out.

I don't recall seeing anything in the 2050 planning for commuters other than sending the expo line to Langley.

Transport for London (TfL) has launched a public consultation on detailed plans to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead via Beckton Riverside, marking a significant step forward for one of east London’s largest transport and regeneration projects.

The opening of a multibillion-dollar metro rail line to Sydney’s new international airport risks being delayed until 2028 as switching on power at stations, and other work on the troubled project, runs late amid a protracted dispute between the state government and contractors.

Confidential Sydney Metro documents reveal bureaucrats in January warned of an “elevated” risk to the 23 kilometre metro line’s latest targeted completion date of late December next year, raising the prospect of it slipping into 2028, extending the delay in opening it to about 18 months.

The officials cited an “overall sharp reduction in achievement of planned [versus] actual installation activities”, as well as delays to delivery of trains and other significant equipment such as power transformers.

The rail line was originally meant to open when passenger flights start at Western Sydney Airport in October. Monthly reviews for the rail project show target dates for turning power on at stations such as St Marys, followed by those for commissioning them, have slipped.

A review in January said progress on mechanical, electrical and plumbing work at stations was “inconsistent”, and “most problematic” at St Marys and the airport terminal station. “This has resulted in delay to forecast for critical [high-voltage] room readiness,” it said.

A stabling and maintenance facility at Orchards Hills for the fleet of new driverless trains faces delays of almost two months in switching on power, which officials concede “does not provide confidence in the overall program”.

The 23-kilometre rail line to Western Sydney Airport is set to open at least a year late.
The documents confirm delays in shipping 12 trains built by German multinational Siemens from Europe to NSW.

Under the latest timeframe, the first train to arrive in NSW “has been delayed” from May 12 to June 10, almost a month later than planned due to customer testing in Vienna.

“The remaining trains will arrive in three-week intervals, except for trains one and two, which arrive on 29 April 2027,” it says, noting that the latter are undergoing testing on tracks in Germany.

After a two-month sea voyage, the first train will arrive at Port Kembla this month before it is transported in early July to the Orchard Hills stabling yards.

The January review also cited a delay of three to four weeks to forecast construction work as installation of rail systems at stations nears. “Set alongside the delay in train delivery, this trend raises questions for Siemens’ scope,” it said.

Even before the warnings in January, a review in September advised that “ongoing delay” to powering the Orchard Hills stabling and maintenance facility raised the potential for “increased schedule risk to forecast date for completion”, which at the time was December next year.

It also said the delivery of the last metro train from Europe had been delayed by 21 weeks compared to what had been planned in February last year.

“Toyota’s ultra-luxury Century brand remains under study for Australia, but Lexus says any local launch is likely years away.”

The engineer in charge of Toyota's new RAV4 has secretly driven a Chinese car – and there's plenty he liked.

“The engineer in charge of the new RAV4 has complimented the technology in Chinese cars after a secret test drive as part of developing the brand's latest family SUV.

While the executive liked what he saw, Toyota is not about to copy the likes of BYD, Geely and more, if it believes it is compromising on its reputation for quality and reliability.

Toyota RAV4 chief engineer Yoshinori Futonagane told Drive through an interpreter that he has driven a Chinese car as part of work on the Japanese giant’s new SUV.

……

“

New press release/announcement from JR Central about even more all-reserved seating periods on Nozomi trains on the Tokaido & Sanyo Shinkansen that will – surprise! – be going into affect this year:

• Golden Week: 4/24/2026 – 5/6/2026
• Obon: 8/7/2026 – 8/16/2026
• Silver Week: 9/18/2026 – 9/23/2026
• Sports Day: 10/10/2026 – 10/12/2026
• Labor Thanksgiving Day: 11/21/2026 – 11/23/2026
• Year-End Holidays: 12/25/2026 – 1/5/2027
• Coming of Age Day: 1/9/2027 – 1/11/2027
• Vernal Equinox Day: 3/20/2027 – 3/22/2027

After reducing the number of unreserved cars from 3 to 2 last year, it really does feel like they're just trying to maximize profits, slowly killing off unreserved seating and making riders' lives more inconvenient in the process, and sacrificing the flexibility that the Japanese rail network famously allows for.

As Shunzo Miyawaki put it, "指定席は不自由席"...

> “All in all, the sale gives a paradoxical impression. On the one hand, all the cars were sold. On the other, the majority were sold below estimate. This sends a strong signal to the classic car market.

> The Fritz Neuser collection had everything it needed: a strong personal history, a predominantly Italian focus, important Ferraris, rare Alfa Romeos, a charming Lancia and several cars with interesting pedigrees. But the buyers made their choice. They rewarded the most coherent, desirable and well-documented models. They punished cars that were too recent, too modified, too atypical or simply too ambitiously priced.”

Also his 1971 Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Sport with 25,120 km was sold at 14,448 euros for an estimated 15,000-25,000 euros. That’s a goddamn steal even if the only people who remember the Fulvia are ageing closeted Lancia nerds who remember a 1972 Fulvia won in the predecessor to the WRC

“The new report argues that despite massive investment in hydrogen-powered buses in Poland, electric buses are less costly and less polluting due to Warsaw's reliance on non-renewable hydrogen. In contrast, Germany emerges as a success story for hydrogen buses.”

Premier Chris Minns should ignore Treasury bean counters and fast-track a $3bn extension to Sydney’s light rail network that would unlock 50,000 homes and help future-proof the city, industry experts say.

Under a proposal floated by Business Sydney, 8.5km would be added to the existing southeast corridor, incorporating 13 new stops and stretching the light rail route from Kingsford to La Perouse along the Anzac Pde median strip.

In a report prepared by the advocacy group, the initiative is pitched as part-solution to the housing crisis by creating substantial development opportunities, while also delivering a rail commute option to the area.

Former transport minister David Elliott and renowned “city shaper” Tim Williams, who was instrumental in delivering several ground-breaking mass-transit projects in the UK, are on board with the proposal.

But both warned bureaucrats will likely want to derail the plan.

“Treasury is the enemy of civilisation everywhere,” Dr Williams said, detailing frustrations he faced in Britain.

“Every one of the projects I put up as an exemplar (and eventually had approved in the UK), they opposed. They were wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong.”

Those projects included a $7bn Jubilee line extension on the London Underground – completed in 1999 – that drove regeneration of the city’s Docklands area.

Dr Williams worked for the Tim Blair and Boris Johnson governments, moved to Australia, was appointed Committee for Sydney CEO, and is now cities lead for international architecture firm Grimshaw.

He said the southeast light rail extension proposal was “not intimidating, and highly doable”.

“Sydney needs to maximise housing and jobs in well-connected, sustainable precincts, without raising congestion on the roads,” he added.

“Sometimes the things we want to do are crazy. You need tremendous eyesight to see them on the far horizon. But this is on our doorstep. It makes perfect sense.

“We are talking about a place transformation strategy … unlocking homes … no or minimal property acquisitions. This is opportunity hidden in plain sight.”

Mr Elliott said the southeast light rail extension, with an expected four-year timeline from approvals to completion, would require no digging or tunnelling and should be “relatively stress-free”.

“Treasury are always a problem,” he said. “But we can do this efficiently and effectively.

“I think Chris Minns has made a big mistake by putting the brakes on public works.

“He’s preoccupied with budget repair … and he wouldn’t have needed to do that if he hadn’t lifted the (NSW public sector wages) cap.”

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou added: “This is about vision and not losing nerve. More than 50,000 homes … that is transformational.

“We need to progress, not pause. Don’t ignore opportunities of this scale.”

A government spokesman said: “The government welcomes all ideas to deliver more housing in Sydney.”

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiCxOXxy8OUAxWOUaQEHbShGAUQxfQBKAB6BAgPEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnsw%2Fthe-3bn-sydney-light-rail-plan-that-could-ease-the-citys-housing-crisis%2Fnews-story%2F5e7b74ac8b01799ce3b4b27a49febaf9&usg=AOvVaw1oNJIYOccTYXw7wFvmL5oi&opi=89978449