Millenium Train Trials

November 22 2002

Some bedtime reading for you all...

It's not just late delivery from which the Millennium trains suffer, but apparently also frequent late running for the ongoing trial period rosters. I have noticed the (approx) midday Down Shore about 10 minutes late on a few occasions, and once truncated at Hornsby instead of proceding to Berowra to recover. Today I endeavoured to pick it up as the 10:32 am out of Emu Plains and note its progress.

As the trial period rosters are just for four-car sets (any ideas why, is it just ongoing crew training or could it be related to the signalling interference problem?), they are kept out of the peaks. The North-West Sector roster starts by terminating the 8:46 Up Shore out of Lindfield at Central (empty eight cars to wherever) and replacing it for the run to Emu Plains by a Millennium set delivered from Eveleigh via the city circle to Platform 18. Today, Up Shore services at that time were about 5 minutes late and the Millennium set was slotted in two trains ahead of its proper place with consequent further delays to these services. Thus I, and presumably some others, missed this Emu Plains service. Accordingly, I settled for St Marys to pick up the Up Millennium.

A log of time behind schedule (to the nearest quarter minute) follows:

St Marys: 2 minutes behind 10:44 am, possibly due to an InterUrban(which passed at 10:40 am) delaying the Millennium out of Emu Plains

Blacktown: 3.5 miutes after an excessive dwell at Blacktown

Parramatta: 4.75 minutes

Lidcombe: 6.25 minutes after flat cross S to M at Auburn due to track possession

Strathfield: 7 minutes after return to S at Homebush

Central: 7.75 minutes

North Sydney: 8.75 minutes

Chatswood: 9 minutes

Gordon: 9 minutes

Hornsby: 5.75 minutes, noting that the timetable provides about 2 minutes for recovery for possible delays approaching Hornsby

The train proceeded to Berowra and returned to Hornsby to form the 1:13 pm Up Shore to Hornsby via Strathfield. It was a few minutes late departing Hornsby, blocked by an empty cars working. The Millennium set roster is scheduled to end at Hornsby at 2:44 pm, after which it is returned empty cars to Eveleigh via the Shore.

So why the late running? Crowding, traction performance, driver skills and door closure delays (they need to be locked before the train can proceed) are all possible areas of concern. My conclusion, noting that most of the time lost was between Blacktown and Chatswood and there was a small recovery afterwards, is that it is predominately from crowding due to the four car set, as also loading/unloading is over fewer doors and time must be allowed for people to walk from the platform extremities. And of course late running compounds these delays as there are more people waiting for the service. However, I believe there is also a contribution from door delays which may make the Millennium sets forever slower than our S, R, K, C and T sets (hidden agenda for slower timetables?). As for traction and driving skills, this is harder to judge but it did not seem to be a significant issue today.

Overall, it makes you wonder. The trial Millennium rosters are a bother for CityRail to implement, and service is poorer as the four car sets seem to be regularly late. However the ride quality is dramatically better than Tangara with that awful chevron rubber primary suspension, so presumably the punters are still impressed.

Peter M.