Swiss Expert To Untangle Airport Rail Link Mess
The opening of the new Airport Rail Link has been dogged by problems that have generated community outrage. While the project enjoys wide-spread support, the government's inability to operate it competently has shocked and dissapointed many people.
"Sydney commuters deserve better," said Michelle Zeibots, president of EcoTransit Sydney.
"It is ridiculous to spend close to one billion dollars on a new piece of rail infrastructure and then willfully refuse to operate it properly. In response to this we have decided to hire an independent expert to report on the cause of the problems and then outline measures
that can be implemented to solve them. We would like to co-operate with CityRail and the Airport Rail Link Company Pty Ltd in this endeavour," she said.
Dr Laube specialises in international comparisons of operational aspects of urban public transport systems. He is highly respected within the international transport community. He has worked for the Zurich Transit Authority and has a hands-on knowledge of mass transit systems.
"We are delighted to be able to call upon the expertise of Dr Laube," Ms Zeibots said.
"We are sure he will be able to address the concerns of the community and explain in a dispassionate manner what can be done to rectify the current situation for commuters. As an organisation, EcoTransit Sydney will make Dr Laube's independent analysis publicly available through our web site. We will then initiate discussions with the Minister in an attempt to expedite the implementation of improvements that will make Sydney's newest rail line the source of civic pride that it aught to be," she said.
Problems identified to date include:
Erratic and illegible timetabling, resulting in a reduction of services to many East Hills stations and general confusion to commuters
Glaring contradictions between the need to provide high service frequencies to the Airport only to find that trains are jammed full of commuters during peak hour
Difficult access to key interchange stations at Redfern and Sydenham for commuters coming from the East Hills and other lines
General disruption to the network as rolling stock is pulled off and services downgraded on other lines to service the Airport Line
Inability of the service to cope with luggage
Poor access to the new line for commuters from the Cronulla line