The first time I was in Sydney there still were trams, 1956. Haven't been there for many years, there were only buses.. What a remarkable change to George Street without the motor traffic! When its trees grow it will be even better. Thanks for this, it was enlightening.
You were lucky to see it in 1956 when the Tramway was still more or less complete. It’s nice to see trams come back, especially exactly where they had been before on much of this and the L3. Sort of proves a mistake. Let’s hope that when Covid is overcome, trams will start carrying real loads.
I’m pleased you liked it. For next Friday I am presently editing a run from Randwick to Circular Quay done in a fraction over 30 minutes. More drivers like this one would have the service humming a lot better. Hopefully you can see it.
I have taken the L2 to Randwick frequently to take a ride out of Sydney CBD. Usually i would eat lunch in Randwick and do a bit of grocery shopping. I always enjoy the beautiful landscaping around Royal Randwick and Anzac Parade, with the bushes all trimmed around the tracks and platforms. I may get a few snickers over this comment, but i think Aussies have a big sense of appropriateness, pride and respect with their projects. They are always impressive and never just thrown together.-a role model to the world, which is evident every day.
I largely agree with your comments but Australia is not the only country to spruce things up along new tram lines. The French have a policy of renewing from property line across the street to property line. Nevertheless it would be hard to better than the landscaping along my local Gold Coast line with bushes etc in places where they could have just slapped down concrete.
Introducing a brand new reality TV show that's got Australia begging for more! *Dum Dums On George Street!* This new thriller will showcase everything from a driver forgetting a tram was coming nearly delaying a tram because he stopped on the rails, pedestrians who can only look at their phones for some reason because their eyes can't look at surroundings and much more. Besides that it's truly great to see that the trams have become a lot faster and they finally run on time. Great video. 👍👍
I still question if the visual benefit of underground power in the downtown section was worth the added expense and complexity of the dual-powered trams. The overhead lines leading up to it don't seem that unsightly, and they have light poles all along the way anyhow. At several of the traffic lights the trams don't get much priority!
Blame Sydney’s lord mayor Clover Moore for the unnecessary expense of underground power. Unfortunately overhead is not always as unobtrusive as it could be, but when Tramway overhead and street lights share the same poles on the footpath, there is little visible intrusion. There are still several spots where priority could be instituted but nevertheless it’s surprising how many places it does work well.
Very well done video I am from Toronto and your city seems to be way ahead of us even though we have 11 lines only 2 are on their own right of way. Once again great video
Yes I have been to Toronto. Like most longtime tramways, Toronto still has a lot of street running. Sydney is a bit slow but my local Gold Coast line runs at 70km/h in some areas but is slow through the heart of the tourist area. Maybe you would like to take a ride… Driver's Twilight View Gold Coast Tram Helensvale to Broadbeach South Queensland ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iC_VFsS_RAU.html
I can't believe when the tram travels through the Moore Park Tunnel It's 30kmh then 40, 30,20 then 10. All in the space of a couple of hundred metres. It's so over engineered and micro managed. Once you go out past Moore Park it should all just be open ballasted track, 60kmh at drivers discretion and common sense. The are are some intersections out there that only a committee could come up with. If you have seen the new tram bridge over James Ruse Drive at Parramatta, it's like they are building a freeway over the road with these huge, long access ramps on both side. This is what happens when you let construction companies decide how to build things. Canberra and Sydney built new tram lines at the same time from the ground up. Canberra nailed it and Sydney did what it always does.
I completely agree that the system is micromanaged beyond belief, over built with concrete track where this is not needed etc. I’m looking forward to the Parramatta system being finished. I need some more video topics from New South Wales! I’m not surprised that massive over engineering has taken place there, partly because governments don’t engage their own full-time engineers who have the ability to sort the chaff from the wheat and see gold plating when it is flashed around. My local Gold Coast has also done well with its construction and operation so far, but alarm bells are ringing for the next 7 km extension. I’m getting a local member of Parliament and newspaper journalist interested in reducing the massive $1 billion cost for this short extension, almost certainly the result of massively over engineered track construction as per Sydney, I suspect. Wait and see.
The CAF trams cannot as they don’t have the 3rd rail shoes. However there are still some Citadis trams borrowed from the George St lines which run on the L1 so obviously these ones can run on all lines.
With gradual improvements in traffic lights, even faster trips are being made by competent drivers: Drivers View Randwick to CQ in 30 Minutes (Timetable 34’) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OXzKmZznvWw.html
Speeds are somewhat limited all over the place as can often be seen with the blue and white speed limit boards. In this particular video, the driver did the very best to reach the speed limits as soon as practical and most of the time you can see the speedometer as well . L2 to Randwick Under 30 minutes ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LUHeGcmRiEc.html
Originally south of Bathurst St was going to be opened up for road traffic after the tramway opened, but since then it was decided to make it all a pedestrian zone. Just what it will look like, I don’t know at this stage.
Some drivers know what they are doing, and what their trams can do, like this one, but others tend to be somewhat timid and they are the ones most likely to run late.
Ugh. The taxi driver steering to the right before making a left turn just after the Bridge Street stop. Such a bad driving habit, should be instant loss of licence.
The line is gradually getting faster and faster, the result of improving traffic light priority and in this case, a competent driver who did not muck around. Maybe you will like it. Drivers View Randwick to CQ in 30 Minutes (Timetable 34’) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OXzKmZznvWw.html
@@tressteleg1 Can you do a video of sydney trains? I live in Sydney and I just don't go on them that much. I actually live in the suburb next to Randwick Lightrail Station
I did have some videos up but despite being very careful, somebody worked out who the driver was and threatened to dob him in if the videos were not removed. So that’s why they are gone.
@@tressteleg1 Okay. At least you tried... If you're trying again in the future maybe don't do drivers view with the driver in the camera. On the window sill?
It varies from tram maker to tram maker. My local Gold Coast trams have the usual ding ding but also a low frequency horn which is almost like a truck horn. Nobody can miss that noise!
Incredibly slow. Long stops. Poor integration of traffic signals. The annoying announcements. Ridiculous speed limits. Mass concrete everywhere. It’s built like a railway not a tramway. The construction group creamed money off this project. Talk about Spanish pirates. And the trans run empty.
Believe it or not, it is faster than Melbourne‘s showcase route 96 from East Brunswick towards Saint Kilda. It has no traffic light priority. The government was certainly taken for a ride by the construction company. Pity the government didn’t have any of their own engineers with any brains to pull in the reins. This video was filmed earlier this year during a Covid break when all public transport ridership was down somewhat. Nevertheless some of the trams I rode had good loadings, and much better than the bus I rode back from Randwick one day as a comparison.
@@tressteleg1 thanks for that. It’s the gross over engineering that bugs me. It has to have stations to stop at that are too far apart to be useful. It has miles of railings and stanchions and barriers. The trans are too big. They should be single cars.
George st already has a tram every 4 minutes per direction. To carry the same number of people, trams would have to operated every 2 minutes per direction. This would result in cross streets being forever closed because of trams, or trams stuck at traffic lights more than now. Even so, close headways do not work. I saw that enough when driving Melbourne trams. The trams soon would get bunched together in groups. All the modern tramways are over engineered with fences, speed limits etc. They are treated as railways, which they are not.
That makes a difference. The only problem is, just where would the lines go north of the harbour? The Northern Beaches sorely needs something better than buses, but Libs don’t need to spend the money as they get voted in anyway, and Labor would gain nothing politically from building it.
@@tressteleg1 Though that being said, sometimes sacrifices need to be made for the greater good. I am not sure wether a tram is the ideal solution, I don't know the exact numbers etc. And once people get used to it, which is generally quite quickly they'll see that it is for the greater good. On another note, I must say the duration of the tram ride has improved quite significantly. Although the are still spots for improvement. 56 sec waiting time/delay is unacceptable at an intersection. Though a 7-10 second waiting time, although not great, I would call it acceptable, as long as it doesn't happen at every traffic light en-route.
A tramway is a good compromise when buses can’t cope but loadings are not enough to justify heavy rail or Metro. As for the L2 and L3, considering the dislike of tramways held by the traffic light programmers and the Department of transport bureaucrats themselves, it’s a miracle that the amount of tram priority that exists actually does exist at all. The problem with a 10 second delay is that extra time is wasted slowing down and accelerating away later, not to mention waste of electricity. In most cases, stopping the road traffic those few seconds earlier would not make much difference to them.
Actually the stretches of 60 are so short that getting up to a greater speed would not be for more than a few seconds. But some of the 50 could easily be 60, while there is too much at just 40. As for pedestrianised George St, at some times 20 could be too fast, at other times, like late at night, it would be much too slow. I write this as a former Melbourne tram driver who regularly drove through the Bourke St Mall which now has a limit of 10km/h.
Just watched this. Omg I'm not impressed at all. Noisey slow . You stop at traffic light to cross Rd to tram Stop stupid. I do like no traffic up George St. Anyway Sydney you might Win the AFL Grand final this year to make up for the light rail..
You have never caught a Melbourne tram, it seems. They get NO traffic light priority and waits at red lights are often over a minute. Their ‘Showcase’ line from East Brunswick covers less distance than the L2 and L3 do in the same time. I have since done a Randwick to CQ run in under 32 minutes, under 30 outbound. Gradually it’s getting better and better.
