Six million people a year would use train to Melbourne Airport

[SYD]

I remember reading somewhere that the train, if the tracks are ever laid, will take the same time to get from the airport to Southern Cross station as the Skybus currently does.

But that’ll be ~10 Skybuses at a time picking up and dropping off.

However, the rather circuitous proposed route did look like a barrel and smelt like pork.

 

[dajop]

I remember reading somewhere that the train, if the tracks are ever laid, will take the same time to get from the airport to Southern Cross station as the Skybus currently does.

That’s correct. I suspect it will even take longer than Skybus at certain times of the day.

But it should be more reliable though, so faster than Skybus during peak hours. It also should offer better connectivity as it will go through the new metro tunnel straight to the SE suburbs with connections to other lines at Sunshine, Footscray, State Library (Melbourne Central), Town Hall (Flinders Street) and Caulfield.

 

[justinbrett]

That’s correct. I suspect it will even take longer than Skybus at certain times of the day.

But it should be more reliable though, so faster than Skybus during peak hours. It also should offer better connectivity as it will go through the new metro tunnel straight to the SE suburbs with connections to other lines at Sunshine, Footscray, State Library (Melbourne Central), Town Hall (Flinders Street) and Caulfield.

And that’s assuming the road journey time doesn’t increase, which it inevitably will unless the freeway is widened.

 

[travelislife]

And that’s assuming the road journey time doesn’t increase, which it inevitably will unless the freeway is widened.

Widening the freeway rarely if ever actually makes the journey quicker...it's a false economy, it still bottle necks at the City. Speed limit used to be 100km/hr, now always 80km/hr.

 

[justinbrett]

Widening the freeway rarely if ever actually makes the journey quicker...it's a false economy, it still bottle necks at the City. Speed limit used to be 100km/hr, now always 80km/hr.

I wasn’t suggesting it would get quicker, but if they don’t increase capacity with time it will continue to get slower.

Absolutely agree that you can never build enough roads.

 

[NM]

But that’ll be ~10 Skybuses at a time picking up and dropping off.

However, the rather circuitous proposed route did look like a barrel and smelt like pork.

And while the train might be able carry 10 Skybus' of passengers at a time, it won't run as frequently. Why Skybus, walk up and get on the next bus (every 10-20 mins). Train won't be that frequent through the day, so waiting time may impact time getting to/from the airport.

 

[Xrayspice]

And while the train might be able carry 10 Skybus' of passengers at a time, it won't run as frequently. Why Skybus, walk up and get on the next bus (every 10-20 mins). Train won't be that frequent through the day, so waiting time may impact time getting to/from the airport.

Why wouldn’t the train be frequent? Every other train in Melbourne is frequent.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Why wouldn’t the train be frequent? Every other train in Melbourne is frequent.

Frequent only in peak hours. Out of peak and weekends far less frequent. [ I am 7 minutes walk from the train ]
MEL will not have the passenger demand to run trains every ~15 minutes (cost of trains is very large)

 

[Must...Fly!]

I think you'll find it will be a relatively frequent service, if a train ever actually arrives - between 0500-2200. Then probably half hourly. Whether it will run as early, or as late, as the Skybus is another matter.

 

[NM]

Why wouldn’t the train be frequent? Every other train in Melbourne is frequent.

I guess I am using other places (e.g. Brisbane) as a guide. With 10x the capacity than a bus, its not going to be running as often as the bus. Then again, the Brisbane airport train is often referred as the ghost train because its is often almost empty.

 

[Deno]

I guess I am using other places (e.g. Brisbane) as a guide. With 10x the capacity than a bus, its not going to be running as often as the bus. Then again, the Brisbane airport train is often referred as the ghost train because its is often almost empty.

Ghost train may change now the fares are reduced from 4th August

 

[NM]

Ghost train may change now the fares are reduced from 4th August

I believe starts 5th August (not that it makes any real difference) and will be reduced from $21.90 to $10.95 for 6 months. Certainly will be interesting to see how it affects patronage and will give an indication of how much the fare cost impacts airport travel decisions.

 

[Xrayspice]

I guess I am using other places (e.g. Brisbane) as a guide. With 10x the capacity than a bus, its not going to be running as often as the bus. Then again, the Brisbane airport train is often referred as the ghost train because its is often almost empty.

I caught the Brisbane ghost train, and yep it was empty. We had to get off and catch a bus part of the way too.

Post automatically merged: Jul 23, 2024

Frequent only in peak hours. Out of peak and weekends far less frequent. [ I am 7 minutes walk from the train ]
MEL will not have the passenger demand to run trains every ~15 minutes (cost of trains is very large)

Is it just going to the airport or to other suburbs?

 

[antycbr]

I caught the Brisbane ghost train, and yep it was empty. We had to get off and catch a bus part of the way too.

It’s called the “AirTrain” as it mainly moves air…

 

[justinbrett]

Hard to tell because BNE is the end of the line, whereas you can get on at SYD and the train can be nearly full from previous stops.

Apparently trains won’t continue to the Gold Coast once cross rail comes online, seems to be a concerted effort from the government and BNE airport to entice Airtrain in selling back to the government.

Patronage seems OK to me whenever I’ve used it, coming from the Gold Coast.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Hard to tell because BNE is the end of the line, whereas you can get on at SYD and the train can be nearly full from previous stops.

Apparently trains won’t continue to the Gold Coast once cross rail comes online, seems to be a concerted effort from the government and BNE airport to entice Airtrain in selling back to the government.

Patronage seems OK to me whenever I’ve used it, coming from the Gold Coast.

Hopefully! Always seemed a bad deal for the public what a previous government did to privatise the AirTrain so they are running for profit not convenience of flyers.

 

[justinbrett]

Hopefully! Always seemed a bad deal for the public what a previous government did to privatise the AirTrain so they are running for profit not convenience of flyers.

It wasn’t privatised, it was built under a public private partnership. We only have to look to Melbourne to see what would have happened without private investment.

AirTrain was definitely a failure in the early years but it now does make a profit.

 

[Ansett Nostalgic]

The last 2 times I went to the Gold Coast I found the AirTrain really useful as I flew out of BNE on both occasions.

 

[UP4014]

What's wrong with an underground station at MEL?

The other big problem is having it stop at Sunshine - passengers with luggage, and foreign tourists, are going to be sitting ducks for criminals, thieves and thugs.

I think time to buy an investment in Sunshine. It will only get better once the airport line opens.

The Sydney airport line has the correct name of New Southern Railway, it was built to improve and open the inner south at Mascot and Green Square to residential and business making the commute easier. The Sydney airport extension was incidental bonus.

 

[travelislife]

The other big problem is having it stop at Sunshine - passengers with luggage, and foreign tourists, are going to be sitting ducks for criminals, thieves and thugs.

What a ridiculous statement. More likely for that to happen in Richmond or other inner city areas!