Rail And Road Congestion At West Ryde Are Easily Overcome

Victor P Taffa

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line has required 4 Tracks for several decades and one of the congestion points is the railway overpass at West Ryde.

Penny Pinching Government is to blame for lack of funds for 4 Railway Tracks, wider railway overpass and road underpass at West Ryde.

West Ryde Railway Station has 3 Platforms plus room for a 4^th platform on the western side of the station.

Victoria Road West Ryde Railway Overpass currently has 3 tracks across the overpass. Third track runs about 200 metres and then joins the main city bound track at a Set of Points where sandstone is required to be cutback for railway corridor widening.

West Ryde Signal Box was a timber structure situated on the city end of Platform 3. Until 1937 it controlled a level crossing on Victoria Road.

Also situated at West Ryde was a Water Board siding and a single track to the former Ryde Tram Line, which provided for transfer of vehicles between light and heavy rail systems. It was closed in 1982, when control was transferred to Epping signal box.

Single Track Tram Track on Victoria Road traversed the northern side lanes from Church Street Ryde to Ryedale Road where trams could transfer to the Northern Railway Line or to the Ryde Tram Line. This line closed on 11 March 1934.

In the 1930’s Victoria Road was widened to 6 lanes ahead of Tramway closure in 1961. Second longest tram line was the Ryde Line that closed on 18 December 1949.

When the level crossing opened in 1937 there were 4 lanes of road plus footpaths on either side.

As the decades wore on congestion grew worse along Victoria Road. Every afternoon peak hour traffic banks back to Bowden Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liberal Member For Ryde Michael Photios

Only person who has done anything of substance to reduce traffic congestion at the Railway Overpass was newly elected Liberal Member for Ryde Michael Photios in 1988.

Newly elected Liberal Member for Ryde Michael Photios managed to have Victoria Road widened to 5 lanes that included removal of the footpath on the southern side of the road.

Northern side footpath ended up being a tunnel parallel with the 5-lane road. This was due to different heights of the footpath and the road. Widening of the Railway Overpass will eliminate the need for the footpath to be a tunnel.

Pylon holding up a water pipe that runs over Victoria Road can be moved in a northerly direction and would not affect supply or flow of water.

Recently Premier Gladys Berejiklian put out a media release that commended the Heritage Listing of the West Ryde Water Board Pumping Station that was built to pump water uphill for northern Sydney and also for the Ryde area.

West Ryde Water Board Pumping Station was built from 1891-1921 and added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 November 2002.

Victoria Road at the Railway Overpass can be widened on the northern side. What could be a Bus Bay was also constructed indicating that room is available to widen Victoria Road on the northern side of the road at the Railway Overpass.

Nearby Heritage listed Water Board Plant meant that Victoria Road could not be widened on the southern side.

West Ryde Railway Station opened on 17 September 1886 and was originally called Ryde Station. On 8 October 1945 the station was renamed West Ryde.

 

Victoria Road Widening

Northern side Victoria Road widening can occur from West Parade to Anzac Avenue. This would require Railway Overpass pylons to be set back. Southern side footpath could also be reinstated as part of the project.

Temporary closure of the Railway Line and Victoria Road would be required however this could be done at night when there is minimal road and rail traffic.

 

Cost Benefit Analysis

Cost of this project would not be that great given the distance of Victoria Road between West Parade and Anzac Avenue.

Costs involved in this project includes:

• Rail overpass widening,
• Victoria Road widening,
• Water pipe pylon relocation.

Cost gain to the community includes:

• 4 Tracks for a better Northern Line rail service,
• Better Victoria Road footpaths,
• Reduced daily afternoon traffic congestion,
• Wider and safer road.

Every local resident would say the same thing as local resident and Editor Victor P Taffa is saying about Victoria Road traffic congestion at the railway overpass and lack of 4 track capacity at West Ryde Railway Station.

Traffic congestion not just on Victoria Road west bound but also immediate local streets by people trying to avoid the underpass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line handles Freight, Interstate, Interurban and Suburban services.

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line handles many thousands of commuters wanting 4 Tracks and 4 operating Platforms that will deliver a better service.

Northern Line Railway Stations between Strathfield and Hornsby are as follows:

• Strathfield
• North Strathfield
• Concord West
• Rhodes
• Meadowbank
• West Ryde
• Denistone
• Eastwood
• Epping
• Cheltenham
• Beecroft
• Pennant Hills
• Thornleigh
• Normanhurst
• Hornsby

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line Track Combinations

Strathfield-Hornsby Northern Line has Track combinations of:

• 2 Tracks through Meadowbank
• 3 Tracks through Rhodes
• 4 Tracks through Eastwood

This combination of 2,3 and 4 Tracks plus the Rail Bottleneck across the Parramatta River is why the service is so slow.

People will try to convince us that it is not slow but this is what 70 years of not building additional Tracks has given every commuter.

Simply put, Train Tracks are to Trains as Car Lanes are to Cars.

 

West Ryde Railway Station Southern End

At the southern end of West Ryde Railway Station is a smaller sandstone cutting. Opposite the cutting is the third city bound track that re-joins the main city bound track at a set of points.

Reasons that this Track does not continue onto Meadowbank is a lack of funding and a sandstone wall on the other side of the rail corridor.

On the same weekend that the sandstone wall is cutback at Meadowbank, the same can be done at nearby West Ryde as the line will be closed to rail traffic.

This would be a much faster job to do than cutting back the sandstone and could be completed the following weekend. Rail shutdown may be required on successive weekends.

Grading of the newly widened rail corridor for the additional Tracks would also occur as sandstone is being taken away. Sleepers, Tracks and Overhead Wiring can then be completed in the same weekend.

 

Funding Formula:

Freight Trains carry dollar value of freight that can be justified to Treasury to pay for 4 Tracks on the Rail Bridge.

Largest piece of Capital Expenditure on the Hornsby-Strathfield Northern Line is to make the deck of the second John Whitton Rail Bridge for 4 Tracks.

• Transport Department needs funding equal to that of Health and Education
• 75% of the Transport Budget should go towards Planning and Construction.
• 25% of the Transport Budget should go towards Wages.

State Government Railway, Road and Water authorities working together sensibly to resolve what is one of Sydney’s worst congestion points for rail commuters and road traffic.

 

Photo Caption:

Railway Overpass with room for a Fourth Track on western side of rail corridor and Platform 3 on lower righthand side of photo