World Standards !

New South Wales is spending 2.3 billion dollars to bring our passenger rail system up to world standards.  Early in 2019 the first of these new trains will come into service and there is the expectation that there will be opposition from the militant rail unions.

This rail upgrade will involve the arrival of five hundred double decker train sets to replace the old V-Set trains that serviced the Blue Mountains, Newcastle and the Illawarra.   This contract was won by Korea and in keeping with modern practice each train is crewed by a driver and the position of a guard is no longer required.

It seems likely that this will involve the job losses of the three hundred and eighty guards employed in the rail system, although some jobs will remain for the diesel services that will be retained.  The rail unions are disputing the loss of guards on safety grounds, but in reality this was a necessity that belonged to the steam age.   In that era guards waving flags signalled to the driver that all passengers were on board and the train was clear to proceed.

The driver of a modern train sits in a cabin not unlike the cockpit of an airliner.  He is connected to an array of cctv cameras within the train and covering stations and he is tasked with answering passenger queries and giving general information.  The introduction of a card swiped on a terminal to subtract the fare from each passengers holding deposit did away with conductors on trams and buses and on some overseas rail systems. We are fast approaching the age of full automation, with driverless cars - and soon driverless trains.

That is on the horizon from 2019 when the new Metro line connects the north west with Chatswood. Fully automatic trains will flow at short intervals and both trains and stations with be under observation from a central control room.  It is envisaged that the arrival of a train every few minutes will even out passenger peaks and judging by events overseas Metro lines introduce a level of efficiency not possible with other systems.

The planners predict that Sydney will have a population of six million people by mid century.  Those numbers are impossible without an adequate transport system and we are investing in both light rail, an extended rail system and a vast road upgrade which will eventually require a second harbour tunnel crossing.

Sadly, many people are clinging to old ways as a form of nostalgia and that includes unions trying to protect jobs.   The fact that driverless trains are operating both safely and efficiently overseas and that guards are no longer required on most urban services is a sign of an era that has passed.  If the unions try to sabotage this new rail system they will be doing their members a disservice.   To try and limit modern rail to the steam age will ultimately fail - and leave this city behind on the world stage !