NWRL Information Meeting

There will be a public information meeting on Thursday 26th April at 4pm at the Epping Club.  This meeting is focused on the stations at Epping and Cherrybrook and the areas around them.  It will not necessarily say anything about our concerns with Cheltenham Oval!

Details of other information sessions can be found on their website - http://www.northwestrail.com.au/.

NWRL Access to Cheltenham Oval

The M2 noise barriers at the Oval are all removed at the moment, so you can see from these pics that the land at the oval near the tennis court is at exactly the same level as the M2 road opposite!!! 

Nothing is required to get fire trucks off the M2 onto the access area other than a way to get through the noise barrier.  A gate in the noise barrier would be sensible, but failing that in an emergency the trucks will just bash a hole through.

The M2 operators are skilled at handling emergencies, shutting down lanes and closing complete sections of the motorway at least once a month, they are equipped and trained and practiced to handle this emergency, and the M2 provides perfect access to all the hospitals and emergency services in Sydney. 

Ridiculous to consider bulldozing a path to allow using other public roads for emergency access.

NORTH-WEST RAIL LINK PRE-EIS BRIEFING

On 2 April 2012 representatives of the Trust attended a briefing on developments with the RailLink from Brendan Blakeley, Peter Bourke and Cecilia Densham of Transport NSW. Also present were representatives of Hornsby Shire Council including Councillor Robert Browne.

The Environmental Impact Statement process will take place in two stages, the first dealing with major construction work (on exhibition from 4 April) and the second with track laying, operating systems, the stations and their surrounding areas (to go on exhibition in about six months).

Our briefing dealt in some detail with proposals affecting the area around Cheltenham Oval as this is the only area in Beecroft and Cheltenham directly impacted by the proposal. An area will be required to provide emergency access, particularly for fire fighting, to the four kilometre tunnel between Epping station and Cherrybrook station. The affected area will be used as a work site during the construction of the project, specifically to enable construction of the necessary emergency services access to the rail tunnel, and will entail a two-way access road for heavy vehicles running from Kirkham Street immediately north of and parallel to the M2 alignment the west of the Oval where a construction compound will be located on the present netball courts. There will also be access for light vehicles from Castle Howard Rd along an existing road reserve on the western side of houses. Construction of the heavy vehicle access will require clearing of existing bush along the route.

There will now be no ventilation shaft, as one was earlier proposed in Beecroft.  The EIS will recommend one shaft only near the corner of Epping and Carlingford Rd instead.

A plan was produced at the meeting, but is not yet available for public release. The EIS contains the detailed plan of the proposal.

The Transport NSW representatives made clear that some 19 sites were considered before the Cheltenham site was selected. Mr Blakeley commented that it was the best of a collection of bad sites, all the others having significantly more problems for either construction, access or environmental issues. The Cheltenham site is one of the few that allows virtually direct access to the rail tunnel 35 metres below.

At the completion of the work the site will be rehabilitated, with only a kiosk giving access to the emergency stairs and an area of hard standing adjacent to it. Vehicular access to a standard specified by the NSW Fire Brigades will be required, but it is not yet clear whether this will be from Kirkham Street or Castle Howard Road. There will be regular vehicle movements onto and off the site during construction, but thereafter there will only be vehicles coming to the site for routine maintenance purposes and in the event of an emergency in the rail tunnel.

It was made clear to the Transport NSW representatives that the community would not be happy with the destruction of bushland for the heavy access, and they agreed to pursue more avenues to minimise this impact (notably to investigate whether the access road can be run either wholly or partly within the M2 reservation, although there are topographical difficulties with that). There is also potential for traffic problems with trucks leaving the site, as it is proposed that they should turn into Kirkham Street and proceed to Beecroft Road. Councillor Browne raised the longstanding need for traffic lights at Kirkham St/Beecroft Road intersection.  The Transport NSW representatives agreed to give consideration to the installation of traffic lights at the intersection to assist to relieve traffic congestion at that point.  Councillor Browne also raised the issue of the loss of the netball courts during the construction period and said Council is likely to request replacement courts elsewhere in the shire. 

As indicated above, the first stage of the EIS is now on exhibition. Public information sessions are to be held as follows:

EIS COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSIONS

Thursday 26 April 2012: Epping Club, 45-47 Rawson Street, Epping. 4pm – 8pm

Saturday 28 April: Rouse Hill Town Centre, 10-14 Market Lane, Rouse Hill. 10am – 2pm.

Thursday 3 May: North West Rail Link Community Information Centre, 299 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill. 4pm – 8pm.

Saturday 5 May: Cherrybrook Uniting Church, 134 New Line Road, Cherrybrook. 10am – 2pm.

Tuesday 8 May: Crowne Plaza, 1 Columbia Court, Baulkham Hills. 4pm – 7pm.

EXPERT TOPIC SESSIONS

Experts in specific topics will host additional sessions at the North West Rail Link Community Information Centre, 299 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill, as follows:

Noise and vibration: Thursday 12 April, 6pm – 8pm.

Construction traffic: Thursday 19 April, 6pm – 8pm.

Construction methods: Thursday 10 May, 6pm – 8pm.

The full EIS documentation can be viewed at the Department of Planning and Infrastructure Information centre, 23-33 Bridge Street, Sydney; the North West Rail Link Community Information Centre, 299 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill; the Nature Conservation Council, Level 2, 5 Wilson Street, Newtown; Hornsby Shire Council office and Council libraries at Pennant Hills, Epping and Hornsby; Hills Shire Council office and Council libraries at Castle Hill, Vinegar Hill and Baulkham Hills; and Blacktown City Council office and Council libraries at Blacktown and Stanhope Gardens.

Further information (but not a copy of the EIS) is available at northwestrail.com.au.

The Trust will be making a submission on the EIS. It will be available on the Trust’s website when it is complete.

NWRL Access to Cheltenham Oval

Trust Committee members attended a Pre-EIS meeting on 2 April, where we were advised that the NWRL service facility planned to the north of the Cheltenham Oval will be the main emergency access route into the tunnel in the event of a fire or other calamity.  Because of that, access to fire engines and other emergency vehicles will be required.  The present intention is to cut a concreted road through the bush from the eastern end of the Murray Farm Bridge over the M2 through to the service facility on the Oval!
The NWRL project clearly recognised that this will be unpopular, but at least we are being advised in time to register protests.
The full report from the attendees is in the next post.

North West Rail Link Information Meeting

More information meetings are planned, details at http://northwestrail.com.au/. 
The community information sessions will be held at:

• Thursday 26 April Epping Club 45-47 Rawson Street,Epping 4pm – 8pm
• Saturday 28 April Rouse Hill Town Centre 10-14 Market Lane, Rouse Hill 10am – 2pm
• Thursday 3 May Community Information Centre 299 Old Northern Road (corner Crane Road) 4pm – 8pm
• Saturday 5 May Cherrybrook Uniting Church 134 New Line Road Cherrybrook 10am – 2pm
• Tuesday 8 May Crowne Plaza, 1 Columbia Court Baulkham Hills 4pm – 7pm

Experts in specific topics will host additional sessions at the North West Rail Link Community Information Centre, 299 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill on:

• Thursday 12 April 6pm – 8pm Noise and vibration
• Thursday 19 April 6pm – 8pm Construction traffic
• Thursday 10 May 6pm – 8pm Construction methods

Rail Freight Corridor

A $1 billion rail freight corridor upgrade between North Strathfield and Newcastle would add to the number of freight trains operating on the Northern Line each day.
The upgrade, to be completed by 2016, was announced by Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese at a news conference with Premier Barry O’Farrell this morning.
The project would also lift the corridor’s capacity by 50 per cent, from 29 to 44 freight trains a day.
The upgrade was designed to increase freight train movements, reduce carbon emissions by more than 100,000 tonnes a year and take 200,000 trucks a year off the state’s roads.
“Sydney is the biggest bottleneck on the main line between Melbourne and Brisbane,” federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese said.  The Federal Government would spend $840 million on the project with the NSW Government contributing $214 million.

More information is coming available:

• The third track through our area will allow passenger trains going north towards Hornsby to pass freight trains climbing slowly up the hill in that direction. 
• Construction will start March 2012 and complete in June 2016.

Initial assessment of the effects on Beecroft and Cheltenham suggest that main area of contentions for our community will be: 

·         The loss of the west side Cheltenham Rail car park, resulting in increased street parking

·         Widening of the Cheltenham Rd Bridge

·         Increased noise impact on residential dwelling

·         Need for sound attenuation on the locomotives hauling these long freight trains

·         Added pollution from poorly maintained diesel locomotive engines

·         Additional impact on the Beecroft CBD from some of the above and loss on the parkland, the children’s playground adjacent to the railway station and most likely part of the adjacent car park.

·         Widening of the Chapman Ave and other bridges.

Open Meeting for Beecroft/Cheltenham Residents

The BCCT will host an Open Meeting for Beecroft/Cheltenham Residents on Monday 31 October at the Cheltenham Recreation Club, The Crescent, Cheltenham, starting 7 for 7:30pm.
We are hoping for attendance by the Mayor and Councillors of Hornsby Shire Council and the State MP.
Items to be discussed include heritage, rail, transport and development.
Probably the main item will be the unexpected sudden gazetting of 5 storey rezoning for the Beecroft Shopping Village.
Come along and have your say!

How the NWRL will benefit Beecroft and Cheltenham

The BCCT Committee supports the proposed plan for the North West Rail Link because it will have great benefits for our suburbs. We are pleased the State Government is determined to build this much needed infrastructure.

The proposed tunnel from Epping to Cherrybrook avoids a huge and ugly dive point off the Main Northern Line which would have been difficult to construct with ongoing rail traffic. It would have been 6 tracks wide at the junction and required quadruplication of the entire track as well as rebuilding our stations.  The Village Green would have been resumed as a construction depot and residents would have been greatly inconvenienced for a long period of time.

In general, the key advantages of the direct tunnel from Epping to Cherrybrook (green alignment) as stated in the North West Rail Link, Options Review Report are:

􀂃 It would have the lowest life cycle cost, including a capital cost indicatively between $20
to 60 million less than other options, and reduced ongoing operation and maintenance
costs.
􀂃 It is shorter than the other four alignments by between 230 and 650 metres.
􀂃 It would have the least construction impacts including the shortest construction period,
smallest volume of spoil generation (up to 36,000 cubic metres less spoil) and the least
spoil haulage truck movements.
􀂃 It would provide the best ride quality because it is straighter than the other alignments
and has no reverse curves.
The green alignment would also have the following additional advantages:
􀂃 It would have the shortest journey time by between 5 and 24 seconds.
􀂃 It would require the least maintenance.
􀂃 It would consume the least energy and generate the least greenhouse gas emissions
during construction and operation.
􀂃 It would not impact the approved corridor for the Epping to Parramatta Rail Link."

As far as Beecroft and Cheltenham are concerned, this tunnel option will have the least impact on residents.  By providing much needed effective and efficient public transport for people living in The Hills district, road traffic and parking in our suburbs will be reduced. It is a great win for 2119.

Rail Noise

The Transport Construction Authority has invited 'organisations with experience in providing noise and vibration assessments to submit tenders for the role of Acoustic Technical Advisor on the Epping to Thornleigh Third Track and Gosford Passing Loops projects. These projects are components of the Northern Sydney Freight Corridor Program.'

North West Rail Link - Update

An extensive article in the Telegraph on 27 May started with:
The state government is planning a new-look route for the $7 billion North West Rail Link - with additional train stations and an extension beyond Rouse Hill. Although the project remains a priority, it will also be "developed in parallel" with the federal government's $2.1 billion Parramatta to Epping line, according to new tender documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph.

The alignment of the North West Rail Link - drawn up by the Coalition since taking the project to voters at this year's state election - reveals six new stations over a 23km route from Epping to Rouse Hill, with mega-carparks for more than 3000 commuters.

North West Rail Link - Update

Tenders were called Friday for Engineering, Rail Systems and Technical Services for the NWRL.

"The Service Provider is required to develop the Concept, Reference design and delivery contract documentation for the North West Rail Link.  The project will provide 23km of new rail infrastructure from Epping to Rouse Hill.

The Service Provider will work closely with Department of Transport NSW to develop an optimal transport solution, with due consideration to the requirements of the network and metropolitan growth areas.

The Service Provider must have experience of developing designs of a similar nature on other infrastructure projects within a suburban environ and operational rail network."

North West Rail Link project team appointed

The NSW government has appointed a project team to speed up delivery of Sydney's delayed North West Rail Line, with geotechnical work to begin this year and construction in the next four years.
Frustrated commuters should soon see work started on the line first floated in 1998 for completion in 2010, the state government says.
The line was delayed, scrapped and then re-announced in February last year by the former Labor government, with no construction scheduled until 2017.

Who will Build the North West Rail LInk?

At an EcoTransit forum last night, about one hundred concerned residents listened and applauded while spokespersons for the Liberal party and the Greens gave clear and unqualified commitments to start building the North West Rail Link during the first term of the next government, if the voters permit.

Minister for Transport John Robertson had been invited to attend representing the Labor government, and it had been expected that he would be present, but in the event he did not appear. 

Dr Michelle Zeibots, invited speaker with expertise in rail traffic management, gave an excellent presentation on the beneficial results the link would bring, and refuted some of the arguments, especially cost, that have been used against the proposal.

Carolyn Watt of the BCCT asked about the proposed route from where the rail will commence at what Dr Zeibots called 'the Cheltenham Link', but those present were not able to be specific.   Residents of Beecroft and Cheltenham will be waiting eagerly for the response.

Another forum will be held at the Epping Club in Epping, on Thursday 10 March at 6 pm, hopefully all parties will be represented then, and possibly Carolyn's question will be answered there.