Epping-to-Chatswood rail link tracking well

By Jennifer Perry

On February 23rd, the NSW Premier Nathan Rees and Transport Minister David Campbell officially opened the $2.3 billion Epping to Chatswood Rail Link (ECRL). With more than 12,500 people working for a combined total of 13 million hours on the project, the rail link transported its first customers on February 23rd, three years after it was initially scheduled to do so.
While RailCorp said that it was too early to provide any feedback on how the ECRL is going, its spokesperson told Rail Express that shuttles have been running since last Monday and we are very pleased with the way it is tracking.
We will certainly be monitoring it over the next few months, especially with the integration of the line into the rest of the network that is planned for November.
RailCorp could not provide any up-to-date numbers on passengers travelling on the line because of the difficulty of monitoring free travel.
Upon opening the ECRL, Premier Rees said that the new link was made up of state-of-the-art stations, wide open concourses and 12.5 kilometres of underground rail tunnels. The link takes 17 minutes to travel and includes new stations at Macquarie University, Macquarie Park and North Ryde.
Transport Minister David Campbell said that trains will operate between Epping and Chatswood every 15 minutes in both directions on weekdays and weekends, operating from around 6am to 9.30pm.
The ECRL has reportedly been beset by problems during the seven years it took to complete including rubber sleepers that did not bond properly to tracks and excessive noise. Noise reduction work is still being carried out, with the State Government reportedly locked in dispute with contractor Thiess Hochtief over who is going to foot the $29.5 million bill.
The ECRL will already have to close next month for track maintenance; the first of six weekends of maintenance according to the CityRail track work calendar. A spokesperson from RailCorp said the weekend track work is currently linked to scheduled track work closures on the main Northern or the North Shore lines.
CityRail will use these closures for maintenance and rectification on ECRL, especially in the lead-up to the links full integration with the CityRail network later this year.
The Premiers announcement of free travel on the ECRL until June 8th may sweeten the blow of track closures for commuters, though Rees said that people needed to know that they would still be required to pay for journeys that included stations outside of the new link.
With a reported five per cent increase in passenger numbers travelling on trains last year compared to 2007, the ECRL will add around 12,000 extra people on the CityRail network every day once it is fully integrated.
Campbell said once it is integrated into the wider CityRail network, the ECRL will deliver benefits to passengers in other parts of Sydney including those who live on the Western line.
The new link will free up space between Strathfield and the CBD allowing some peak train services to be extended and new services to be slotted in, he said.