A BUSINESS case for the extension of the Newcastle light rail should be ready for public consultation early next year, Transport for NSW has confirmed.
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Investigations into four potential routes – described as “priority corridors” – are already under way, with an extension from the Wickham interchange to John Hunter Hospital via Broadmeadow top of the list.
The other priority corridors are on the existing main roads from Wickham to Charlestown, Mayfield and Wallsend.
It is not known what the business case will recommend but the main government agency involved, Transport for NSW (TfNSW), is pushing for high frequency bus services as a first step before light rail, because they can be put in place more quickly and cheaply than light rail.
Although the business case is looking at all four routes, future connections to Broadmeadow and John Hunter are undergoing more detailed investigations.
“To extend the light rail we must do the necessary groundwork to model the impacts and benefits of light rail along with cost and a business case,” a TfNSW spokesperson said.
“The first step towards extending light rail is a strategic business case, currently under way, looking at [the] four priority corridors.
“This work will confirm the first stage and potential future stages of extending light rail as well as the investment required to strengthen existing public transport.
“Improving bus servicing to key areas will have a beneficial effect through the shorter term while the planning for light rail is under way.”
TfNSW hopes to have the strategic business case delivered to Mr Constance by the end of the year, with documents to be ready for public display in early 2019.
The John Hunter line would run from Wickham along Tudor Street, Hamilton, onto Belford Street, Broadmeadow, and along Lambton Road – along the “Gully Line” up to Russell Road, New Lambton, before turning into Lookout Road and the hospital.
Old maps show trams ran from the city as far as Turton Road, where the track swung north-west onto Hobart Road – past Western Suburbs Leagues Club – and ending at the intersection of Howe Street and Croudace Street, Lambton.
As well as the promised business case, the potential for light rail extension is outlined in the NSW government’s 40-year vision for the movement of people and goods across the region – the Greater Newcastle Future Travel Plan 2056 – which has been obtained by the Newcastle Herald before its publication today.
The plan says the four corridors have been whittled down from an original examination of 17 routes. A corridor running from Broadmeadow to Adamstown station to Kotara and then along Northcott Drive to join the Charlestown corridor has been dropped from the plan after being included in the draft put on public display late last year.
Although the new transport plan describes the light rail extensions as “long term” projects – with “priority” bus services the first step – TfNSW says the timing could vary according to circumstances.
As one indication of the government’s thinking, Transport Minister Andrew Constance has said on the record more than once that the extension will not be built during his time as minister.
Debate over extending the light rail began before a sod was turned in construction, with critics saying the 2.7-kilometre route would struggle on its own. Supporters pointed overseas, where initial light rail tracks were often quickly followed by extensions.
This view was promoted by Keolis Downer when it took a group from Newcastle – including this writer – to France in 2016 to see that country’s regional light rail revival in action.
This week, Keolis Downer’s Newcastle-based corporate affairs director Andrew Fletcher said any extension of the service was a matter for the government, but as operator, Keolis Downer was committed to providing the best public transport possible.
Although Revitalising Newcastle head Michael Cassel was happy to talk about the merits of the existing light rail, he similarly said that the extension was a question for TfNSW and its minister.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, who said on Friday that Newcastle City Council had pushed hard for the future transport plan, said the light rail extension was essential.
“The success of the initial construction of light rail in the city will depend on its expansion, to connect our suburban centres to the CBD and integrate with all aspects of the multimodal network,” Cr Nelmes said.
The light rail project followed the Liberal Party’s shock sweep of Hunter seats in the 2011 election – an electoral high point for the Coalition that was struck a mortal blow by the ICAC Operation Spicer investigations started in 2014.
The light rail began as a campaign promise by the Liberal Party’s 2011 candidate for Newcastle, Tim Owen, who won a surprise victory as part of an historic Coalition sweep of seats across the Hunter.
But in August 2014, he and Newcastle lord mayor at the time, businessman Jeff McCloy, were forced to resign at the peak of the controversy.
With Labor again holding the state seat and dominating the council, the government’s only elected voice in matters involving the CBD has been the Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald.
No government admits that infrastructure decisions are influenced by political outcomes, but Labor’s renewed grip on Newcastle would surely be part of any internal discussion of a future government deciding whether or not to spend the money needed to extend the light rail, if only to Broadmeadow.
The government has committed to spending more than $650 million on its Revitalising Newcastle projects, with the light rail costing an estimated $250 million, or about $90 million a kilometre.
While a longer extension might be less expensive in per-kilometre terms, the eight-kilometre run from Wickham to the John Hunter would cost about $650 million if it came in at the $80-million-a-kilometre cost of the Canberra light rail, as an example.
The government agreed to investigate extending the line as part of its 2015 negotiations with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party to secure support for the legislation needed to truncate the heavy rail line at Wickham.
Even if a track extension is some distance off, the $200 million terminus at Wickham was built so that the light rail crossing Stewart Avenue terminated on the Hunter Street side of the heavy rail tracks, allowing an extension to continue west by running through the transport interchange to be built by Canberra developer Doma on The Store site.
With the government promoting Broadmeadow as a development “hub” outside of the CBD, a light rail extension along Tudor Street to Broadmeadow station would be a logical first step for an expanded network.
On the other hand, if a future government revived earlier ALP proposals to cut the heavy rail line at either Woodville Junction or Broadmeadow station, then light rail could run down the existing heavy rail corridor.
This would be less disruptive than building on existing streets but it may not generate the sort of immediate roadside redevelopment that was a major part of the decision to swing the light rail onto Hunter Street east of Worth Place.
Complicating the planning for light rail is the arrival of a new generation of mass-transit vehicles able to take advantage of the cutting-edge technologies that predicted to cause a transport revolution.
“Trackless trams” – which run on rubber wheels and are guided with millimetre-accuracy by GPS and laser-based LIDAR technologies – look the same as light rail vehicles, minus the tracks.
This means they will likely be dramatically cheaper to install, although their portability means they may not attract the same level of real estate investment that fixed light rail is generating at present.
The Future Transport plan – available online today – describes the Newcastle light rail as “a transformative infrastructure project”, triggering increased development and urban renewal in the city centre. It says “efficient transport connections” are needed to support the project.
“Corridors investigated included connections to Newcastle Airport, University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, Broadmeadow as well as other key destinations,” the plan says.
“All corridors have been investigated due to their anticipated patronage growth and development, travel trends and opportunities to build upon the existing public transport network.”
The plan promotes better bus services along the priority routes as a first step.
“Introducing bus priority measures in tactical locations can increase journey speed and reliability in the short and medium term delivering more rapid services with potential for light rail in the long term depending on demand,” the plan says.
“For customers, this will result in improved connectivity between Greater Newcastle’s centres and increased accessibility to opportunities like jobs, health care, education and sports facilities.”
FURTHER READING: The French Connection
Ian Kirkwood
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
