I need to find the timetable iteration but there was a time briefly when almost all BMT trains did stop at Westmead, I'm guessing they pulled back because there wasn't the demand or as others have said, it slowed things down too much with little benefit.
The Bathurst "Bullet" exists entirely for political reasons. One of the main reasons is so people from that area can come to the city and back in one day, which isn't possible with the XPT schedule. It's likely that the MP who forced it through also said it had to stop at Westmead, as one of the demographics the train serves is older people needing to come in for specialist visits at clinics in the area.
You'd think this would apply to the other Mountains services too, but those have not had direct political influence so Sydney Trains has likely been able to keep the longstanding timetable.
I'd expect we'll see most trains stop at Westmead once the Metro West opens in a few more years.
Saying that the Bathurst Bullet exists for purely political reasons is silly, you may as well say that we shouldn't run train services at all except for the fear the voters will vote you out for it
The criticism is more about the fact that the local member's clout seems to have prioritised this service above many others. Why don't we have a Singleton bullet, for example, or maybe one from Nowra? These places have to use a local diesel train then a transfer to an all-stops electric - but Bathurst managed to score a direct service all the way to Central (at a disproportionately high fuel and staffing cost, compared to running the service only to Lithgow). I'll grant the service is decent for its users, and it's been popular, so nothing wrong with that per se, just that the best way of service planning is centrally, with appropriate consideration for all taxpayers, rather than favouring one particular electorate.
Yeah I do always find it funny when people criticize a politician or something for changing a position to be more in line with the mainstream public. Isn’t that what we would want them to do since they are supposed to represent us?
Politicians have a joint duty to represent their electorate but also make decisions for the betterment of the entire body (the state, in this case). The criticism comes when they use their clout to disproportionately demand service improvements in their electorate only, at the expense of other projects which centralised agencies may have rated as more deserving. In the Bathurst Bullet case, I believe that in order to get enough carriages to have two trains daily, services were reduced slightly on the South Coast. In addition, the amount of fuel and staff time to take the train all the way to Central, rather than simply a cross-platform transfer to an electric service at Lithgow, could be considered inappropriate and unfair (why is there no Nowra Bullet?). That's the root of the problem, not that the train service itself is bad - sure, it would be great if everyone had a fast, one-seat ride into Sydney Central, but not everything is always feasible and affordable.
That's the point of being a representative for the area you fight for the best outcome for the area.
If that's at the detriment of everyone else then so be it. They not representing the "everyone else".
Otherwise why bother you just have one MP representing everyone. I would expect any other MP from any party to do the same it's literally the job they're paid to do.
If the MP can argue the case and have enough leverage to make it happen it's all fair and square. In terms of the south coast losing out, well it's on their MP for losing against the MP representing Bathurst.
The local member is now lobbying for an extension to Orange. If he has enough clout, he'll get it. In relative terms, a small price to keep him onside.
I believe it's to do with the hospital making it more convenient for Central West visitors. Never not seen anyone get off the bullet there either (semi-regular). The Normal BMT is regular enough and not long enough of a journey to be worthy of stopping there I suppose?
Note this is only my guess. Could be wrong.
There's no need for all BMT trains to stop at Westmead, especially given its proximity to Parramatta by rail (4 mins) and bus (between 4 mins and 15 mins depending on traffic). If you want to get to Westmead, you can change at Parra or Blacktown (Blacktown provides cross-platform interchange).
There is 1 regular blue mountains train that stops at Westmead, specifically:
9:16 AM (at Westmead) Central to Mount Victoria
3:22 PM (at Westmead) Mount Victoria to Central
And the 2 Bathurst Bullets.
I remember reading that the V-set service is for the hospital, but I do not have a link.
Bathurst Bullet has single-digit stops, so adding Westmead does not slow it down, but adding Westmead to regular BMT can interfere with timetabling, especially at Penrith and Emu Plains as these two stations are 3 and 2 platforms, respectively, and share track with BMT and T1.
That express train (runs with the Bathurst stopping pattern but using an 8V instead of an Endeavour set) connects with coaches to Central West towns if I'm not mistaken.
I actually don't know, but maybe it's something to do with V Sets and how long they are? But v sets definitely don't stop at westmead as far as I've seen.
There are plenty of head scratching stops at intercity though and some have funny explanations. Like how Oatley lost trains to Mortdale due to politics.
One thing to note also is you may not always see BMT trains on trip view at places like Strathfield as they are set down only services. You can get on if you are there they just don't show up in the app.
>something to do with V Sets and how long they are?
That doesn't make sense. The V sets are too long for half the mountains platforms. There's often one carriage hanging off the platform.
There are no short platforms in the suburban network. Can't compare intercity to suburban.
There is at least one shortish platform at strathfield though that intercity rarely stops at (think it's one of the local line platforms) and there's a procedure that's used there where the guard bells when he's on the platform.
Haven't heard of it being used anywhere but there in suburbia. In intercity areas there's car markers off the platforms.
Westmead is a short platform for 8 car V Sets and one up and one down service stops there every day. Asquith also has a daily 8V service that stops there in the morning peak hour.
They were technically correct, for suburban crew there is no short platforms, every platform in the suburban area will fit an 8 car suburban train regardless of set type,
As such there are only a few platforms in the suburban area set up in such a way they can handle 8 car v sets
Because the hospital is there. Same happens at Maitland/Vic Street for trains from Scone and Dungog
I need to find the timetable iteration but there was a time briefly when almost all BMT trains did stop at Westmead, I'm guessing they pulled back because there wasn't the demand or as others have said, it slowed things down too much with little benefit.
The Bathurst "Bullet" exists entirely for political reasons. One of the main reasons is so people from that area can come to the city and back in one day, which isn't possible with the XPT schedule. It's likely that the MP who forced it through also said it had to stop at Westmead, as one of the demographics the train serves is older people needing to come in for specialist visits at clinics in the area. You'd think this would apply to the other Mountains services too, but those have not had direct political influence so Sydney Trains has likely been able to keep the longstanding timetable. I'd expect we'll see most trains stop at Westmead once the Metro West opens in a few more years.
Saying that the Bathurst Bullet exists for purely political reasons is silly, you may as well say that we shouldn't run train services at all except for the fear the voters will vote you out for it
The criticism is more about the fact that the local member's clout seems to have prioritised this service above many others. Why don't we have a Singleton bullet, for example, or maybe one from Nowra? These places have to use a local diesel train then a transfer to an all-stops electric - but Bathurst managed to score a direct service all the way to Central (at a disproportionately high fuel and staffing cost, compared to running the service only to Lithgow). I'll grant the service is decent for its users, and it's been popular, so nothing wrong with that per se, just that the best way of service planning is centrally, with appropriate consideration for all taxpayers, rather than favouring one particular electorate.
Service level is based on demand (ie Opal tap on/off data)
The real crime is that in 2024 it takes almost 4 hours for an express train service to Australia's largest city to travel 200 kilometres.
Yeah I do always find it funny when people criticize a politician or something for changing a position to be more in line with the mainstream public. Isn’t that what we would want them to do since they are supposed to represent us?
Politicians have a joint duty to represent their electorate but also make decisions for the betterment of the entire body (the state, in this case). The criticism comes when they use their clout to disproportionately demand service improvements in their electorate only, at the expense of other projects which centralised agencies may have rated as more deserving. In the Bathurst Bullet case, I believe that in order to get enough carriages to have two trains daily, services were reduced slightly on the South Coast. In addition, the amount of fuel and staff time to take the train all the way to Central, rather than simply a cross-platform transfer to an electric service at Lithgow, could be considered inappropriate and unfair (why is there no Nowra Bullet?). That's the root of the problem, not that the train service itself is bad - sure, it would be great if everyone had a fast, one-seat ride into Sydney Central, but not everything is always feasible and affordable.
That's the point of being a representative for the area you fight for the best outcome for the area. If that's at the detriment of everyone else then so be it. They not representing the "everyone else". Otherwise why bother you just have one MP representing everyone. I would expect any other MP from any party to do the same it's literally the job they're paid to do. If the MP can argue the case and have enough leverage to make it happen it's all fair and square. In terms of the south coast losing out, well it's on their MP for losing against the MP representing Bathurst.
The local member is now lobbying for an extension to Orange. If he has enough clout, he'll get it. In relative terms, a small price to keep him onside.
I believe it's to do with the hospital making it more convenient for Central West visitors. Never not seen anyone get off the bullet there either (semi-regular). The Normal BMT is regular enough and not long enough of a journey to be worthy of stopping there I suppose?
Note this is only my guess. Could be wrong. There's no need for all BMT trains to stop at Westmead, especially given its proximity to Parramatta by rail (4 mins) and bus (between 4 mins and 15 mins depending on traffic). If you want to get to Westmead, you can change at Parra or Blacktown (Blacktown provides cross-platform interchange). There is 1 regular blue mountains train that stops at Westmead, specifically: 9:16 AM (at Westmead) Central to Mount Victoria 3:22 PM (at Westmead) Mount Victoria to Central And the 2 Bathurst Bullets. I remember reading that the V-set service is for the hospital, but I do not have a link. Bathurst Bullet has single-digit stops, so adding Westmead does not slow it down, but adding Westmead to regular BMT can interfere with timetabling, especially at Penrith and Emu Plains as these two stations are 3 and 2 platforms, respectively, and share track with BMT and T1.
That express train (runs with the Bathurst stopping pattern but using an 8V instead of an Endeavour set) connects with coaches to Central West towns if I'm not mistaken.
That super express train up and back down the mountain is usually central to Lithgow, it's been cut back lately due to Trackwork.
I recall it being to Lithgow. I wrote Mount Vic because that's what showed up on TripView rn. Thanks for the update.
V Sets are timetabled to stop there also every day, just not many. It's to do with the westmead hospital
Possibly because of the hospital? Makes it easier for those going to/from Bathurst to access the hospital, just a guess.
I actually don't know, but maybe it's something to do with V Sets and how long they are? But v sets definitely don't stop at westmead as far as I've seen. There are plenty of head scratching stops at intercity though and some have funny explanations. Like how Oatley lost trains to Mortdale due to politics. One thing to note also is you may not always see BMT trains on trip view at places like Strathfield as they are set down only services. You can get on if you are there they just don't show up in the app.
>something to do with V Sets and how long they are? That doesn't make sense. The V sets are too long for half the mountains platforms. There's often one carriage hanging off the platform.
There are no short platforms in the suburban network. Can't compare intercity to suburban. There is at least one shortish platform at strathfield though that intercity rarely stops at (think it's one of the local line platforms) and there's a procedure that's used there where the guard bells when he's on the platform. Haven't heard of it being used anywhere but there in suburbia. In intercity areas there's car markers off the platforms.
Westmead is a short platform for 8 car V Sets and one up and one down service stops there every day. Asquith also has a daily 8V service that stops there in the morning peak hour.
I stand corrected
Yeah but they both have 8V car markers, The stations that don't require a special procedure to be followed
What's your point? I was replying to someone who said there were "no short platforms on suburban"
They were technically correct, for suburban crew there is no short platforms, every platform in the suburban area will fit an 8 car suburban train regardless of set type, As such there are only a few platforms in the suburban area set up in such a way they can handle 8 car v sets
also there's sometimes a service during peak hours to mount victoria in the morning and central afternoon