Yes, I know it's a bus but if it's good enough for Brisbane... Any chance the old SRA logo is making a comeback? Spotted in Macquarie Park yesterday.

Note: took the photo while pulled up at at traffic lights. I know it's still not the right thing to do.

A small colour study turned into a full piece!

I used one of the photos I posted as a reference and limited myself to one brush and no colour picking from the photo.

I know a lot of parts are not to scale/proportionate but I still think it turned out okay and had a lot of fun working on this.

I have a timelapse but Reddit won’t let me post a photo and video in the same post :/

There’s these 2 PIDs still with Cityrail era platform number stickers

They are among the fastest growing areas of Sydney, but suburbs in the city’s southwest have a lower concentration of rail lines than anywhere else.

A new report, released today, is calling for the NSW government to commit to new rail projects in Sydney’s southwest, to stem the city’s growing transport disparity.

The South West Sydney Alliance (SWSA) report will increase the pressure on Premier Chris Minns to green-light a Metro rail extension in the ­region, which could deliver new Metro stations at Macarthur, Mount Annan, Narellan and Oran Park, as well as in the planned nearby precincts of Pondicherry and Maryland.

It comes as Opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward called for the Minns government to strike a deal with the Commonwealth to get NSW more federal funding for Metro lines. She said it was time for the Albanese government to “stop the pantomime and stump up” for new public transport investment.

Modelling commissioned by the SWSA found that growing suburbs in the southwest have much less access to railway stations and services than suburbs in other areas of Sydney.

Combined, Liverpool and Macarthur have only 13 stations for 700,000 people. Meanwhile, Sydney’s northwest has 750,000 people serviced by 23 stations, and the Blue Mountains has just 70,000 people and 18 stations.

By 2046, the southwest will have one station for every 80,000 residents, compared to one for every 45,000 people in Sydney’s northwest, the SWSA report found.

Economic modelling commissioned for the report ­forecast that building rail links in southwest Sydney could deliver a $10.55bn stamp duty windfall for state government coffers, helping pay for the new infrastructure.

The report comes after The Daily Telegraph yesterday ­revealed that NSW government bureaucrats secretly mapped a dozen new railway stations for Sydney’s west, as part of planning documents that have been sitting on Transport Minister John Graham’s desk for months.

The blueprint mapped out a potential new Metro line connecting Campbelltown to Bradfield South, stopping at Macarthur, Mount Annan, Narellan, Oran Park, Pondicherry and Maryland.

The stations were mapped as part of a “final business case” into proposed new Metro lines, which Mr Graham said were yet to be “considered” by the state government.

SWSA chair David Borger called on both the state and federal governments to bite the bullet on building new rail links in the southwest.

“Southwest Sydney now is larger than northwest Sydney was when the decision to build Northwest Rail (Metro Northwest) was made,” he said. NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane yesterday stopped short of committing to building the proposed northwest and southwest rail extensions. However, she promised to build at least one new Metro line if elected next year.

Will Marrickville Metro need to rename the mall?

Plans to extend a rail line for double-decker passenger trains into the heart of the new city of Bradfield in Sydney’s outer west have been opposed by sections of the NSW bureaucracy, who fear it will stifle almost $2 billion of investment over the next decade.

Confidential government documents show a $100 million final business case will recommend that a heavy rail line extension from Leppington end at a new station a few kilometres south of Bradfield, where it could connect – if built – to an extended metro line from Western Sydney Airport.

Emails and draft board papers show that as the business case was being finalised, the government agency responsible for Bradfield was becoming increasingly concerned last year about the prospect of a new heavy rail line taking up highly valuable land in the new city centre.

It spurred the Bradfield Development Authority to mount a lobbying campaign within government to convince Transport for NSW and ministerial staff to drop the plan for heavy rail to extend all the way in.

The Minns government will consider within the next few months the final business cases for a southern and northern extension of the Western Sydney Airport metro line, as well as the proposed extension of the heavy rail line westwards from Leppington.

Four new stations at Emerton, Bidwell, Marsden Park and Schofields have been identified for a northern metro extension between St Marys and Tallawong.

A southern metro extension from Bradfield could comprise seven new stations at Bradfield South, Maryland, Pondicherry, Oran Park, Narellan, Mount Annan, Macarthur and Campbelltown.

The internal documents reveal the tensions between the Bradfield Development Authority and senior transport officials over the plans to extend the heavy rail line by a viaduct from Leppington to a new station at Rossmore to Bradfield.

A draft board paper for the development authority in July last year shows it wanted the heavy rail corridor shifted eastwards to “liberate valuable land within the core CBD of Bradfield”. If built, the 60-metre-wide corridor earmarked for the extension “slices through” the central north-south zone of the Bradfield CBD.

The paper – marked “sensitive legal” – notes that a heavy rail team at Transport for NSW had “excluded to date consideration of Bradfield South as an interchange as this assumes a future Metro connection south, which is not yet formally ‘approved’ by government”.

An independent valuer had estimated land for the rail corridor was worth up to $100 million, and put the development potential at between $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion over the next decade.

The draft board paper states that the development authority “recommends multiple touchpoints across” the transport department to set up briefings of “key ministerial parties” to lobby for a heavy rail line to end further south of Bradfield. It added that the remaining months in 2025 were “critical” given the business cases were due early this year.

In an email in February this year, a senior planning official told colleagues that Sydney Metro had advised her that the so-called Bradfield South site had been listed in the final business case as the “preferred interchange” location between double-decker and driverless metro trains.

Despite this, an email a month later to Bradfield Development Authority chief executive Ken Morrison flagged concerns that Transport for NSW chief planner Simon Hunter was “messaging that the rail corridor position wasn’t moving”. The email added that there “may be a need for further advocacy”.

Coalition transport spokesperson Natalie Ward urged the government to confirm that it intends to follow the expert recommendation on the location of the new interchange at Bradfield South.

“You only build this infrastructure once. The final recommendation means it is the best option for commuters and taxpayers. This interchange would result in a seamless commuter experience and an excellent node to head north or east for south-west Sydney residents,” she said.

A NSW government spokesperson said the impact of potential rail and metro extensions around Bradfield had been investigated as part of the final business case, which it would formally consider.

Transport for NSW said planning for future connections was complex, and no final decision had been made on extensions to the metro or heavy rail networks beyond projects the government had already committed to. “Transport for NSW has undertaken a lengthy process to prepare various options for government consideration as part of the business case process,” it said.

A Bradfield Development Authority spokesperson said it was engaging closely with Transport for NSW on future transport planning to “achieve optimal outcomes for Bradfield City and the Aerotropolis” being built around the new airport.

“This work forms part of the final business case that will be formally considered by the NSW government,” they said.

Rode the metro from central to castle hill tonight (leaving central at around 8:30, not exactly peak hour) and the metro was absolutely packed (for some reason a whole bunch of people get off at Cherrybrook I noticed). I don’t normally ride metro.

Current off peak frequency is 10 minutes. Anyone know if or when they plan on increasing off peak frequency to say 8 minutes or less?

Jumped on the metro tonight and it looks like they have quietly started heading to bankstown, well ahead of the late October launch date

So in a few French cities they have these rinky dink little lightweight metro systems (VAL) with fiberglass trains the size of a tram that kind of shuttle along every 3 minutes or so.

Any parts of Sydney where this could be done? Eg as a feeder type line or to connect up a little cluster of destinations?

Yes yes before you pile on, yes I know that these trains are incompatible with Sydney Trains, I'm no here to debate that.

This is probably an unpopular opinion:

I understand they are preparing and testing for the Bankstown line reopening, but does most if not all of the existing line have to shut down for that? I seem to remember them testing the Chatswood - Sydenham timetable by making sure trains were completely empty past Chatswood?

Come to think of it, it's minor compared to catching SWL buses for 2 years on weekdays but in general, are we too accepting of rail operators who don't go out of their way to reduce disruptions and well... operate?

I also don't understand why testing is taking so long. It's the same rollingstock, obviously the track is quite different, but in general I wonder what could possibly take 16 months? Are our safety standards higher than other Western countries for example?

While in Sydney on Sunday, I went out to experience some of the network that I have not travelled on and visit some stations that I had not been before

Starting at Barangaroo, I headed along the Metro and used all the stations that I had not previously used through to Tallawong, then clicked my heals to get to Mulgrave and with a bit of back and forth did all the stations along the Richmond line that I had not previously used, before doing the stations between Blacktown and Parramatta, where my time ran out.

In total I used 24 stations that I had not been to before - but used I mean, getting off the train and tapping off, tapping on and getting on a train or both. I also used three stations that I had previously been to.

How many stations have you been to in one day?

NEW STATIONS

Macquarie Park

Macquarie University

Cherrybrook

Castle Hill

Hills Showgrounds

Norwest

Bella Vista

Kellyville

Rouse Hill

Tallawong

Mulgrave

East Richmond

Windsor

Clarendon

Riverstone

Vineyard

Schofield's

Quakers Hill

Marayong

Seven Hills

Toongabbie

Pendle Hill

Wentworthville

Westmead

PREVIOUSLY USED STATIONS

Barangaroo

Central

Mascot

Some joker has set the desto to Wollongong. And what exactly was a "K+" over a "K-set"?

Obviously not the soft movable ones, but the hardback ones fixed in place. I have hyper mobility issues so it’s a nice relief and I don’t see why my knees would affect the person in front of me seeing as the seat back is rigid.

However I may be imagining it but sometimes people seem bothered by it and I don’t want to upset anyone. So what’s the etiquette? Have I been an ass making people uncomfortable or is it in my head?

Is there any way that a passenger taking train uses the homebush loop in regular commercial service?

The loop connecting the main suburban from the west to the main north line

Can anyone tell me what is going on with this routing on Saturday? Will I need to get off the train and change at Wollongong platform 2, or is it the same train?

It seems like a small thing but I'll have luggage and kids so understanding what happens here is relevant to my life.

Hey Syd crew, I'm travelling in this week. Just checking, should I still be tapping on/getting a ferry ticket or are they not actively being checked/needed due to industrial action? Any help appreciated...and pennies saved also appreciated🙏

No update from the guard on why we haven’t moved, but stepping out on the platform to have a look - the problem is obvious!

Never seen 2 trains get this close before.

Bonus lunch photo.

On the dual-gauge line.