Fig 02: From little things big things grow! While my proposals for a given light rail network are ambitious and would be costly it can be achieved first through a number of steps to future proof Hobart from its inevitable growing pains. In the near future it would make good sense for the state government to have a given Hobart City Bypass built to free up the city core from through traffic and make road space available for a light rail alignment. Therefore a First Phase Hobart LRM network could deliver three route destinations out from a given Hobart Stn node - Claremont, MONA and UTAS. The Main Line rail corridor would be a cost effect route as given in other Hobart light rail studies and scenarios. However on the approaches to Moonah (Albert Rd) an entirely new dual line should be built along the Main Line corridor from scratch. This could make use of a short rail cutting below Albert Rd and Hopkins Street and two elevated sections via Derwent Pk and Glenorchy to overcome the numerous level crossings creating a fully grade separated light rail corridor en route to Claremont. The UTAS line would be street operations at kerbside and median with own ROW and traffic light control.
Fig 03: A Hobart City Bypass in some shape or form has been discussed since the early 1960s. The above illustration shows one still utilizing the Macquarie / Davey Street couplet and a new elevated arterial via Melville Rd. Fortunately some of the original proposals for an elevated motorway cutting through inner Hobart were never constructed. However some proposals of recent are for two tunnel options going under the inner north. These too have some concerning issues regarding the built heritage of Hobart. I strongly believe these options have not fully acknowledged the fact that such a given Bypass would be rejected by community due to widespread destruction of Hobart's unique inner urban environment. One of these 2020 options would involve the almost complete demolition of Glebe, a quaint inner city suburb unique in Australia for its fine timbered houses from the 19th century.
Fig 04: City of Hobart planning map showing an overlay of station nodes given in my scenario for the Hobart Light Rail Metro. Hobart Stn is one of 5 sub surface stations for the network, has a 90 m island platform and is located directly below Elizabeth Street bus mall - which would become a new station plaza. The Hobart City Stn would be placed at the southern end of a 4.75 km cut cover / TBM LRT dual tunnel network running in a NW axis to as far north as Albert Rd Moonah. The following three stations are underground stations given here on my map. The other two in blue are at grade, accessible stops like those found on the Melbourne tram network and are located on a possible Eastern Shore corridor via a New Tasman Bridge. However in the first phase of the networks development they would serve the northern suburbs, before the core network line is rerouted via the dual tunnel to be completed in a later phase. Initially the underground Hobart Stn could be built as a terminus for the first phase network given in Fig 02 and once the Hobart City Bypass road tunnel is completed in possibly 2035.
Fig 06: Vertical profile design for the Hobart Light Rail Metro cut cover tunnel alignment from southern portals to City North Station. The Hobart City Stn is at the centre of network and at 0.00 m. Light rail vehicle given is a 33.5 m / 210 passenger capacity Bombardier E - class tram illustrated. Engineering standards have been based on the Yarra Trams network in Melbourne and allow for a max gradient of 6.67% which would likely apply for the given Hobart LRM network. TBM launch site would commence from the northern end of the City North Stn and proceed to south of Albert Rd in Moonah with the two additional underground stations at North Hobart and New Town Plaza.
Fig 07: City North Station cross section
In Hobart there has been much discussion about reintroduction of trains or LRT (light rail transit) to the city and particularly its northern suburbs. There have been at least three proposals so far to my knowledge which are comprehensive.
These are the following:
01: Hobart Light Rail Cost Estimate: Reports 1 and 2 of May 2009 made by Parsons Brinckerhoff for the Tasmanian DIER (Dept of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources)
02: The Hobart Northern Suburbs Railway or HNSARG (Hobart Northern Suburbs Action Rail Group) a community based organization founded by University of Tasmania Degree in Electrical Engineering First Class Honours - Ben Johnston
03: The Hobart Light Rail Business Case (HLR) made by Hyder Consulting Pty Ltd. in 2011 for the Tasmanian DIER
01: The first proposal, and after much anticipation from the public, was the Hobart Light Rail Cost Estimate: Reports 1 and 2. This study is for an off the shelf OHW (overhead wire) LRT line to run from the University of Tasmania to Bridgewater Shopping Centre, via the Hobart CBD, inner northern suburbs and much of the Main Line rail corridor from Moonah and beyond. The given LRT route would total 26.44KM long, have dual and bi-directional track and have up to 21 transit stops.
02: The second proposal by the HNSRAG, technologically innovative and which has been endorsed by the Tasmanian Greens, could be for the possibility to run a fleet of 5 X 3 set battery powered trains along the existing Main Line rail corridor. The Hobart Northern Suburbs Railway would run from Mawson Place at Constitution Dock and out to as far as Granton (20KM). There would be up to seven transit stops: Hobart CBD (Mawson Place), New Town, Moonah, Glenorchy, Berriedale, Claremont, and a northern terminus at Granton. There would be scope for an extension of the line out to Brighton in the outer northern suburbs at a later date. The trains were proposed to run on existing 1067mm narrow gauge track.
03: More recently the DIER has released the The Hobart Light Rail Business Case (HLR) which looks into a number of options for cost effectively reintroducing rail guided vehicles along the Main Line rail corridor exclusively. This case unfortunately only looks into an alignment to as far as Claremont, some 14.8KM from Mawson Place. However a broad range of rail guided vehicle types have been investigated. These include industry standard OHW LRT, battery power LRT and diesel powered LRT, all suited to running on 1067mm narrow gauge, but with the potential for full track up grade, passing loops and complete with automatic boom gates at all level crossings. There would be 7 transit stops along the bidirectional rail alignment: Hobart CBD (Mawson Place or Elizabeth Street), New Town, Moonah, Derwent Park, Glenorchy, Berriedale, and a northern terminus at Claremont.
While any one of or even a combination of these proposals would be a positive step forward into the introduction of rail guided vehicles in Hobart, my scenario model is for a fully integrated LRT network for Greater Hobart. Making a transition from high MIT (motorized individual transport) dependence to that of transit city status is one main factor behind my scenario model.
