Historical Analysis of Sydney's Transport System and Development

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Sydney's transport system. It begins by discussing the initial challenges in transporting goods and people in the early colonies, including the scarcity of draught animals. The report then traces the development of various transport modes, including land transport, railways, and ferries, highlighting key historical events such as the introduction of the Transport Act of 1930 and the restructuring of the Sydney railways and tram systems. It explores the rise of bus services, the expansion of the railway network, and the significance of ferry services in the 19th century. The report also examines the evolution of transport planning, including the Sydney’s Bus Future plan of 2013, which aimed to restructure bus services. The report concludes by emphasizing the interesting history of Sydney's transport and the significant advancements that have resolved earlier transportation challenges. The report references several sources including Lee (2010), RTA (2006) and Brooker & Douglas (2013) to support its findings.

SYDNEY TRANSPORT

Background or development of the Sydney transport, and how changes are occurred
in the transport system. Lastly, presentation is concluded with brief conclusion.
INTRODUCTION:

The transport of goods and personal was considered as big issue, and in this context
small thought had been given to the logistics of establishing the economy and
infrastructure of the colonies, and also there was huge scarcity of the draught
animals for land haulage. During the period of 1791, number of local livestock’s
such as two stallions, six mares and two colts, and a small number of cattle was far
too important to risk the beasts of burden. Various transport facilities are later
developed in the Sydney which reduces the hard work of the humans such as land
transport, railways, ferries, etc. and the history of all these modes are stated below.
BACKGROUND & DEVELOPMENT
OF TRANSPORT:

In the initial stage of the 20th century, public transport of the Sydney includes
suburban railway and inner-city trams, and both were operated by the railways of
the New South Wales Government. Both the networks were supplemented by the
horse-drawn services and ferry services, which were operated by the private
companies on the harbor of Sydney and the river of Parramatta.
ROADS AND BUSES:

Transport act 1930 was introduced by the Premier Jack Lang for the purpose of
protecting the tram system from competition, and this empowered the new
Metropolitan Transport Trust for closing down the routes of private buses which
provided tough competition to the trams, trains or other buses. In 1932, railways of
the Sydney were also restructured, in company with the tram systems by the new
Department of Road Transport & Tramways. First bus service was introduced by
the department from St Leonards to Manly on 25th December 1932.
Route 144, started as a service in the 1920s for connecting the trains, trams and
ferries. But the focus of the department began to shift in the construction of the bus
network, starting in 1937 when Kogarah’s steam trams were replaced with the
trolleybuses. After the period of two years, tram services from Manly were replaced
with the buses. In 1948, recommendation was provided to the department that the
complete network was replaced with the buses.
TRAMS AND BUSES

The first innovation in the Sydney inn lieu of transport was railways, and in this
context plans were advanced in 1848 for the purpose of connecting Sydney with the
Parramatta in the West, and with Liverpool, and ultimately with the Goulburn in the
south. This private project was collapsed and the government took the control, and
this also established in Australia a tradition of the government ownership and also
the control of the railways. Though, aim was set by the railways at initial stage for
moving the goods from the productive hinterland to the port. This also imposes
effect on the geographical pattern of the development of Sydney, which particularly
spread the suburban and also served in the form of instrument for redistributing the
city's population.
At first stage, ribbons of the suburbs grew with the railways, which are speeded up
by the wholesale opening of the large estates along with the lines. In this period,
movements of populations and expansions of rail correlate closely in this period of
time (Brooker & Douglas, 2013). First railway network of Australia was established
at the time when country includes sparsely settled colonies, before the time when
these colonies were combined to build Federation of States in 1901.
RAILWAY SYSTEM IN SYDNEY:

Till the period of late 1880s, population of the Sydney remained well served with
the water transport. As stated there were large network of the ferry services which
cover inner suburbs, such as Balmain, Glebe and North Sydney, and some other
different outer areas which includes Manly and Watsons Bay.
The manly ferry was considered as the most popular ferry service of the Sydney
and this ferry experienced the continuous rise in patronage from the early days of
the suburb's development till the inauguration of the harbor bridge in the year 1932
when competition related to the bus services result in decline. At initial stage, lead
was taken by the private organization, and in later decades of the 19th century the
ferry system was operated by the large scale private companies, which operate the
services in all the areas of the harbor.
FERRY SERVICES:

In 2013, transport department of the NSW release Sydney’s Bus Future which
mainly includes the plan related to the restructuring of bus services in Sydney. It
mainly developed as legacy system of the public and private operators into a
branded and structured service hierarchy. In this three levels of the services would
be defined that was rapid, suburban, and local. Rapid routes which were
accompanied with the long stop spacing of 800m to 1km and high all-day frequency
of 10 minutes or less, together with 20 suburban routes, with shorter stop spacing of
400m and all-day frequency of 15 minutes of less which had capacity to carry
almost 100 passengers. Some of these buses even include conversion of existing
routes such as metro bus routes, but it also introduced some new routes.
EVOLUTION:

On the basis of above facts, it can be said that history of Sydney transport was very
interesting and as transport of goods and personal was considered as big issue in the
early centuries. Later, number of modes developed which resolved this issue.
CONCLUSION

Lee, R. (2010). Transport: an Australian history. Sydney: UNSW Press.
RTA, (2006). Roads and traffic authority heritage and conservation register.
Available at:
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/about/environment/thematic-history-rta2006
.pdf
. Accessed on 12th May 2018.
Brooker, T. & Douglas, J. (2013). International Comparison of Transport Appraisal
Practice. Available at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach
ment_data/file/212284/annex-6-nsw-australia.pdf
. Accessed on 12th May 2018.
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