16 November 2017

Bunnings Fyshwick may be site for new railway station

| Ian Bushnell
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Train station

Canberra Railway Station at Kingston: Days could be numbered.

News that Bunnings Warehouse will take up the former Masters site at Majura Park may be the first move in a series of plays that could see the relocation of Canberra Railway Station to Fyshwick.

Bunnings staff at the Fyshwick store on Newcastle Street have been aware all year that they would be transferring to Majura Park in 2018.

One staff member said the ACT Government and Bunnings had been in negotiations for some time with the aim of the Government acquiring the site to develop a new railway station.

Bunnings said in a statement that a final decision had not been made on the future of the Fyshwick site, but it was likely that it would continue to trade ‘in one form or another’.

“Team members will either relocate to the new Canberra Airport site or remain at the current Fyshwick store,” the Acting State Operations Manager NSW South and ACT, Robyn Hudson, said.

“We will continue to ensure our team members and the community are kept up to date with any progress on our plans.”

But Bunnings did not respond to questions about whether it had been involved in any negotiations with the ACT Government.

Land between the rail line and Bunnings is vacant and being used as a makeshift car park. Combined with the Bunnings site, it could allow for a rail and bus interchange, car park and integrated mixed use development, as recommended in 2009 by the Railway Master Plan for the ACT.

Moving Canberra Railway Station from Kingston was first mooted by then Planning Minister Andrew Barr in 2007 when he unveiled the East Lake Renewal draft plan.

It provided for options to relocate the railway from Kingston to possible sites near the Monaro Highway, or Newcastle Street west near what is now the Canberra Outlet Centre, or Newcastle Street east.

According to the East Lake draft report, moving the railway station would enable the development of a large parcel of land now occupied by railway yards in Kingston to be integrated within the urban fabric of East Lake. A corridor for future transitway options such as light rail would be retained.

The plan envisaged, high-density residential areas for 9,000 people and light industries, including 5,000 residential units and 16,000sqm of commercial space.

The East Lake area includes the Jerrabomberra wetlands on Lake Burley Griffin’s eastern shoreline; Kingston’s railway line; agricultural land; and historic Causeway Hall at Kingston.

But the proposal was abandoned in 2012 after the site was found to be contaminated with asbestos and a dispute with the Commonwealth over the clean-up bill.

However, the Commonwealth had already remediated the Kingston rail yards.

Possible moves to relocate the manifestly inadequate Canberra Railway Station comes as now Chief Minister Andrew Barr embarks on a massive urban renewal program and negotiations with NSW on a faster, if not high-speed, Canberra-Sydney rail link.

Have you heard about this plan? Does Canberra need a new railway station? Would Fyshwick be a good location?

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The problem JC with Tuggeranong seceding from the ACT is the financial loss to the rest of Canberra.

The real issue is Tuggeranong costs the ACT government much less than a 10th of ACT Government expenditure, but the area provides a fifth of Canberra’s rates, a fifth of Canberra’s Federal funding to ACT Government and a fifth of Mr Barr’s income.

A cash cow to ACT Labor is provided by Tuggeranong residents and they won’t want that to change.

My feeling is that Tuggeranong residents just want some return on their rates and tax increases.

dungfungus said :

bj_ACT said :

dungfungus said :

bj_ACT said :

dungfungus said :

Bunnings at Greenway certainly are not moving. Security fencing has gone up around the northern and western perimeters and all those lovely shade trees in the carpark are to torn up for a major expansion.

I could be cynical and say that they are stocking up with gap filler to meet the anticipated demand from the recent apartment building in the immediate area but I won’t.

The Supercheap auto next door in Tuggeranong Square will also do well with the 2000 extra cars from the 12 Storey apartments stuck on one single lane feeder road around Bunnings.

SuperCheap moved to Homeworld about 9 months ago and Autobahn have taken over the vacated space at Tuggeranong Square. Autobahn had their official opening yesterday with 25% discount off most things; a bonanza for petrol-heads.

Last night I was talking to someone who bought an apartment across the road and she said while the experience of living in a new apartment was great the noise from “round the clock” parties there wasn’t.

The 62mm cloudburst in Tuggereanong last night will test the wet-sealing integrity of the latest constructions there. Traffic flow and car-parkeing there will be a nightmare.

Thanks Dungers for the update on the auto parts shops.

I’m no longer living in Tuggeranong, but I still see the lack of infrastructure support that the ACT government provides to Tuggeranong as an impediment to overdue improvement to the region.

Sorry to hear you left Tuggers. Despite the lack of infrastructure support that you alluded to and the way we are punished with unjustified rate increases, speed humps, continuing odours from the MLRMC (and threats of other nasties in the pipeline) it is still a great place to be. We haven’t yet been overrun with hipsters and because a tram will never reach here we are not bothered because we, like the rest of Canberra, don’t need one anyway. Yes, we are surviving and toughening up.
When the wheels fall off the rest of Canberra it won’t concern us.

Maybe tuggers should secede from the ACT!

John Moulis said :

As I recall, the tilt train option could not be used because the trains could not negotiate the tunnels at Molonglo Gorge. The only fast train option is the bullet train which must be approved and built ASAP.

Umm, that’s quite the non-sequitor.

If those three tunnels between Bungendore and Queanbeyan are such a colossal problem, then assembling a tunnel boring machine (to drill them out and thus make them wider) would be relatively easy. It’d only cost a couple of million dollars per tunnel. The spoil can be carted away from either end via a rail line that’s already there.

An even cheaper option would be programming the tilting mechanisms to briefly shut down three times between Bungendore and Queanbeyan. Computers can do stuff like that.

Meanwhile, a HSR would cost billions. While a HSR might be worthwhile on some grounds, your concerns about those three short and unimpressive brick-lined tunnels from the 1870s isn’t that good a reason.

bj_ACT said :

dungfungus said :

bj_ACT said :

dungfungus said :

Bunnings at Greenway certainly are not moving. Security fencing has gone up around the northern and western perimeters and all those lovely shade trees in the carpark are to torn up for a major expansion.

I could be cynical and say that they are stocking up with gap filler to meet the anticipated demand from the recent apartment building in the immediate area but I won’t.

The Supercheap auto next door in Tuggeranong Square will also do well with the 2000 extra cars from the 12 Storey apartments stuck on one single lane feeder road around Bunnings.

SuperCheap moved to Homeworld about 9 months ago and Autobahn have taken over the vacated space at Tuggeranong Square. Autobahn had their official opening yesterday with 25% discount off most things; a bonanza for petrol-heads.

Last night I was talking to someone who bought an apartment across the road and she said while the experience of living in a new apartment was great the noise from “round the clock” parties there wasn’t.

The 62mm cloudburst in Tuggereanong last night will test the wet-sealing integrity of the latest constructions there. Traffic flow and car-parkeing there will be a nightmare.

Thanks Dungers for the update on the auto parts shops.

I’m no longer living in Tuggeranong, but I still see the lack of infrastructure support that the ACT government provides to Tuggeranong as an impediment to overdue improvement to the region.

Sorry to hear you left Tuggers. Despite the lack of infrastructure support that you alluded to and the way we are punished with unjustified rate increases, speed humps, continuing odours from the MLRMC (and threats of other nasties in the pipeline) it is still a great place to be. We haven’t yet been overrun with hipsters and because a tram will never reach here we are not bothered because we, like the rest of Canberra, don’t need one anyway. Yes, we are surviving and toughening up.
When the wheels fall off the rest of Canberra it won’t concern us.

dungfungus said :

bj_ACT said :

dungfungus said :

Bunnings at Greenway certainly are not moving. Security fencing has gone up around the northern and western perimeters and all those lovely shade trees in the carpark are to torn up for a major expansion.

I could be cynical and say that they are stocking up with gap filler to meet the anticipated demand from the recent apartment building in the immediate area but I won’t.

The Supercheap auto next door in Tuggeranong Square will also do well with the 2000 extra cars from the 12 Storey apartments stuck on one single lane feeder road around Bunnings.

SuperCheap moved to Homeworld about 9 months ago and Autobahn have taken over the vacated space at Tuggeranong Square. Autobahn had their official opening yesterday with 25% discount off most things; a bonanza for petrol-heads.

Last night I was talking to someone who bought an apartment across the road and she said while the experience of living in a new apartment was great the noise from “round the clock” parties there wasn’t.

The 62mm cloudburst in Tuggereanong last night will test the wet-sealing integrity of the latest constructions there. Traffic flow and car-parkeing there will be a nightmare.

Thanks Dungers for the update on the auto parts shops.

I’m no longer living in Tuggeranong, but I still see the lack of infrastructure support that the ACT government provides to Tuggeranong as an impediment to overdue improvement to the region.

bj_ACT said :

dungfungus said :

Bunnings at Greenway certainly are not moving. Security fencing has gone up around the northern and western perimeters and all those lovely shade trees in the carpark are to torn up for a major expansion.

I could be cynical and say that they are stocking up with gap filler to meet the anticipated demand from the recent apartment building in the immediate area but I won’t.

The Supercheap auto next door in Tuggeranong Square will also do well with the 2000 extra cars from the 12 Storey apartments stuck on one single lane feeder road around Bunnings.

SuperCheap moved to Homeworld about 9 months ago and Autobahn have taken over the vacated space at Tuggeranong Square. Autobahn had their official opening yesterday with 25% discount off most things; a bonanza for petrol-heads.

Last night I was talking to someone who bought an apartment across the road and she said while the experience of living in a new apartment was great the noise from “round the clock” parties there wasn’t.

The 62mm cloudburst in Tuggereanong last night will test the wet-sealing integrity of the latest constructions there. Traffic flow and car-parkeing there will be a nightmare.

dungfungus said :

Bunnings at Greenway certainly are not moving. Security fencing has gone up around the northern and western perimeters and all those lovely shade trees in the carpark are to torn up for a major expansion.

I could be cynical and say that they are stocking up with gap filler to meet the anticipated demand from the recent apartment building in the immediate area but I won’t.

The Supercheap auto next door in Tuggeranong Square will also do well with the 2000 extra cars from the 12 Storey apartments stuck on one single lane feeder road around Bunnings.

Bunnings at Greenway certainly are not moving. Security fencing has gone up around the northern and western perimeters and all those lovely shade trees in the carpark are to torn up for a major expansion.

I could be cynical and say that they are stocking up with gap filler to meet the anticipated demand from the recent apartment building in the immediate area but I won’t.

John Moulis said :

A_Cog said :

The Spanish company TALGO reckon their tilting trains can do Kingston-Central Station in 2 hours. That’s better than us catching a taxi to the airport, checking in and waiting, boarding, flying, landing, disembarking, getting out of the airport, onto transport and reaching our Sydney destination.

TALGO are so confident they’ve offered to loan us their rolling stock for a year for free, to prove their claims.

So it seems smart to pull the line into Fyshwick and then help all the commercial guys move to Hume and Mitchell, and replace the entire area with super high denisity apartments (like Green Square in Sydney) for 30,000 or 40,000 buyers.

That’s one way to solve the housing crisis… mini manhattan. So sure, why not.

As I recall, the tilt train option could not be used because the trains could not negotiate the tunnels at Molonglo Gorge. The only fast train option is the bullet train which must be approved and built ASAP.

It was also reported the tilt train also renovated a couple of platforms along the way.

If smaller and lighter 2 car commuter trains were introduced now, travelling times could be introduced dramatically because the speed restrictions that are imposed on heavy rail traffic (to avoid damage to cuttings through vibration) could be lifted. These speed restrictions will still apply to the tilt train.

The Canberra Times has today published a Clarification on page 2 which states that Bunnings have made no decision to relocate the Fyshwick business to Majura.

Readers should be aware that Bunnings in the UK appears to be having similar problems to the ill-fated Woolworths-Masters venture in Australia: http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/bunnings-hits-a-snag-in-british-expansion-plan-20170817-gxyik4.html

A_Cog said :

The Spanish company TALGO reckon their tilting trains can do Kingston-Central Station in 2 hours. That’s better than us catching a taxi to the airport, checking in and waiting, boarding, flying, landing, disembarking, getting out of the airport, onto transport and reaching our Sydney destination.

TALGO are so confident they’ve offered to loan us their rolling stock for a year for free, to prove their claims.

So it seems smart to pull the line into Fyshwick and then help all the commercial guys move to Hume and Mitchell, and replace the entire area with super high denisity apartments (like Green Square in Sydney) for 30,000 or 40,000 buyers.

That’s one way to solve the housing crisis… mini manhattan. So sure, why not.

As I recall, the tilt train option could not be used because the trains could not negotiate the tunnels at Molonglo Gorge. The only fast train option is the bullet train which must be approved and built ASAP.

A_Cog said :

The Spanish company TALGO reckon their tilting trains can do Kingston-Central Station in 2 hours. That’s better than us catching a taxi to the airport, checking in and waiting, boarding, flying, landing, disembarking, getting out of the airport, onto transport and reaching our Sydney destination.

TALGO are so confident they’ve offered to loan us their rolling stock for a year for free, to prove their claims.

So it seems smart to pull the line into Fyshwick and then help all the commercial guys move to Hume and Mitchell, and replace the entire area with super high denisity apartments (like Green Square in Sydney) for 30,000 or 40,000 buyers.

That’s one way to solve the housing crisis… mini manhattan. So sure, why not.

While TALGO are very confident, I understand that 2 hours Sydney to Canberra, without significant upgrades (talking hundreds of millions of $$$) to upgrade the alignment of the track, its quality and also improve a number of stations (due to the impact of tilting technology on the loading gauge of trains), is nothing but a pipe dream.

Informed sources I know think it might be able to shave 30-45 off the current snails pace of 4 1/2 hours without to Sydney.

But with an offer to trial it, would be stupid not to take it up and see what it could achieve. Hopefully such a trial would go better than the one in mid 90s with the Swedish Tilt Train.

A_Cog said :

The Spanish company TALGO reckon their tilting trains can do Kingston-Central Station in 2 hours. That’s better than us catching a taxi to the airport, checking in and waiting, boarding, flying, landing, disembarking, getting out of the airport, onto transport and reaching our Sydney destination.

TALGO are so confident they’ve offered to loan us their rolling stock for a year for free, to prove their claims.

So it seems smart to pull the line into Fyshwick and then help all the commercial guys move to Hume and Mitchell, and replace the entire area with super high denisity apartments (like Green Square in Sydney) for 30,000 or 40,000 buyers.

That’s one way to solve the housing crisis… mini manhattan. So sure, why not.

No one is going to buy a home unit in Fyshwick with an emissions belching waste incinerator going 24/7 in the same suburb.

What’s plan B?

The Spanish company TALGO reckon their tilting trains can do Kingston-Central Station in 2 hours. That’s better than us catching a taxi to the airport, checking in and waiting, boarding, flying, landing, disembarking, getting out of the airport, onto transport and reaching our Sydney destination.

TALGO are so confident they’ve offered to loan us their rolling stock for a year for free, to prove their claims.

So it seems smart to pull the line into Fyshwick and then help all the commercial guys move to Hume and Mitchell, and replace the entire area with super high denisity apartments (like Green Square in Sydney) for 30,000 or 40,000 buyers.

That’s one way to solve the housing crisis… mini manhattan. So sure, why not.

This has been an open secret around town for most of this calendar year. Yes, NSW is working on a significant upgrade to the current service over the next few years, including the brand new train carriages. I understand there is also significant design work proceeding to result in track improvements in the southern highlands, but it appears Queanbeyan to Bungendore is not included.

Ian Bushnell12:07 pm 16 Nov 17

The Chief Minister has been talking to the NSW Government about improving the rail link with Sydney. I assume Canberra Railway Station and the rail infrastructure in the ACT is on the agenda.

Um, not so fast Andrew. Canberra railway station and the rail line is owned by the NSW government. Has this been run by Gladys and her ministers yet?

Oaks Estate would be a better location for a simple bus turnback on Route 200.

Fyshwick could still be a good location for a transport interchange, but only under two conditions:
* Reuse the rail corridor for a busway for fast services between the City and Queanbeyan (i.e. scrub all that red paint off Canberra Avenue), and
* Run another frequent rapid bus route from Weston/Woden via Hindmarsh Drive, into the new Bunnings Station, then via a new bus-only bridge from Tennant Street to Brindabella Business Park, then to the Airport, then up the Majura Parkway to Gungahlin.

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