Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

Tangara reduced seating trial - but more standing

posted Saturday 13 July 2013

Seats in two Tangara carriages have been reconfigured in a trial to test whether wider aisles and extra standing room will lead to faster boarding and alighting during peak periods at busy CBD stations.

The new seating configurations are being trialled in carriages on the Western and North Shore lines. The trial includes the removal of 16 seats from each of the two carriages, increasing capacity by up to 80 people or around 15 per cent for the two carriages according to Sydney Trains' calculations.

Regular commuters will know that some passengers in peak-hour Western services are already forced to stand from Central to Parramatta or beyond. However, crowding will be worse on North Shore trains once North West Rail Link shuttles put about 5000 extra passengers per peak hour onto Shore services.

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