I just stumbled across this unofficial vision of Sydney’s rail transit around the year 2030 or so (mainly because the discussion about it on Reddit was linking to old Sydney maps on my blog), and I have to say that I really quite like it.
The 30/60 angles actually suit the network really well, and set up some nice axes and patterns throughout the diagram. I especially like the way the Cumberland Line heads straight up to Richmond from Parramatta, and the way the Northern Line angles back up to rejoin the North Shore Line at Hornsby. It’s a pity that the M1 Metro line has to take that little realignment jog at Cherrybrook, because all the other Metro lines are so straight – the Marrickville to Bankstown section is very impressively handled. The City Circle as an actual circle works surprisingly well considering the angularity of the rest of the diagram.
The light rail lines are handled about as well as they can be at this scale: an indication that they exist and where they interchange with the suburban lines. It’s unfortunate that the walking distance interchange at Lewisham isn’t indicated, but I can see how that would cause difficulties. It’d be nice if the legend for the light rail could be incorporated with the rest of the map information down the right hand side of the diagram: it always looks a little disjointed when there are legends scattered around the map, filling up empty space.
Some slight reconfiguring and realignment could improve the map even more: I’d like to see even spacing for the station labels from Harris Park all the way down to Glenfield, instead of the way the labels tighten up from Canley Vale. There’s the opportunity for a nice horizontal axis across the map by aligning the centres of the Aerotropolis station marker with the horizontal section of the T3 through Carramar and Villawood with the Bankstown to Marrickville section of the M1 line (or perhaps the horizontal part of the T8 Airport line instead?).
Some of the labelling is a bit cramped: the Waterloo label is ambiguously placed, and the line service bullets are jammed up right underneath Lidcombe’s label with no breathing room at all, for example. Overall, the North Shore and Illawarra lines seem more cramped than the rest of the map, though this may be unavoidable on the canvas used.
The codes for regional trains (BMT, CCN, etc.) don’t mean much by themselves: I’d prefer it if full names – Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Newcastle, etc. – were used along with some key destinations listed.
Finally, care needs to be taken when designing a diagram with a dark background: the dark blue Illawarra Line has very little contrast with the background and probably needs to be lightened – possibly adjusting the T2’s cyan colour accordingly.
Our final word: A confident and accomplished diagram, that really only needs some minor tweaking and quality control to be truly excellent. It definitely caught my attention! Three-and-a-half-stars!
Source: Reddit/r/Sydney