North-West T-way facts for kids

Quick facts for kids North-West T-way
Overview
Operator	Busways Hillsbus
Began service	10 March 2007 (2007-03-10)
Route
Start	Blacktown station Rouse Hill station
Via	Norwest Business Park Westmead Hospital
End	Parramatta station
Length	24 km

The North-West T-way is a special road system for buses in Western Sydney. It has lanes and roads just for buses. This helps buses travel quickly between Parramatta, Blacktown, and Rouse Hill. It opened in parts between March and November 2007. The T-way is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) long. It was the second fast bus route built in Sydney.

How the T-way Works and Where it Goes

The T-way follows Old Windsor Road north from Westmead Hospital. In Kellyville, the route splits into two main paths. One path goes north along Old Windsor and Windsor roads. It leads to Rouse Hill Town Centre. The other path goes west along Sunnyholt Road. This path leads to Blacktown.

The T-way needed 10 new bridges and two new underpasses to be built. About three kilometers of the T-way are special bus lanes on roads that already existed. Part of the T-way, between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill, runs next to the Sydney Metro Northwest train line.

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Building the North-West T-way

The Government of New South Wales first announced the T-way plan in 1998. The North-West T-way project was approved in February 2004. The Leighton Contractors company was chosen to build it in December 2004. Construction started in June 2005. The building work happened at the same time as a big upgrade to Windsor and Old Windsor roads.

The T-way opened in three main parts:

• The section from Parramatta to Merriville Road in Rouse Hill opened on 10 March 2007.
• The section from Merriville Road to Rouse Hill Town Centre opened on 25 September 2007.
• The Blacktown branch opened on 4 November 2007.

There was a plan for a fourth section to Castle Hill, but it was never built.

T-way Stations and Their Features

Norbrik station

Constitution Hill station

Troubadour station

Abbott station

Seven Hills station

The North-West T-way has 30 stations. They are usually about 800 meters apart. These stations have many helpful features. They include security cameras, screens that show when the next bus will arrive, and emergency help points. There are also audio announcements and nice landscaping around the stations.

One station, Parramatta Station, is also part of the Liverpool–Parramatta T-way. Here are some of the other stations, starting from Parramatta:

From Burns, the Blacktown branch goes to these stations:

From Burns, the Rouse Hill branch goes to these stations:

After the new Sydney Metro Northwest train line opened, some T-way station names changed. They became part of the bus areas for the new metro stations. However, some old signs with the original station names are still there. Only the bus stop information and timetables show the new names.

Here are some of the changes:

Bus Services on the T-way

Buses at Rouse Hill station

The bus companies Busways and Hillsbus run services on the North-West T-way. Many bus routes use all or part of the T-way. Before July 2019, the routes that used the T-way had numbers starting with 'T'. For example, Hillsbus used T6x and Busways used T7x. On 28 July 2019, these Txx routes were changed to three-digit numbers.

Here are some of the T-way services that used the Parramatta - Rouse Hill T-Way:

• T60 from Parramatta station to Castle Hill (now 660)
• T61 from Parramatta station to Blacktown station (now 661)
• T62 from Parramatta station to Castle Hill (now 662)
• T63 from Parramatta station to Rouse Hill Town Centre (now 663)
• T64 from Parramatta station to Rouse Hill Town Centre (now 664)
• T65 from Parramatta station to Rouse Hill Town Centre (now 665)
• T66 from Parramatta station to Rouse Hill (combined with T65 as 665)

These T-way services used the Blacktown - Parklea T-Way:

• T61 from Blacktown station to Parramatta station (now 661)
• T70 from Blacktown station to Castle Hill (now 730)
• T71 from Blacktown station to Castle Hill (now 731, only goes to Rouse Hill Town Centre)
• T72 from Blacktown station to Quakers Hill (now 732)
• T74 from Blacktown station to Riverstone (now 734)
• T75 from Blacktown station to Riverstone (now 735)

Hillsbus and Busways also run other bus routes that use parts of the T-way.

Concerns About the T-way

The T-way and how it works have received some criticism. Even before it opened, people were concerned about the planning and promises made for its construction. The Parramatta Council was worried that noise walls were not built for homes along the T-way route. This caused problems for residents. Also, a planned bike path next to the T-way was not fully built. It had a big detour that made it less useful for cyclists.

When the first part of the T-way opened, other issues came up. Some people wondered how many passengers would use the T-way. A local newspaper found that a car park for commuters had very few cars each day. Another newspaper reported that a barrier near Westmead railway station was causing accidents.

In April 2007, the Roads & Traffic Authority removed a system that would have given buses priority at intersections. This decision was criticized because it took away a main benefit of the T-way. It also made it harder to encourage people to use public transport.