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Photos from ten years ago

Old photos from May 2009

It’s the end of May, so it’s time for a batch of photos from ten years ago.

I quite liked this ad for iiNet in Flinders Street Station:

iiNet advertising, Flinders Street Station
iiNet advertising, May 2009

I was snapping photos for Tony’s web site “Our Fading Past” (currently offline, but the Google Map is up), highlighting old signs around Melbourne. This classic is in Ripponlea on the side of a heritage-listed pharmacy.

Old Kodak advertising on side of chemist in Ripponlea, May 2009

On the 70s-era Z-class trams, you can still find these things. Originally these trams had front-door boarding, so you could have your ticket checked by a conductor. The rear doors were used to alight, and these little screens would light up to indicate you could press the button to open the doors. I think these days most of them are wired up to the Next Stop buttons.

Z-class tram, Open Doors indicator, May 2009

Also arriving on trams: new Myki readers. Myki became active on Melbourne trains at the end of 2009, and on trams in mid-2010, with the touch-off requirement removed to make it work with the slow readers.

Then new Myki reader on a tram, May 2009

Excitement! New screens arrive at Richmond! Evidently some teething problems initially.

New screens at Richmond station, May 2009

At this time, there were still plenty of CRTs around the network. These were at Parliament station.

Parliament station, May 2009

A visit to the Dandenongs…

In the Dandenongs, May 2009

…wouldn’t be complete without a photo of one of greater Melbourne’s worst bus stops for accessibility.

Bus stop in the Dandenongs, May 2009

A foggy morning at Glenhuntly station

Glenhuntly station, May 2009

…and here’s a view at the other end of the day from Richmond. Note the lack of platform cover, and the Hitachi train.

Richmond station, May 2009

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.

10 replies on “Old photos from May 2009”

The iinet ad is pretty clever and feel good. Yes, those buttons on trams are now all next stop buttons. I was a bit surprised to see one of the new myki readers on a bus a week or so ago. I’d forgotten about the CRT screens. They could be so difficult to read if in bright light. I note the lack of SUVs in the Dandenongs photo. It would be quite a different photo now, even if nothing else had changed.

I have always wondered what those screens were for above the next stop buttons on some trams. I asked a tram employee once and even they didn’t know.

@Marcus, but normally the text did not appear except when the tram was stopped and the back doors “unlocked” (eg the button would do something). I assume it was some kind of backlight, but the one you’ve pictured was broken.

On the subject of poor bus stops, poor bus timetables, and poor buses… why do half the buses in Melbourne have the exhaust at ground level on the left hand rear, so after getting off the bus you get a choking shower of diesel soot as it leaves?

To take this further off the topic, bus comfort is a bugbear of mine. The newer the bus, the worse the seats and general comfort level. Suspension is terrible and not set up for a variable load, seats are hard and transmit every impact from the over-inflated tyres into the passengers.

Noise is often ridiculous. I measured the noise level in a 685 bus from Lilydale to Yarra Glen the other night. This was a very new bus and the air conditioner was making a terrible racket. 79 dB was the average reading. Impossible to have a conversation or use a phone with that amount of noise. I did the same thing in the back half of a Boeing 737 just after take-off and got the same reading. Trains are a good 10 dB quieter (as are Airbus planes, as it happens).

Absolutely, Philip. I was in a 630 a couple weeks ago and it made the most jarringly loud creaking noise every time the driver pressed the brakes. I noticed the driver was trying to see how far he could press the brakes before the creaking noise started – turns out, even light braking was ear piercing!

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