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Photos from ten years ago transport

Old photos from April 2011

Another in my series of photos from ten years ago: April 2011.

Platforms 15 and 16 under construction at Southern Cross. The station is owned and run by Civic Nexus under a PPP. The platforms were to be used by V/Line. But the project to build them was done by Metro. Confusing? Perhaps, but at least it got done.

Southern Cross Stn: Platforms 15+16 under construction

One of Melbourne’s crappiest tram stops: a non-accessible thin concrete waiting area wedged between the tracks and the traffic, with no shelter. Weirdly, since then they’ve now removed the turning traffic lane, but seem to have not even bothered to move the fence – let alone built an accessible platform stop.

Tram stop on Kingsway, April 2011

This view at South Yarra has changed a lot – the park on the right is gone, and the rail lines have moved to make way for the eastern portal of the Metro tunnel, scheduled to open in 2025.

Looking south from Toorak Road, South Yarra (April 2011)

Scenes like this prompted the upgrade of South Yarra station, with a much wider entrance to cope with the crowds – though a second concourse would still be pretty handy.

Crowding at South Yarra station, April 2011

Every daredevil train passenger’s favourite: the long steep escalators at the Bourke/Collins St end of Parliament Station.

New escalator signage, Parliament Station

This was a protest against poor service to the Altona Loop stations: the then-imminent timetable change introduced peak hour frequency downgraded to every 22 minutes, and shuttle trains between the peaks, meaning some passengers had to change trains twice on a journey to the underground Loop stations. The shuttles were eventually resolved in 2017, but trains still regularly make unscheduled bypasses of the Altona Loop.

Don't Derail Altona - protest outside 121 Exhibition Street (April 2011)

Flooding at Ormond station on this day, so no trains were stopping. The old subway couldn’t cope with heavy rain, and was the only way in and out of platforms 1 and 2. Since the new station was built in 2016, it hasn’t been a problem.

Sign about Ormond station flooding (April 2011)

Visiting Laburnum station (then fairly new) in the dark. Why? Because Channel 7 was doing a story on PSOs, and whether the quieter stations where nothing ever happened should have them. (There’s arguments both ways.)

At Laburnum station (April 2011)
At Laburnum station with Channel 7 (April 2011)

I took my sons for a walk around Cardinia reservoir. As I recall it was a stinking hot day, the views weren’t outstanding, and it was not actually a lot of fun. Oh well.

Cardinia reservoir

Everybody’s favourite Melbourne landmark, with the old pre-renovation mustard-coloured paint job.

Flinders Street station (April 2011)

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.

4 replies on “Old photos from April 2011”

Hi Daniel, just really curious a question. How long is Melbourneโ€™s Metro Passenger Train system? How does it compare to Sydneyโ€™s?

I wish the Don’t Derail Altona sign was given to the floods (but saying Don’t Derail Ormond) so that they wouldn’t flood the subway entrance ๐Ÿ™‚

Was it really ten years ago for those events. Time has flown.

Platforms #15 and #16 at Southern Cross, was the fist bit of, the regional rail link. Which in turn has resulted in a massive capacity boost to Geelong, Balarat and Bendigo lines.

What does that tram stop location look like now?

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