Category: transport

Level crossings like the one at Glen Huntly slow down trams, cars, pedestrians and trains alike… in fact due to the tram/train crossing (one of four in Melbourne), trains have to slow down to 15 km/h. And the confined pedestrian

I’ve been using Glenhuntly Station for about fifteen years, since when I first moved to the suburb. I still go there even though I live in Bentleigh, on days when I’ve dropped off the kids at school. In that time, about the only thing that’s changed is that there used to be a booking office  ... [More]

Pre-state budget, there were strategic leaks of various initiatives. One that got a lot of press is the bike hire scheme. It’s a $5 million dollar scheme to have a bunch of inner-city bike stations where people can hire a bike. Obviously there’s some detail to come out here. Where will they put them? How  ... [More]

These two are dizygotic twins. That is, non-identical. They used to be identical. How did it happen? Here’s the potted history. These Comeng trains were built during the 80s. As part of privatisation, the then-two operators M>Train and Connex took half each, and refurbished them (via EDI and Alstom, respectively). Added CCTV, automated announcements and  ... [More]

The new 903 Smartbus runs from Mordialloc to Altona, every 8-15 minutes in peak hour, 15 minutes off-peak, 30 minutes evenings and weekends. I don’t for a moment believe anybody in their right mind will catch it from end to end, but it feeds into most of the city’s rail lines, connects major shopping centres  ... [More]

“Particularly during peak period where we know it has been a difficult period, but we’ve had patronage growth in such a short period that no other jurisdiction around Australia has experienced,” [Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky] said. “Indeed, I’m not aware of any other location around the world that has had the levels of patronage  ... [More]

OK, so I’ve finally seen the modified test train in the flesh. Here’s a short video explaining the changes. Both the video and a Flickr slideshow are over on the PTUA web site. I think it’s okay. In an age where people struggle just to squeeze on board the train, this design encourages people to  ... [More]

Andrew notes a certain fascination among some people with the London Underground. For me, it’s the concept of an entire network of railway services where you don’t need a timetable. You just turn up and go. The result is people treating the trains as the default way of getting around for a lot more trips  ... [More]

Is the culture around public transport changing? Back in 2003 or so, General Motors Canada issued this advert: Creeps and Weirdos. (Pic via Richard Layman) Later they apologised for it. Something closer to the mark (at least for Melbourne’s buses) would have been “Pensioners and school kids”. But that hardly bites in quite the right  ... [More]