All forms of transport, including gunzelly
Okay, I didn’t see this coming. Orbital rail for the middle ring of Melbourne, announced on Facebook this morning. Labor say they want to build a 90km suburban rail loop from Cheltenham (by which they appear to mean Southland), Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Deakin Burwood, Box Hill, Doncaster, Heidelberg, Latrobe Uni, Reservoir, Fawkner, Broadmeadows, Airport, ... [More]
On Sunday I went out to see the Mernda rail extension. The Level Crossing Removal Authority, who built it (well, it does involve new stations and grade separation of an existing disused rail corridor, so it kinda makes sense) ran a community open day, with free shuttle trains between South Morang and Mernda. After catching ... [More]
It’s been very busy the last week or two, which is why the blog has been a bit quiet. Apart from the day job, this week I’ve been to two MTF transport forums (Melbourne, and Glen Eira), and a PTUA committee meeting. There are more MTF forums (fora?) in the coming weeks, and if you’re ... [More]
I am discovering that there’s some powerful psychology going on when you get a new car. Playing into this for me is that my old car was wearing out, and was getting difficult to drive, plus the change from manual to automatic. This means the new car seems like a breeze to drive. The “new ... [More]
Transport For Victoria have quietly put out a map and plan for the rail network for 2025. It’s dated June, but I hadn’t spotted it before. Well, I say plan… it’s only a ten page brochure (eight if you exclude the covers) mostly summarising projects that we already know are fully funded: Metro tunnel (aka ... [More]
The Magic Laptop One evening many years ago some PTUA bods and I were meeting with a Vicroads bloke about traffic light priority and other related issues. He had a laptop with him, and it displayed a diagram of a major intersection; I think it was somewhere out on Burwood Highway. While pondering topics such ... [More]
Although it doesn’t involve removing level crossings, the Mernda rail extension is being built by the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA). This LXRA tweet last week got some attention, and not just from those who have been long awaiting the project’s completion: A sign of things to come #Mernda đđđ #transformingMelbourne pic.twitter.com/nUc8lt4ZiF â Level Crossings ... [More]
For the proposals in City of Melbourne’s discussion papers to be described as “radical” and “ridiculous” just shows how far we haven’t come in transport planning in this state. Perhaps it’s no surprise given that in the forthcoming election, if choosing a major party, we vote for either the mob who wants to build two ... [More]
Lots of people usually alight at my station, even late at night. But as we all exit and walk off in different directions, the streets, especially at night, can get pretty quiet very fast. The awful murder of Eurydice Dixon has got us as a society once again talking about personal safety issues. While it’s ... [More]
The new Carnegie and Murrumbeena stations opened on Monday morning. These used to be my local stations. I lived close to Murrumbeena in my teens, and again from 2003 to 2005, and occasionally used Carnegie as well, and still sometimes pass through on the bus to Chadstone. As this photo from Saturday shows, immediately after ... [More]
From time to time the topic of free public transport comes up, most recently because of changes in Estonia. I think it’s a distraction from far more important issues. I just wanted to address a few points about it. Apologies for the rambling. Would it be a good idea in Melbourne and/or Victoria? I don’t ... [More]
If you used the Glen Waverley or Sandringham lines over the weekend, you might have got a pleasant surprise. Both were running every 10 minutes for most of Saturday and Sunday — twice the usual frequency. Why? Because the Frankston and Dandenong (Cranbourne/Pakenham) lines were closed between the City and Moorabbin/Westall between Friday 8pm and ... [More]