Updates below If you’re keeping up with the news, you’d know that the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) is in dispute with both the tram and train operators. At this stage, there is a threat of industrial action, which could be anything from refusing to wear uniforms to refusing to check tickets to disrupting ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
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Learning from elsewhere
Once in a blue moon I’ll buy a copy of Modern Railways. It’s a Brit magazine which — although it does feature full-colour photos of trains — isn’t really a trainspotter mag. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. It highlights developments in railways in Britain, and the other week I noticed the May ... [More]
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How do people get to the station?
Last week’s Age reported that Metro proposed multi-storey car parks at some stations. When it comes to how people get to the station, Park And Ride gets a lot of attention, probably because it’s so obvious. In terms of land taken up, car parks often dwarf the stations they serve. But it’s important to remember ... [More]
The “five group railway” is something that’s been on the cards for a while. The Age highlights it today in this article: Metro plan to split Melbourne rail network into five lines hangs on union fight It has its origins last decade — the 2008 Victorian Transport Plan talked about “creating a Metro system”, in ... [More]
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Productivity while travelling
Peter Martin in The Age yesterday, on driverless cars: Imagine studying, reading books, watching TV, sleeping or (legally) playing with your mobile phone on the way to work. Whichever way you look at it, the freed-up time will boost productivity. Sounds great! Wait a minute, thousands of us do that stuff every day by catching ... [More]
Today’s Age highlights the Metro timetable changes that were planned to be implemented with the RRL opening last month. As many would know, the introduction of Regional Rail Link was meant to be accompanied by a big timetable change on Metro to take advantage of the extra capacity unlocked, particularly on the Sunbury, Williamstown and ... [More]
Abbott and Hockey dislike the aesthetics of windfarms, describing them as “visually awful” and “making a lot of noise”. Funny, I think the same about motorways. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But motorways certainly have problems with noise, with pollution causing health problems, and with the space they take up ... [More]
So apparently the installation of GPS equipment to track buses stop-by-stop in realtime hasn’t helped Myki zone detection at all. On Tuesday at lunchtime I caught a bus from Queensbridge Street (aka Casino East, the brand new tram/bus platform stop) to Queen Street. It’s all within 1 kilometre of the city centre — about as ... [More]
I’m always interested to see portrayals of public transport in popular culture. I’ve been watching the Netflix series Sense8 — I’m a bit over halfway through it. (And I just realised the Wikipedia article includes spoilers, so watch your step if you’re planning to watch it). It’s pretty good — at least, I’m intrigued enough ... [More]
Outside Australia, numerous public transport smartcard systems have apps that let you instantly check the balance of a card using a phone that uses Near Field Communication (NFC). Most such phones are Android, but the Apple iPhone 6 and later also has it. Because the “master record” for this data is kept on the card ... [More]
I found this flyer during a clearout of the PTUA office last week. Judging from the text it appears to be from late 1992 — perhaps around the time Jeff Kennett was elected in October 1992. What’s changed since then? Tram routes Route 69 is now route 16, connecting via St Kilda Beach through to ... [More]
To their credit, the state government is initiating Stakeholder Liaison Groups for the level crossing eliminations to happen across Melbourne. The first of these covers the three Bentleigh area crossings: North Road, Ormond; Mckinnon Road, Mckinnon; Centre Road, Bentleigh. It’s convened by local MP Nick Staikos, and members include representatives from local traders, schools, community ... [More]
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) has some new board members from July 1st, announced by the minister last week, and among them is a new appointment to the role of Community Representative. What is the Community Representative’s role? Unfortunately the legislation is pretty vague about this, simply saying: the Minister must appoint a person who is ... [More]
We’re starting to learn a lot more about the proposed next generation of trains for Melbourne’s suburban rail network — known in the biz by the acronym “HCMTs” — High Capacity Metro Trains. The rolling stock strategy released in May had some detail — and more has been revealed by an Expression Of Interest document ... [More]
I finally took a ride on the Regional Rail Link last night. In summary: Trains from the city to Geelong depart regularly, but from numerous platforms — when I was there in peak, it was 5A, then 7A, 15A, 1, 3A… and when I’d been there at lunchtime, 2B had also been in the mix. ... [More]
It’s tax time, and if you’re anything like me, every charity you’ve ever thrown money at has been writing to you to see if you’ll give them some more. In the spirit of this, I’d like to put in a quick plug for donating to the Public Transport Not Traffic campaign — this is the ... [More]