All forms of transport, including gunzelly
Sometimes travelling by train at night you’ll see PSOs out on the platforms and station concourses. Sometimes they’re not in sight… they might be in their pod, or elsewhere. Given the high-profile rollout of PSOs onto every station a signature policy of the 2010-2014 Ballieu Coalition government, carried over by the Andrews Labor government, you’d ... [More]
I’ve been listening to a lot of transport-related podcasts recently. Almost all of them are from outside Australia. (Here is a list of some from November 2015; I mean to post another list at some stage soon.) Every time I listen to one of the overseas podcasts, I ponder what someone from Melbourne would say ... [More]
24-hour time is common in Europe, and in the airline industry, and the military. Internally, many industries use 24-hour time, but publicly 12-hour time is dominant in Australia. I have seen 24-hour time used at cafes. Perhaps they were run by Europeans; perhaps it was an attempt to seem more European. V/Line uses 24-hour time ... [More]
Yesterday’s horrific accident at Surrey Hills is a reminder of the many benefits of level crossing removal (though that one is not on the list). With our local crossing at Bentleigh gone, it’s rather wonderful that the angst of further accidents is gone, and crowds no longer get stuck at the railway gates every second ... [More]
On Tuesday the Level Crossing Removal Authority put out a whole raft of information on options for removal of crossings on the southern end of the Frankston line. If you have any interest at all, particularly if you’re a local, they’re definitely worth a look. The Opposition’s withering response: “The controversial ‘Sky Rail’ monstrosity on ... [More]
I was pondering what benefit would the 67 tram gain from the Glenhuntly level crossing being removed? Well thanks to the 37 day rail shutdown in July, we know. Looking at punctuality figures for the last 12 months, this tram route achieved its highest figures for the year in July — in fact my little ... [More]
Months after closing for level crossing works, the shiny new Bentleigh and Ormond stations have opened today. (McKinnon opened a few weeks ago.) At Bentleigh yesterday, it was still a construction site. But today the concourse was awash with officials handing out cupcakes, a choir from Sing Australia, train spotters snapping photos, and passengers relieved ... [More]
Good news! The shiny new Bentleigh and Ormond stations open on Monday. This means after three and six months respectively of bus replacements, we can — if you’ll excuse the phrase — see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m hoping lessons and experience have been gained through the level crossing removal project ... [More]
I was lucky enough to get to look around Bombardier’s Dandenong factory a few weeks ago. As these publicity photos off their web site make clear, the company builds trains for (clockwise from top-left) Victoria (V/Line), Brisbane (Queensland Rail), Adelaide (Adelaide Metro), and Perth (Transperth) — EDIT: though these are not all built at Dandenong. ... [More]
What they got done at Bentleigh, Mckinnon and Ormond during the 37 day shutdown of the Frankston line to remove the level crossings was very impressive, and I’m told the project team are (rightly) proud of the results. 37 days of round-the-clock works, 3 of the worst level crossings gone. Watch them disappear in 3 ... [More]
After the big 37 day Frankston line shut down, the trains are back, and the new shiny Mckinnon station has re-opened. The other two stations, Bentleigh and Ormond, will open late in August. Here are some pics from Mckinnon from the past month… 28/6/2016 – the station had been closed since 25th March, a couple ... [More]
Although it won’t reopen until the end of August, Ormond station has been coming along… Here’s how it looked on Saturday: Under the station building facing North Road is the deck for the concourse, as can be seen in the plans: But further north from that, a second deck is taking shape. It’s actually easiest ... [More]