Wednesday brought with it the shock of two separate fatal level crossing accidents on the Frankston line; the first at Edithvale, the second at Mckinnon. The second in particular resulted in the busiest part of the line being closed over peak hour, and massive disruption for those caught up in it. For a taste of ... [More]
Category: transport
All forms of transport, including gunzelly
Tonight’s PTUA Annual General Meeting means today is my last day as President. I’ll miss a lot of it, particularly dealing with the media, and meeting/discussing/debating with industry and political players (the former in particular often providing information that should be out in public, but isn’t. (Over the years, I suspect, the media has been ... [More]
This train is rolling around with advertising for Sportingbet plastered all over it. It provoked this letter in The Age yesterday: THERE’S much disapproval of the AFL regarding the promotion of gambling to minors during game time. I eagerly await seeing equal concern at the state subsidised rail system, which now has an entire train ... [More]
Categories
Bad crowding on the trains
The last state election swung on public transport — both sides said so — specifically on the perceived lack of action from Labor on fixing the trains, resulting in delays, cancellations and sometimes horrendous overcrowding. The Liberals, especially in the seat of Prahran, should be aware that this is still happening on a regular basis ... [More]
Despite the publicity around Myki receipts back in August, it seems people are still leaving them behind. Remember, some of these receipts print even when you tell the machine you don’t want a receipt. And if you’re paying with a credit card, it will include 9 out of the 16 digits of your credit card ... [More]
Tony Abbott apparently doesn’t just think more roads can solve traffic, he actually thinks tarmac and cars smothering our cities makes them more liveable. Melbourne suffered traffic gridlock yesterday. Itâs very important that the national government fund nationally important infrastructure. I have committed an incoming Coalition government to spending $1.5 billion to kickstart the East ... [More]
Yet again we have public figures extolling the virtues of technology over service in public transport. Underground railways Jeff Kennett thinks underground railways are the panacea: “If I was able to wave a magic wand even now, I would start the planning for an underground rail system,” he told the Australian Property Institute Pan Pacific ... [More]
It’s been a problem for many years: how do you know which tram from the Elizabeth Street (Robert Risson) terminus will leave first? At last, thanks to Tram Tracker (and its clone apps on other platforms, such as Android’s Tram Hunter) there is a solution! Just use one of the apps or the mobile web ... [More]
The Siemens train seats are notorious for showing the dirt. At one stage a multi-coloured design similar to the Comeng fleet seats was tried, but now Metro have introduced a new design which is supposedly more vandalproof (and uses their corporate design, not Connex’s). It’s on one 3-car Siemens set so far (for the gunzels, ... [More]
The Committee for Ballarat has an excellent campaign going to improve rail services. Unfortunately as sometimes happens, some myths crept into the rhetoric around the launch of the campaign. “In the early 1900s you could do the Ballarat to Melbourne trip by steam rail in an hour â these days it takes an hour and ... [More]
Observed at Southern Cross Station this week: IKEA seat covers. They seem to be confined to platforms 11 and 12, though if you’re trying to get to IKEA by public transport, platform 9 (train to North Richmond, then a tram) is probably a better bet. Not every seat has them, and there are no cushions ... [More]
Many years ago the German city of Munster set up a photo comparing the road space taken by people in a bus, on bikes, and in cars. Earlier this month the Cycling Promotion Fund recreated that picture in Canberra, and yesterday they released it. On Sunday 9th September 69 volunteers, 69 bicycles, 60 cars and ... [More]
Yes itâs true. I have decided not to renominate as the PTUAâs President, and will stand down at the Annual General Meeting on October 11th. The Age: After almost a decade, Melbourne’s chief public transport complainer has finally had enough. PTUA: PTUA President to step down Basically, after nine years, I need a break. It’s ... [More]
I think most people would agree that with Myki we’ve got a problem. A system which is enormously expensive, which is generally less responsive and reliable than similar systems elsewhere, not to mention not offering a single use ticket option. But one argument I don’t buy is that Metcard is perfect. The bureaucracy will claim ... [More]
So, how has Melbourne’s “boardings per person per year” gone over the years? Thanks to PTV putting out their “Patronage Long Run Series” report of patronage since 1946, we can see it — I’ve plotted the total boarding figures from 1946 to 2011, every five years (in red) against the boardings per population (in green): ... [More]
On Sunday Channel 7 showed this CCTV footage shot at Southern Cross station. A toddler slipped between the train and the platform. I found it quite difficult to watch, but there’s an obvious safety message here which was emphasised in Monday’s followup story: you do need to take the utmost care when boarding and alighting ... [More]