Caroline Springs Station opened in January, and is already being used by a fair number of people. But the station has a weakness: it’s in the middle of nowhere, a not-very-pleasant one kilometre walk from the nearest houses. Which means you pretty much have to use transport to get there: bike, bus, or car. Of ... [More]
Fare evasion is a drain on the public transport network. But sometimes the “tough on fare evasion” rhetoric isn’t matched by practical, non-confrontational approaches to reduce it. Across the public transport network, there is a mix of strategies. On Melbourne’s train network as on many big busy systems, there are too many passengers to check ... [More]
On Sunday the Coalition pledged to upgrade more lines to trains every ten minutes off-peak. Here’s the Channel 9 story – have a watch: FIRST ON 9: The Coalition will go to next year’s state election with a policy to increase Melbourne’s train frequency. @andrew_lund #9News pic.twitter.com/kTsnGTvILQ â Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) March 26, 2017 ... [More]
Friday night concert! I was sold on Things Of Stone And Wood – though my compradres were really going for the support act, Club Hoy. It might be cruel to call TOSAW a one-hit wonder, though none of their efforts charted as well as Happy Birthday Helen. But the song was on an album called ... [More]
On Tuesday I headed out to the new Caroline Springs station for a look around. It opened at the end of January. I caught the 17:59 train from Southern Cross. It was heading to Bacchus Marsh, and it was full — at least by V/Line’s standards, which means every seat was taken — reflected in ... [More]
Following a little jaunt out to Caroline Springs on Tuesday (more on this in the next post), with some tweets along the way, I had an interesting Twitter conversation with a disgruntled Geelong line user. One of my tweets noted that a huge crowd waiting at the platform for a Geelong train had in fact ... [More]
Masters Hardware couldn’t launch a viable business against Bunnings, and only a couple of years after launching, have closed up all their outlets. As this photo shows, they also couldn’t construct a functioning pedestrian crossing: No wonder Masters is in trouble – they couldn't even design a pedestrian crossing that goes anywhere. pic.twitter.com/CN8JFL9yHk — Daniel ... [More]
Another in my series of ten year old photos: March 2007. Smartbus advertising at Caulfield station. It was nice to see them promoting the frequent service, but there was only one problem: it wasn’t true. The Smartbus serving Caulfield (route 900) has never been better than every 15 minutes in peak. (And really, the frequency/radio ... [More]
Recently I got to have a look at proposed upgrades to the Comeng train fleet. Skip the introduction A short history of the Comeng trains Comeng trains are named after the Comeng (“Commonwealth Engineering”) factory where they were built, with the carriages being brought into service between 1982 and 1989. The factory in Dandenong is ... [More]
The state government announced over the weekend that Edithvale and Bonbeach grade separations on the Frankston line would get rail under road — a little surprising given apparently challenging engineering so close to the beach. No doubt this is politically expedient. For better or worse, that’s how democracy works sometimes, but you have to wonder how ... [More]
Night Network has been running as a trial since the start of 2016, and solved some key problems: The old NightRider buses were insufficient: often crowded, and had a route structure completely different from daytime, so (despite the crowding) most people didn’t know how it worked Nightrider also provided no service in many areas that ... [More]
Last year, rail under (trench) and rail over (skyrail) options were presented for Cheltenham and Mentone. On Monday the government announced both would be rail under. As expected, the Park Road crossing in Cheltenham (just a stone’s throw from the Charman Road crossing) is being grade separated as well. Latrobe Street, a minor crossing south ... [More]
While I work on a bigger post (or at least one requiring a bit more research), here’s a quickie on an interesting parallel observed last week. Part one In the same week that Minister for Energy and the Environment Josh Frydenberg joined in a parliamentary stunt playing with a lump of coal, he also launched ... [More]
Here’s my regular post of ten year old photos… quite a few this month, and mostly transport-related. This is then-Opposition Leader, later Premier Ted Baillieu being interviewed by the media about widespread train disruptions at the time, caused by the Siemens train brakes problem reaching crisis point. I recall Age reporter Steve Moynihan (seen here ... [More]
On Monday I had an errands at Pinewood. Pinewood? Yes, the minor shopping centre somewhere on Blackburn Road between Clayton and Mount Waverley. I caught the bus up there — the 703 runs from near home in Bentleigh, via Monash Uni, then up Blackburn Road. Unsurprisingly perhaps, we had to wait at the Clayton level ... [More]
I’m working on some more substantive posts, but meanwhile, here we go again: a random claim that the trains used to be faster than today. “In 1955 it took under one hour to travel by train to Spencer St station (Southern Cross). In 2017 it takes 70 minutes. Hmmm. Something is wrong with this picture.” ... [More]