From time to time I’ll refer to the Frankston line on Twitter with the abbreviation FKN. I’m not just trying to get a cheap laugh. Well okay, perhaps I am, but what people might not realise is that’s actually the official station code for Frankston. Good morning #Bentleigh. They're not lying about the 30 minute ... [More]
A few people have asked me about this in the past few months — what if Bentleigh had got “skyrail”? It’s interesting to consider, though it was never going to happen. Firstly, the timing was wrong. The Coalition had fully funded the Ormond level crossing for removal in May 2014, with designs already having determined ... [More]
LED displays are quite common on public transport. For instance in Melbourne they are used for destination signs on many trains, trams and buses. They are also used for street Smartbus indicator signs, and for non-CBD railway station “PIDs” (passenger information displays) showing next train departures. While they are generally pretty easy to read, they ... [More]
Ian Woodcock (RMIT) and John Stone (Melbourne Uni) have a new report out comparing level crossing removal methods. The Age has a story on it this morning, and hopefully the full report will be online very soon. UPDATE: Here it is. I did manage to get a sneak preview, and looks at various case studies ... [More]
I bought some Billy bookshelves for the livingroom some years ago. I picked their beech colour… and then they discontinued it. While I love the look, and the reconfigurability of the moveable shelves and the fact that you can always buy more (well, except in beech, so not really in my case), I can’t say ... [More]
This point seems to come up for discussion online regularly, but I don’t know if the information is easy to find, so I thought I’d have a go myself. There are regular claims from those pushing it that East West Link (stage one, Eastern Freeway to Citylink) is needed to prevent traffic chaos. The problem ... [More]
It wasn’t planned this way, but this week’s posts seem to have been all about pedestrians/walking. Along with rules about not parking over footpaths (and vehicles needing to give way to pedestrians when crossing footpaths), some people seem to be unaware that there are rules about keeping vegetation clear of footpaths. Able-bodied people can duck ... [More]
I had been going to write a blog post asking people what this thing is, on Little Collins Street. If one looks closely, it has City of Melbourne markings. The City of Melbourne and the Herald Sun have highlighted it overnight: it’s an old entrance to the subway underneath Spencer Street, into the nearby station. ... [More]
Ocean Colour Scene played last night at Max Watt’s (formerly known as the HiFi bar — I assume the current name is a pun about loud music, rather than being named after a person). As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve wanted to see them play live for decades, but this is their first ... [More]
Continuing my series of ten year old photos: February 2006. (As usual, you can click through any of them to view them on Flickr, where you can see each photo at a larger size.) Kangaroos near Seymour, snapped on a break during a PTUA Planning Weekend; they used to regularly happen up there. (Originally posted ... [More]
Excuse the wobbly phone footage, but I spotted this a few days ago and thought it was worth noting. (You’ll miss little by muting the sound.) This is the corner of Elizabeth Street and Little Collins Street in Central Melbourne, on the eastern side of the intersection. We are looking south along Elizabeth Street. Cars ... [More]
Liberal Caulfield MP David Southwick has a campaign running to get the Glen Huntly level crossing grade separated. I somewhat cringe at the “Blame Labor” rhetoric, but the rest of it I agree with completely. A 2014 report by VicRoads found the Glen Huntly Rd level crossing to be of the highest priority for removal ... [More]