It’s taken a while, but it looks like full mobile coverage in the City Loop is imminent. It’s been available in the stations since about 2000, but the signal generally cuts out as the trains enter the tunnels. There are four separate Loop tunnels. For months people have reported the signal being available in one ... [More]
I’d love to post an awe-inspiring blog post this morning, but I haven’t got one. (There are some in the works). Instead I’ll just note some quick things: I’m speaking, with some others, at Idea Bombing Melbourne this Thursday night, the topic being: “Tapestry of a City”. Facebook event / EventBrite — it’s free, but ... [More]
In today’s Age, former National Party leader and Deputy PM Tim Fischer is quoted as saying the new Regional Rail Link should have had a flyover where the Geelong and Ballarat lines converge. And due to congestion, trains sometime have to wait for five minutes for the track to be clear, he said. “Nobody builds ... [More]
This is an update of a 2010 post where I quickly compared the different types of trains then in service. Since then the Hitachi trains have been taken out of service, and I also thought I’d briefly describe where the names come from. (The Hitachi trains got their name because the design was by Hitachi, ... [More]
Once a year, the planets align, and I get hit by heaps of bills — often all three utilities, plus car rego and home insurance… It’s pretty much a consequence of having bought a house mid-year (in 2005) and bought a car mid-year (in 2008) as well. Plus other, quarterly, bills seem to arrive around ... [More]
Obviously the best camera you have is the one you have with you. Normally that’s my phone. Sometimes I’ll also have my ~4 year old Canon IXUS 115, which is compact, but takes some great photos. But for my birthday I treated myself to a DSLR, a Canon 700D (spotted on sale + cashback offer ... [More]
Another in my series of photos from ten years ago. Bourke Street (at Swanston Street) tram platform stops just being completed, it looks like. Note the old “The Met” tram stop sign — in a mix of brands with the then-new Metlink and Yarra Trams. The realtime display must have been pretty new. And of ... [More]
On Saturday I took a look at the Burke Road level crossing removal — it’s being done as part of the same package as the North/Mckinnon/Centre Roads crossings, but is well ahead of them in terms of progress. The official web site has details of the project — because there’s space available, the new rail ... [More]
I quite liked the old blog template, but I know there were a few issues with it on mobile devices, and I didn’t have the time/energy to fix it. So as part of trying out new web hosting, and making sure WordPress is all updated, I’m trying out a new template. Again, I don’t have ... [More]
Back at uni, in one of my subjects we read a great book called The Design Of Everyday Things. In it, author Donald Norman highlights bad designs, often noting: “It probably won a prize”. One of the hallmarks of good design at railway stations is being able to see the information that you need to ... [More]
I think everyone accepts that public transport is worthwhile, but not perfect. The Age today highlights rail capacity problems. The source document is a presentation from PTV, and page 5 summarises the bottlenecks: (This is similar to a diagram in the 2012 rail Network Development Plan) So, change is needed on the public transport network. ... [More]
Just on five years ago my dishwasher door spring broke. In that instance a secondary fault also affected the actual washing of dishes. Now another door spring has broken. It hasn’t affected the washing – it’s just the door is heavy, and needs to be opened very carefully. Repair from Fisher And Paykel is expected ... [More]