I’m aware that my blog has evolved… these days most of the posts are about transport, reflecting my current interests. I wonder if this is a bit dull for those who have been on the old Toxic Custard mailing list, which is the descendant of the humour-based email list I started while at uni. Yet ... [More]
The Herald Sun had an interesting article describing the trip home from the football on Friday night, and the delays suffered by those in the crowd. Apart from the football at the MCG, there was also a concert in the tennis centre, and soccer at Etihad Stadium. Edit: plus rugby at AAMI stadium. In fact ... [More]
Yesterday I went to the State Budget lockup. Basically they “lock” you in a room from 10am to about 1:30pm (when the Treasurer officially releases the budget) and you get to look through a big pack of budget papers before they’re revealed to the public. I took along the world’s slowest heaviest laptop so I ... [More]
I was planning on writing a blog post on the potential of close to 40+ railway stations being completely rebuilt via the fifty level crossing grade separations the state government is intending on doing over 8 years — most of which are adjacent to railway stations. But last Thursday night’s PTUA member meeting with Ian ... [More]
Yesterday it was discovered (by Rod S) that Bing Maps has loaded the Melbourne/Victoria GTFS public transport timetable data, and thus you can now plan PT trips on Bing. Who uses Bing? Almost nobody I suspect — it was found by mistake! It looks pretty good. Most trips I’ve tried provide a good, solid, logical ... [More]
Melbourne’s expanding fleet of low-floor trams are being allocated to tram routes that lack wheelchair-accessible stops, while accessible tram stops are being built on routes that have no low-floor trams. — The Age: New accessible tram stops not on the level for those most in need in Melbourne Let me present a prime example. This ... [More]
I was thinking about what makes good cities work effectively, and it occurred to me that a prime example is the Restaurant Tram. That day we took the Restaurant Tram, we made our way from the train at Southern Cross Station to the pick-up point next to Clarendon Street. The convention centre (Jeff’s Shed) was ... [More]
Categories
Transport choice
The RACV has again cited choice as a reason to go ahead and build huge road projects, including the East West Link which the Andrews government has a clear mandate to scrap. (Remember, a survey showed only 38% of RACV members support East West Link.) Ah yes, choice. Let me give you an example of ... [More]
The metro rail tunnel concept is about ten years old, having first publicly emerged in late-2005. In some quarters, it’s been seen as an unnecessary white elephant — an expensive way of providing for extra passenger capacity in the CBD, when other cheaper ways were available to cope with increased patronage. But time has passed, ... [More]
East West Link is now that it’s dead, buried and cremated (to coin a phrase). Though I’m not sure that’s how you destroy zombies. Some closing thoughts on the project… The $339m payout is less than a single year of the expected $345m annual Availability Payments that would have been paid if it had been ... [More]
Corrs lane is a handy shortcut between Little Bourke Street and Lonsdale Street, just east of Russell Street. At the northern (Lonsdale Street) end, it’s so narrow that you could easily walk past it without noticing. It’s all a bit… I dunno, Platform 9 3/4. I noticed yesterday snapping pics that there seems to be ... [More]
OK, here we go with another set of photos (and video this time) from ten years ago. In a blog post back in April 2005, I posted this photo of Brighton Beach station: Here it is in the present day: notice the fence along platform 1 for the purposes of securing the sidings, where trains ... [More]