Categories
transport

Why is rail patronage 50% higher in Sydney than Melbourne?

There’s a Wikipedia page “Commuter rail in Australia” which has a quick snapshot of the country’s heavy rail systems. (The term “commuter rail” is problematic. In a North American context it often refers to systems that really cater only for peak commuter/work trips. Australian rail systems sit somewhere between here and metro systems, and are  ... [More]

Categories
transport

How much would trains every ten minutes cost?

One of the gaping holes in Melbourne’s public transport system is the lack of an all-day every day frequent service on the backbone: the Metro suburban train network. Melbourne is one of the few cities in the world, outside North America, which doesn’t have frequent all day trains. Other Australian cities are moving towards this.  ... [More]

Categories
transport

SoCross: the interchange

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already seen this. A man rushed past on the stairs at Southern Cross. He ran down and around the corner, then doubled-back to the V/Line fare gates. My guess is he’d come from the Metro platforms. Here’s a short video of what happened next. (It’s only  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Why the Frankston line should come out of the Loop until 2025

I’m sorry to go all Neville Shunt on you and drone on about railway timetables again, but I’m going to do it anyway. In an ideal metro system, that is a rail network designed to maximise capacity and frequency, one of the key things is to separate the busiest lines so they don’t share tracks.  ... [More]

Categories
Toxic Custard newsletter transport

Mernda rail extension opens this Sunday

On Sunday I went out to see the Mernda rail extension. The Level Crossing Removal Authority, who built it (well, it does involve new stations and grade separation of an existing disused rail corridor, so it kinda makes sense) ran a community open day, with free shuttle trains between South Morang and Mernda. After catching  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Clever placement of Dumb Ways To Die characters in stations

A lot of the unfortunate jellybean characters are depicted around CBD railway stations at the moment as part of Metro’s Dumb Ways To Die campaign. I was amused at the placement of this one: …but this one is even better. (Only a short video — don’t bother with the sound; it adds nothing.) Perhaps I’m  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne transport

Metro people

Lily Dale Dan Denong Flin der Street Lyn Brook Ben T’Leigh Pat Terson Mal Vern Frank Ston Cam Berwell William Stown Glen Ferrie Victoria Park and Clifton Hill (of course!) Thomas Town Wes Tall Syd Enham Mel Bournecentral Al Tona and his brother Wes Tona Glen Roy Craig Ieburn Edith Vale Ken Sington Merlyn Ston  ... [More]

Categories
transport

How punctual are our trains compared to German suburban trains?

Many European countries put serious resources into their public transport systems and have networks that are the envy of the world, but don’t necessarily assume they are better than us in every single respect. For instance, one might assume that German trains are never late — or at least that their punctuality is light years  ... [More]

Categories
transport

White tracks

Near Flinders Street Station, some tracks have been painted white. Looks odd, doesn’t it. Apparently it’s to reduce heat, and thus reduce the possibility of track buckling and other problems. Update: See this web page: Solacoat/Coolshield Reducing Temperature of Railway Tracks

Categories
transport

The Metro emergency gate that wasn’t

I noted this about a month ago. The idea of an emergency gate in the Elizabeth Street subway at Flinders Street Station seemed like a good one, but it seemed doubtful that the automatic release would include the padlock. So I tweeted: Ok. I have my doubts that this emergency exit *padlock* is automatic, @MetroTrains  ... [More]

Categories
transport

Fewer seats? – How many seats do we want on our trains?

The debate about train seats has come up again, thanks to The Greens uncovering minutes of a meeting between Metro and the Department of Transport discussing the removal of train seats from Comeng trains. (MX story / Channel 7 story) DOT was generally comfortable with the proposals as presented by MTM. Options to be assessed  ... [More]

Categories
Bentleigh

Anti-pigeon defences

And now for something completely different: anti-pigeon defences. Pigeons can get everywhere, making nests, leaving droppings. These ones seem very interested in the next trains from Caulfield. It’s probably gone mostly unnoticed, but over the past few years, various methods to prevent them roosting have become commonplace. In the case of Caulfield station, they’ve put  ... [More]