The Herald Sun reports today that Metro punctuality figures have improved markedly in the last 12 months, including the figure on the Frankston line jumping from 68.4% to 87.1%. Certainly this is due to some changes in the way the trains are run. The question is, are these changes good, or bad? Good: Departing platform ... [More]
Tag: Metro
My cousin Justin’s move to Melbourne gives me an opportunity to see the public transport network from the perspective of a brand new user. He’s pretty well travelled, having spent extensive time in Europe recently, mostly based in London, but with plenty of travel to other cities. So he’s used PT systems in many other ... [More]
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Idiot of the day
About an hour ago at Highett station: the train to Frankston had just left, and a city-bound train was approaching. This idiot cyclist rode across in front of the city-bound train. The train driver tooted his horn loud and long. The cyclist entered the station, and appeared to want to catch the train — I’d ... [More]
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Possible 2021 Metro timetables
They really don’t like talking about this stuff, but if you’ve been wondering what your future train service might look like, check this: (View it bigger) This map is based on an appendix tucked-away in the Rowville rail study documents, and shows a proposed operating plan once Regional Rail Link and a handful of other ... [More]
The mural at Patterson station that I noted some time ago has now been completed and officially opened. It includes a rather neat mosaic version of the Metro logo: (zoom) More faces contributed by (mostly) local community groups and schools have been added. Note Bender from Futurama in there. (zoom) Apparently they got sponsorship from ... [More]
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Pic: real Retro trains!
I mocked up a fake ‘Retro Trains’ a couple of years ago, but this morning I spotted a real one: Yeah, not a great pic; had to whip out the phone and snap it super-fast. One suspects this was an unofficial modification of the usual logo.
The train to Pakenham on a recent Saturday afternoon, about 5pm: Finally this looks to be fixed, at least on the Frankston, Dandenong and Ringwood lines, with trains to run every 10 minutes between 10am and 7pm on weekends. This is genuinely good news, and although the extra padding going into the timetable is a ... [More]
Sometimes it seems there are way more trains running in the counter-peak direction than the peak… particularly towards the end of the morning peak, and before the evening peak. This is because there’s little train stabling in the central city area, so most trains have to be sent back to the burbs between the peaks. ... [More]
The first Protective Service Officers started duty tonight at Flinders Street and Southern Cross Stations. They may not be the best solution to public transport security, but I’m sure passengers will welcome them, and wish them luck. Yes, PSOs get less training than police. That’s because they have more restricted powers (limited to railway stations ... [More]
Amidst the outrage about changes to Metro’s Twitter feed, there are claims that it used to include train cancellations. This was not so. They did not tweet individual train cancellations or diversions. These only went out on SMS to subscribers, and on the web site. (Alas Metro have now deleted the evidence of this that ... [More]
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Coke ads on the sides of trains
It was bound to happen once they started putting advertising on the sides of trains: Coke ads. Given trains are seen not just by passengers but also by motorists and pedestrians at level crossings, it could be quite lucrative for Metro. One can only hope the money goes into better services. My guess is we ... [More]
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Preaching to the converted?
There’s a billboard facing the light rail (tram) line to St Kilda, near the City Road station. As far as I can see, from its positioning, it is visible only to tram passengers. What’s it advertising this month? It’s Metro’s “This is me” campaign. These adverts have come under some criticism. …encouraging yet more passengers ... [More]
All righty gunzel stats nerds, prepare to go crazy. These figures are not an official release, and they can’t be guaranteed to be entirely accurate. In fact the original included the specific disclaimer: This document is supplied “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, fitness for a particular ... [More]
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Yesterday’s morning commute. Not good.
8:17 or so, boarded train train at Mckinnon. Not my usual station. Long irrelevant story. Happily got a seat. 8:36. Train stops at Hawksburn. Driver on PA tells us that the train will be delayed at least ten minutes due to signal failures near Richmond. He advises us to go to platform 3. 8:37. Most ... [More]
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Are the trains getting less crowded?
Here’s the good news: the October 2010 Metro Load Standards Survey (released to the Greens under FOI) shows that overcrowding has dropped markedly. Measured in terms of (deep breath) Rolling Hour Average Loads Above Desired Standards, the number of breaches has dropped from 38 in October 2007 to 6 in October 2010. Part of this ... [More]
One of the things planners should be aiming for in making public transport easy to use is ensuring that the choices are few. The new Frankston line timetable does this in the off-peak (and evenings) with a consistent pattern: Frankston to Flinders Street (direct), stopping all stations. In peak, in theory, there are two patterns: ... [More]