For the second time in a week, I’ve watched as tonight’s 6:31pm route 703 bus pulls out just as the train (due at 6:30pm) departs Bentleigh station and a crowd of people off the train approaches the stop. Now, I accept that buses should run to time. And the operator contract probably penalises late-running (bearing ... [More]
Tag: public transport
The Federal government’s High Speed Rail study assumes a route from Melbourne via Canberra to Sydney of between 823 and 842 km (mostly following existing highways), with trains reaching up to 350 km/h, and a three hour trip time from Melbourne to Sydney. Some people who argue against the idea like to claim there is ... [More]
This seems to cause endless confusion: A figure of 798 (or 133 per carriage) is often incorrectly implied to be the capacity of a Melbourne train. According to Victorian government standards, a six-carriage train is considered “full” if more than 798 passengers are aboard. — Age 17/5/2011: Peak-hour trains still a horror trip But 798 ... [More]
My best guess is that PT fares are expected to jump by about 7% on January 1st. They generally go up by CPI (which the ABS says was 2.0% in the year to the end of September) but as part of a two year plan originally hatched by the ALP and followed by the Coalition, ... [More]
From December 29th, a month from today, basically all metropolitan public transport will require a Myki card, following the government decision in June 2011 to not implement short term tickets. I expect regular users will adapt. Most of them already have. It’s the occasional users (and that includes locals as well as tourists) who will ... [More]
Southland station makes sense. The rail line runs adjacent to the west side of the centre. It’s the kind of destination midway along the line which can boost patronage (eg get people out of cars) without putting pressure on peak hour services. “But…” FAQs It’s too close to Highett/Cheltenham! — no, it’d be about 1.2km ... [More]
Update: Since 2016, Myki top-ups have been sped-up, and are now done within about 90 minutes. This is a question that seems to come up continually, and from what I hear, the Myki Call Centre aren’t covering themselves in glory in trying to explain it: Why does Myki online topup take 24 hours or more? ... [More]
At railway stations around Melbourne, they’ve started removing Metcard validators as part of the final switch to Myki. In some cases, some station entrances have no Metcard validator at all now. In theory this doesn’t affect many people, as it’s been several months since multi-trip Metcards were sold, and also since unvalidated single trip Metcards ... [More]
I ran into friend and blog commenter Andrew W on the train last week, and we were chatting about the Dandenong South crash. I noted that the design of the train hadn’t really been remarked upon in coverage of the accident, and being the knowledgeable person that he is, he was able to tell me ... [More]
In the wake of Saturday’s tragic train accident, perhaps it’s understandable that people feel a little nervous. (Online vote, Herald Sun) They shouldn’t feel nervous. Even one death is too many, and more needs to be done, but the fact is that Melbourne’s trains have an enviable safety record. Even with Melbourne’s 170+ level crossings, ... [More]
It’s long been a bugbear of mine that a vehicle that has correctly stopped in a legal parking/stopping position should not use its hazard lights. Some buses do this, despite being stopped in proper bus zones. Melbourne Bus Link appears to be one company whose buses mostly do this. Most buses from other operators seem ... [More]
Thank goodness Camberwell station has been saved from re-development. The project has been shelved, so it will remain as lovely as it is today: The superb vistas from Burke Road will be preserved: …as will the views from the platforms: The ramps will remain non-DDA compliant, helping to maintain its exclusivity: The car spots, providing ... [More]
From a conversation with my sister, an occasional PT user, I’m guessing there are some discounts around the place that people don’t know about. The good news is that with Myki being forced down everybody’s throats, if you can get over the hurdle of getting a card (now $6 full fare, $3 concession), it’s easier ... [More]
A lot of the talk around the need for a new east-west motorway claims we need a second river crossing. The issue with this claim is that we already have a second river crossing. The first river crossing is, of course, the Westgate bridge — recently-upgraded (25% boost in capacity as part of a $1.4 ... [More]
Wednesday brought with it the shock of two separate fatal level crossing accidents on the Frankston line; the first at Edithvale, the second at Mckinnon. The second in particular resulted in the busiest part of the line being closed over peak hour, and massive disruption for those caught up in it. For a taste of ... [More]
Tonight’s PTUA Annual General Meeting means today is my last day as President. I’ll miss a lot of it, particularly dealing with the media, and meeting/discussing/debating with industry and political players (the former in particular often providing information that should be out in public, but isn’t. (Over the years, I suspect, the media has been ... [More]