I’m working on some more substantive posts, but meanwhile, here we go again: a random claim that the trains used to be faster than today. “In 1955 it took under one hour to travel by train to Spencer St station (Southern Cross). In 2017 it takes 70 minutes. Hmmm. Something is wrong with this picture.” ... [More]
I finally took a ride on the Regional Rail Link last night. In summary: Trains from the city to Geelong depart regularly, but from numerous platforms — when I was there in peak, it was 5A, then 7A, 15A, 1, 3A… and when I’d been there at lunchtime, 2B had also been in the mix. ... [More]
This is Deer Park station. (Superb pic snapped a few years ago by my friend Tony.) And this is the new pod for Protective Services Officers at Deer Park station. According to the official list, PSOs are now deployed there. Marcus Wong’s PSO tracking spreadsheet says they started there on July 1st. Deer Park of ... [More]
Update October 2014: There’s a later draft PTV are trialling a new train network map. They’re seeking feedback on it, and you’ll see it at some stations now (Bentleigh, Malvern and Moorabbin, I think). Note, just to remove all doubt: unlike the PTV network plan, it’s not a concept for new rail lines; it’s a ... [More]
It was 44 years last week since the 1969 crash of the Southern Aurora into a goods train at Violet Town in northeast Victoria. (Upgrades to safety systems should ensure such a crash doesn’t happen again.) The CFA has published a set of photos and a fascinating article about the disaster — well worth a ... [More]
The Committee for Ballarat has an excellent campaign going to improve rail services. Unfortunately as sometimes happens, some myths crept into the rhetoric around the launch of the campaign. “In the early 1900s you could do the Ballarat to Melbourne trip by steam rail in an hour â these days it takes an hour and ... [More]
Following up my post the other week about proposed possible Metro timetables in 2021… The other thing that’s become apparent from the Travel Demand document is how the Regional Rail Link (and the other V/Line routes) could work. Frankly it’s a relief they have some idea of how RRL would run, as so far they’ve ... [More]
Last night on the TV news they seemed to be struggling for an accurate figure of how many were affected by the closure of the Geelong line. One said “hundreds”, another said “up to a thousand”. Figures on V/Line’s web site, which summarise the number of people on each train so you can plan your ... [More]
There’s a good view from North Melbourne station of the works on the new Regional Rail Link line that will come in from Sunshine and the western suburbs, bypassing North Melbourne (unfortunately, with no interchange platforms) into Southern Cross. The idea is that V/Line trains will be able to bypass the suburban tracks, allowing both ... [More]
Regional Rail Link is a $5ish billion project to separate out V/Line trains, by running the Geelong line via new stations at Wyndham Vale and Tarneit to Deer Park, then into the City (along with Ballarat and Bendigo line trains) on dedicated tracks. Yesterday it was confirmed that it would go ahead. The idea of ... [More]
With public transport free today, it looks like some are taking advantage — there seemed to be more Seniors on the train this morning, enjoying a free trip into the city (even though it’s only $3.40 normally). But overall the train wasn’t markedly more crowded than usual, and it’s not like everyone abandoned their cars ... [More]
This picture has not been digitally altered. Maybe they got halfway through putting the stickers on the front, then realised the train was needed to run a service. In other news, while Metro got their June performance figures out almost two weeks ago, and Yarra Trams and V/Line have also published theirs, the Department of ... [More]