Victorian Rail & Tram Observations July - December 2016

[Craig]

Melbourne Launches World-Class Free Wi-Fi Network
Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade
29 September 2016
Technology and innovation
Media Release

Victoria has cemented its reputation as Australia’s tech leader with the launch of the country’s largest and fastest free Wi-Fi network across Melbourne’s CBD today.

Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis joined City of Melbourne’s Chief Digital Officer Michelle Fitzgerald at Southern Cross Station to announce the first of many Wi-Fi access points to be rolled-out across Melbourne as part of the Andrews Labor Government’s $11 million Victorian Free Wi-Fi Pilot.

From today, visitors can use the VicFreeWiFi service within all Melbourne CBD train stations, the Bourke St Mall, Queen Victoria Market, and South Wharf Promenade at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

More access points will be switched on over the coming months, with the full network to be up and running by the end of the year.

A free Wi-Fi pilot has been running successfully in Bendigo and Ballarat since December 2015 and has recorded one million sessions in the two regional cities during the nine months it’s been operational.

Once the Melbourne network is complete, the VicFreeWiFi service will be the largest free public Wi-Fi network of its kind in Australia, covering an area of 600,000 square metres across the three cities.

Running for five years, the project is managed by telecommunications company TPG, allows for up to 250 MB per device, per day – and does not require personal logins or feature pop-up advertising.

The quality of the network is unparalleled in Australia and on par with world-class free public Wi-Fi networks in New York, London and San Francisco.

The advanced infrastructure will also be available for piloting future connected city projects and for state and federal disaster response in the event of an emergency over the five-year pilot.

The service comes as Melbourne is expected to welcome thousands of excited footy fans ahead of the AFL Grand Final long weekend which starts tomorrow.

An interactive map of the active access points available for public use is at vic.gov.au/wifi.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis
“This is just another reason why Victoria is the country’s home of innovation and technology – we really do have the best of everything, not only in Melbourne but our regional cities as well.”

“Whether visitors are coming into town to go shopping, eat in Melbourne’s famous laneways or head to the AFL Grand Final this long weekend, they’ll all be able to access and enjoy the fastest free Wi-Fi in the country.”

Kind Regards

Craig

[BroadGauge]

Noticed today during the afternoon shoulder peak at Sunbury that there were buses from Sita, Kastoria/Broadmeadows, Ventura, Dysons and Transdev providing suburban rail replacement.

[712M]

The PTV and Metro websites are quite misleading regarding the bus timetables between Sunshine and Sunbury. They only show stopping all stations buses between Sunbury and Sunshine running every 10-15 minutes during peak hours. Only if you go to the very bottom of the level crossing removal brochure you will find that there also express buses operating between Sunbury, Watergardens and Sunshine. It is unclear how often and how many of these are running.

The brochure also advertise V/Line replacement coaches being available to Sunbury passengers, however few of these actually stop at Sunbury and those that do take a long detour via Footscray on the way to Southern Cross (not to mention battling through traffic due to Tullamarine Freeway works).

Did anyone see how the replacement buses were coping and if any bus priority is being implemented?

[BroadGauge]

Did anyone see how the replacement buses were coping

Not that badly but it helps that a large proportion of the line's patronage (particularly from the furthermost two stations) has disappeared.

It would help from a passenger information perspective if buses displayed signs in the windows stating where they are going to, like has been done with previous shutdowns, rather than just signs stating the stopping pattern!! At Watergardens, all buses going in all directions are departing from the same stop, but none of them have any destination shown anywhere

The online bus timetable and the one that actually runs are two different things. I turned up at St Albans at 6:30am this morning, 45 minutes before the bus I wanted to catch was due, but talking to the bus marshal it turned out there was a trip due in 10 minutes that didn't exist on the website which I caught instead, so that was a nice surprise.

and if any bus priority is being implemented?

Close to none, which is why many trips are running 30-60 minutes late in peaks. Many people are complaining that it takes 2 hours to travel from Sunbury to Flinders Street in the morning peak hour due to the bus delays.

The roundabout at Taylors/Kings Rd is as usual a large source of delays to buses as well as generally heavier traffic than usual in the Brimbank area.

[MCI9]

why haven't metro looked at deck trains??and where is our tandarra?

[maxy54]

why haven't metro looked at deck trains??and where is our tandarra?

Our Tangarra hasn’t run for nearly 15 years and is now sitting at Simsmetal scrapped.

[Roderick Smith]

Yet another gold-plated scheme from the useless PTV, fed to the gullible Infrastructure Victoria and the useless ventriloquist-dummy transport minister.
It is doing nothing to provide 10 min headways, and this scheme will rely on 5 min headways.
The only thing London style which Melbourne needs is the coupling and uncoupling of emus at key nodes. Melbourne needs Paris RER style.

The current loops are signalled for 24 tph, with trains holding 1400: 34 000 passengers per hour per track.
Resignalling has more merit than any of the tunnel schemes, and then running the double-deck trains for which the tunnels were designed: 30 tph with trains holding 2000 people, 60 000 passengers per hour per track (a 75% capacity increase).
Rearranging the tunnel portals doesn't add any capacity.
The Swanston St tunnel doesn't add any capacity to the south-east: four outward tracks converge to three at South Yarra, the same capacity as now.
The Swanston St tunnel does add capacity to the north. Unless there are plans to put Newport back into the loop, the existing northern tunnel has Craigieburn/Wallan and Upfield/Wallan as its sole occupants: 15 tph to each (4 min headways)?
Running Newport to Sandringham leaves Frankston as the sole occupant of the Caulfield loop: 30 tph to Frankston (2 min headways)?
Clifton Hill continues to be the quietest of the tunnels, as it was designed to hold Doncaster trains, but PTV insists that 'delinking' South Morang / Whittlesea is an essential prerequisite for a Doncaster line, and so wants an east-west tunnel too.

All we ever get are promises, and schemes to boost management egos, and no real action.

Roderick

New rail tunnels proposed for $3 billion City Loop upgrade.
Herald Sun October 15, 2016.
A $3 BILLION plan to build new tunnels in the City Loop has been put on the agenda to give Melbourne a London-style underground system.
But commuters will have to change services to get around the CBD, with rail lines taking separate routes under the city.
Infrastructure Victoria’s planning blueprint names the City Loop reconfiguration as a priority within 15 years to provide a 10 per cent expansion of rail capacity, particularly on the Craigieburn and Upfield lines.
Tunnels would be built between Flagstaff and North Melbourne, and Parliament and Richmond, while a flyover would be built from North Melbourne to link to the proposed electrification of the Wallan line.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the City Loop reconfiguration would help boost services once the $10.9 billion Melbourne Metro tunnel was operational in 2026.
“None of these projects are possible without the Metro Tunnel and the space it creates in the loop to run more services in and out of the city,” Ms Allan said.
Commuters will have to change services to get around the CBD, with rail lines taking separate routes under the city. Picture: Hamish Blair Infrastructure Victoria’s draft 30-year plan says construction of the new City Loop tunnels should begin “shortly after completion” of the Metro project, which could also help alleviate disruption associated with the major works.
The planning body said building extra rail tunnels under the CBD would “result in more people needing to change trains, a key trade-off to the capacity boost the option provides”.
“(It) would require many passengers to change their travel patterns, including interchanging more, which needs careful management not to overly impact on passengers,” Infrastructure Victoria said.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said commuters would have to alter their behaviour when trains no longer run the whole way around the City Loop.
“You need to know that if you have to change trains that it is a short walk between platforms and you won’t be left waiting 20 or 30 minutes for a connection,” Mr Bowen said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor ... 985a65180f

[Matty G]

Hello,

The Sunbury line reopened this morning (Tuesday 1st October, 2016), with the first train cleared to run through departing North Melbourne at 8.43am. This was much earlier than planned, with the PTV website posting just after midnight last night, that the line would not fully reopen until "after 2pm" today.

A few quick observations from my trip this morning:
Ginifer-- still a major construction zone along the platforms with temporary fencing all over, making the platforms quite narrow for passengers.
No shelter, seating or bins. Not the best place to catch a train at present.

St. Albans-- provides much easier access to / from Alfrieda or McKechnie Streets, likewise to the bus interchange (Route 423/425).
The booking office is set up, but was not operational. New Myki gates-- you could touch on.... but those coming from the city (like myself) couldn't touch off.
Access from the platforms to the concourse was only available via the lift (praying it didn't get stuck on the way up). Stairs were not open. Still plenty of temporary fencing around platform 1.

Whilst it is still early days.... St. Albans station aesthetically looks better than what it did just a few days ago.... however, the line should have remained closed a little longer, until more works and passenger amenities were complete. The date for reopening was too rushed and not realistic.

Cheers.

[Thebusofdoom]

I popped by to the new stations a little later in the day.

Ginifer is still far from being completed. Temporary fencing and lighting is still in place with neither platform featuring no shelters and minimal seating and bins. Platform one didn't even have a PID nor PA speakers scattered across the platform. Stairs and lifts were operational but the ramps are not yet completed. Some happy snaps of the new station:

Taken on platform one looking towards Melbourne:


The concourse. Myki machines appeared to be operational. There were some large PID's next to the lifts but they weren't working properly for the moment.


The view from the street. It will take a while for me to get used to the building's architecture, it looks like a kindergarten project with crayons scribbled all over a cardboard box.


St Albans is more completed than Ginifer with all the bare necessities all set up. Both platforms still had temporary fencing and little seating but unlike Ginifer they both had shelters, PID's and PA systems. Unlike Matty G's observations the stairs were open by the time I was there. The ramp on platform two was in use with only a small staircase still to be completed. The ramp on platform 1 is not yet completed.

A view of the station from platform two looking towards Sunbury:


Like with many of the new grade separated stations, part of the platform is underneath the concourse/road to provide weather protection. At this station it's about two carriages long.


A view of the concourse. Look at that sexy brick! The ticket office was operational but there was no signs of passenger toilets or a waiting room. Infact I don't think they've even begun constructing them.


The flashing lights and the tracks at the former Main Road level crossing are still in place. Main Road will be closed from the 4th of November to the 28th in order to remove the level crossing infrastructure and resurface the road.


Both stations have provision to extend the platforms. At Ginifer this is done by extending the platforms on the down end while at St Albans it's done by extending the platforms in both directions.

[Alstom 888M]

I suppose the more hideous it is, the less it's going to get drawn on...

[jamesadams7]

Does Ginifer have a new waiting room like it used to, or is that an amenity that has been lost?

[Thebusofdoom]

Does Ginifer have a new waiting room like it used to, or is that an amenity that has been lost?

Fairly sure it's an amenity lost. The outside of the new building looked fairly complete to me and I saw no sign of a new waiting room.

[jamesadams7]

Fairly sure it's an amenity lost. The outside of the new building looked fairly complete to me and I saw no sign of a new waiting room.

"Progress"

[Roderick Smith]

Of course it won't be for safety: it will be for revenue raising.
Roderick.

Future Melbourne: Train, tram passengers to be watched live.
Herald Sun November 7, 2016.
PASSENGERS on every train and tram carriage will be monitored live in the future in a bid to make Melbourne’s public transport network safer.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the new eye-in-the-sky technology would help stamp out crime on trains and trams.
As well as acting as a deterrent, the system will allow police to monitor events on the network and intervene more quickly.
Inside the carriage of a new high capacity Metro trains that will be built in Victoria as part of a $2 billion order.
“We have to have an eye on the future right now and ensure we are prepared for it,” Mr Ashton said.
“Into the future, we can expect passenger behaviour will be live monitored via digital link in every rail carriage and tram.
“That will mean anti-social and unruly behaviour will be acted on much more swiftly, and in many cases prevented altogether.”
The new high capacity Metro trains that will be built in Victoria as part of a $2 billion order.
Mr Ashton believed the introduction of high speed rail links would see more people choose to live in the country and commute into the city.
“In the future mass transport options will come to the fore,” he said.
“Looking to shorten the commute time, we can expect to see the development of high speed public transport services reaching out to our outer suburban fringes.
“Many Victorians will opt for the rural lifestyle benefits if they can easily make a timely commute to Melbourne CBD.
“For police this means we must ensure our methods keep pace with the changing times.”
Advances in CCTV technology will be a key weapon in Victoria Police’s fight against crime, according to the Chief Commissioner.
Inside the carriage of a new high capacity Metro trains that will be built in Victoria as part of a $2 billion order.
The new high capacity Metro trains that will be built in Victoria as part of a $2 billion order.
Last year the City of Melbourne received $200,000 from the Federal Government to install CCTV and emergency intercoms at CBD taxi rank locations.
Mr Ashton said: “In recent years we have seen a mass proliferation of CCTV. This has included the ability to remotely monitor images.
“As a result we are seeing more and more crime being captured by visual recording and this advancement in visual communication will continue to positively prevent crime and improve detection rates.”
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said Melbourne’s camera network had tripled in the past decade.
“Our sophisticated CCTV network has proved to be a crucial tool in not only detecting crime, but deterring crime,” he said.
“The cameras are monitored 24 hours a day and have the ability to record images over a range of several hundred metres.”
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/futu ... 8bc42f822b>

[Roderick Smith]

Roderick.

How ‘Glad Wrap’ prank delayed commuters on Lilydale line.
Herald Sun November 7, 2016.
IT was not such a fresh idea from some train vandals who blocked train tracks in Melbourne’s east by wrapping cling film between two poles.
Fools struck just before 9pm on Sunday along the Lilydale line, about 300m from Mooroolbark Station.
The senseless act can create such a glare for train drivers that it can be worse than that from the sun.
A driver on the city-bound train was forced to get out of the cabin and remove the cling film, delaying passengers by seven minutes.
Metro spokeswoman Sammie Black urged anyone who saw dangerous and illegal behaviour across the network to press the red emergency button on the train or platform or phone triple-0 to raise the alarm.
“Unauthorised people on tracks are risking their lives with this stunt. The railway is only dangerous for those who choose to take risks,” she said.
CCTV footage will be reviewed in a bid to identify the culprits.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/how ... 5e61d13cf0>

[RailwayBus]

Xtrapolis trains started regular operation on the Frankston line today, and will commence service on the Williamstown and Werribee lines tomorrow.

[a350a380]

Re E class Trams

As the weather has finally heated up in Melbourne it is frustrating to see the number of e class trams with windows open and/or unlocked. This will effect the performance of the air conditioner and cause frequent breakdowns as it is not the way the system is designed to work.

I have complained to YT to offer constructuve feedback. I even complained to the driver whilst the tram was out of service before boarding. The driver just dismissed this and said it was fine like he was not the slightest bit bothered. The complaints team responded straight away however in their response they stated that the windows do not open on E class Trams - I wonder if they have ever travelled on one. They also explained that everyone has to endure an uncomfortable journey on public transport from time to time.

This is not the only issue on Thursday evening it was 31 degrees and the driver had not switched on the ac on a c2 class tram. People were complaining and even getting off the tram to wait for the next one it was that uncomfortable.

I may be relatively new to Melbourne but this does not seem to happen on similar world cities. I hope ptv are aware of the issue. The trams should be thermostatically controlled with locked windows all year round unless the system breaks down.

As for e class trams I thought they were meant to be the flagship Trams. Granted the ac normally works well except with windows open this will cause uncomfortable conditions and frequent breakdowns.

Is this a frequent issue?

[Mike M]

Xtrapolis trains started regular operation on the Frankston line today, and will commence service on the Williamstown and Werribee lines tomorrow.

3 sets seen in all day service on Tuesday. It would be interesting to know if Metro have enough spare Xtrapolis sets to cover these services or if there will be a limited return of Comeng sets to the Burnley & Clifton Hills group of lines.

[gobillino]

Re E class Trams
I have complained to YT to offer constructuve feedback. I even complained to the driver whilst the tram was out of service before boarding. The driver just dismissed this and said it was fine like he was not the slightest bit bothered. The complaints team responded straight away however in their response they stated that the windows do not open on E class Trams - I wonder if they have ever travelled on one. They also explained that everyone has to endure an uncomfortable journey on public transport from time to time.

I've never noticed open windows on an E Class, and assumed that they were unopenable (can anyone else confirm if they are) I have noticed though that both C class and E (possibly D - I don't often travel on them) can be disgustingly hot when the weather is mild (low to mid 20s) but generally fine when it's warmer than that. I assume the driver can manually overide temperature settings - perhaps there are not separate settings for the drivers cabin and carriage.

[Craig]

Xtrapolis trains started regular operation on the Frankston line today, and will commence service on the Williamstown and Werribee lines tomorrow.

3 sets seen in all day service on Tuesday. It would be interesting to know if Metro have enough spare Xtrapolis sets to cover these services or if there will be a limited return of Comeng sets to the Burnley & Clifton Hills group of lines.

Metro has recently received delivery of 213M-T-214M, 215M-T-216M, 217M-T-218M, 219M-T-220M, these four sets are the first of the batch of 10 announced in March 2015.

A further 10 3 car sets were announced March this year, followed by a further 18 in September.

So looks like there will be plenty to go around for the cross-city group sadly.

Additional references:
Vicsig - http://vicsig.net/suburban/train/X'Trapolis
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X'Trapolis_100

Kind Regards


Craig

[RailwayBus]

Xtrapolis trains started regular operation on the Frankston line today, and will commence service on the Williamstown and Werribee lines tomorrow.

3 sets seen in all day service on Tuesday. It would be interesting to know if Metro have enough spare Xtrapolis sets to cover these services or if there will be a limited return of Comeng sets to the Burnley & Clifton Hills group of lines.

Initially the additional trains which are on order will be placed on the Cross City group. But the eventual plan is to undertake a big "fleet swap" to tie certain rollingstock types to certain groups, and it is at that stage that you will see Comengs venture over to the other side on a more regular basis.

[Mike M]

Thank you to both Craig & RailwayBus for the information on future Xtrapolis deliveries & plans for their deployment.

[Alstom 888M]

I caught an X'Trapolis on the Werribee line a few days ago and tracked its speed on my phones GPS. Got up to 115km/h with ease. I thought they were restricted to 90km/h or has this been resolved / lifted?

[Thebusofdoom]

I caught an X'Trapolis on the Werribee line a few days ago and tracked its speed on my phones GPS. Got up to 115km/h with ease. I thought they were restricted to 90km/h or has this been resolved / lifted?

Seems to have been lifted if you're clocking it at that speed. How was the ride comfort at that speed? The track between Laverton & Newport is already rough as guts with even the Comeng's bouncing around at speed.

[Matty G]

Hello,

Sighted "217M-T-218M, 219M-T-220M" running the 1730 ex Thonbury to Flinders Street yesterday evening (Thurs. 23rd November).

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