Metro & Regional Bus 27 July 2014 changes

[Craig]

Fact sheet from Herald Sun website outling key changes from 27 July - http://media.heraldsun.com.au/ipadspeci ... _A4_HR.pdf

MORE BUSES MORE OFTEN
More than 3,260 extra bus services per week

From Sunday, 27 July 2014, a statewide public transport timetable boost will deliver almost 4,000 extra train, tram and bus services every week. Around the state, more than 130 local bus routes will have timetable changes to better coordinate with trains, provide more direct routes along major roads, and to boost public transport in areas that have grown and changed.

Key benefits:
>>More than 3,260 extra bus services per week across the state
>>More than 2,670 extra bus services per week in metropolitan Melbourne and around 590 extra services in regional Victoria
>>Major bus network changes in Brimbank, City of Port Phillip, Manningham and Bacchus Marsh
>>Minor bus network changes in Banyule, Boroondara, Darebin, Hume, Maroondah, Whitehorse, Wyndham and Yarra
>>A new bus route in the growing area of Cranbourne East.

These service improvements are another step in transforming our network, with more services where they are needed most.

Also of interest is this map from the Herald Sun website outlining towns with bus changes next month


EDIT: I will attempt to maintain a summary in this post of changes to make things a bit easier to follow (work in progress). More details in posts below.

200 - new timetable online
201 - deleted, replaced by new 304
202 - deleted, absorbed into 302
203 - deleted
205 - deleted
207 - modified City - Doncaster Shoppingtown & operates via North Kew instead of along High St. Major frequency boosts. New timetable online.
216 - new timetable online
219 - Sunshine Park & West sections deleted. New timetable online.
220 - new timetable online
232 - modified route in City and now skips Port Melbourne. New timetable online.
234 - new route Garden City - Victoria Market replacing 250/251. New timetable online.
235 - operates to QV Market instead of Market St and no longer serves far end of Lormier St. Now runs all day 7 days. New timetable online.
236 - new route Garden City - Victoria Market, replacing 253. Reduced weekday frequency but runs Saturdays unlike 253. New timetable online.
237 - operates to QV Market instead of Market St and no longer serves Boeing. New timetable online.
238 - deleted
246 - Clifton Hill - La Trobe Uni section deleted to avoid duplication with 250. New timetable online.
250 - now runs City - La Trobe Uni. Garden City section replaced by new 234. New timetable online.
251 - now runs City - Northland. Garden City section replaced by new 234. New timetable online.
253 - replaced by new 236.
270 - Now runs Box Hill - Mitcham with modified route in North Nunawading, Mitcham - Ringwood served by new 370. New timetable online.
271 - Modified route between Donvale & Box Hill. Later buses through Park Orchards and Saturday frequency boost. New timetable online.
279 - new timetable online
281 - new timetable pending
284 - Doncaster Park+RIde - Doncaster section deleted. New timetable online.
285 - Doncaster Park+Ride - Doncaster section deleted. New timetable online.
286 - deleted. 271 modified to cover Box Hill - Blackburn North section.
295 - Box Hill - Doncaster Shoppingtown section deleted. New timetable online.

302 - new City terminus. Frequency boosts. New timetable online.
303 - deleted
304 - new City - Doncaster Shoppingtown route via Victoria Pde, Eastern Fwy & Belmore Rd. New timetable online.
305 - now runs Doncaster Shoppingtown - The Pines only outside of peak times. New timetable online.
309 - new timetable online
313 - deleted
315 - deleted
318 - trip count cut. New timetable online.
340 - replaced by new 350
350 - new City Queen St - Latrobe Uni route. No longer operates between 10:30am & 2pm. New timetable online.
364 - new timetable online
366 - replaced by new 380. Improved weekend services
367 - replaced by new 380. Later finishes and improved weekend services.
370 - Mitcham - Ringwood replacing 270. New timetable online.
380 - new Ringwood - Croydon - Ringwood loop replacing 366 & 367. New timetable online.

400 - increase frequency & span between Sunshine & Derrimut. New timetable online.
401 - new evening services. New timetable online
408 - modified route in St Albans East & Sunshine North. Saturday PM frequency boost. New timetable online.
418 - modified route between Keilor Plains & St Albans. New timetable online.
419 - Keilor Lodge section replaced by modified 421. New timetable online.
420 - new Sunshine - Watergardens route via Birmbank Central & Kings Rd. New timetable online.
421 - modified to serve Keilor Lodge & Kelaba. New timetable online.
422 - deleted
423 - modified to serve Deer Park North. Extra peak trips. New timetable online.
424 - modified route in Kings Park. New timetable online.
425 - modified route in Kings Park. New timetable online.
427/428 - new routes forming loop from Sunshine to Sunshine via Sunshine West. New timetables online.
433 - new route between Bacchus Marsh SC & Hillview Estate replacing current single town route. New timetables online.
434 - new route between Bacchus Marsh & Tefford Park replacing current single town route. New timetable online.
435 - new route between Bacchus Marsh & Darley replacing current single town route. New timetable online.
436 - new timetable online
437 - extended span. New timetable online
439 - now operates via Wyndham Harbour, extended Sunday span. New timetable online.
441 - extended span, new Sunday services. New timetable online.
442 - new timetable online
443 - new timetable online.
444 - extended span. New timetable online.
445 - extended span, new Sunday services, express running removed. New timetable online
446 - extended span. New timetable online.
447 - new timetable online.
448 - extended span. New timetable online.
449 - extended span. new timetable online.
451 - deleted, replaced by 400, 420, 423 & 427.
454 - deleted, replaced by 420, 427 & 428.
460 - no longer operates via Hillside other than deviation. New timetable online.
461 - new timetable online
462 - new timetable pending
465 - new timetable online
471 - interpeak, evening & weekend upgrades. New timetable online.
476 - now serves greater section of Hillside instead of Melton Hwy. New timetable online.
478 - now operates between Airport West Shoppingtown & Airport only. New timetable online.
479 - now operates between Airport West Shoppingtown & Sunbury only. New timetable online.
482 - new industrial route between Airport West Shoppingtown & Airport via Tullamarine. New timetable online.

500 - deleted due to upgraded 479 and 901 duplication
541 - modified route in Roxburgh Park and extended to north-eastern Greenvale. New timetable online.

770 - new timetable online
771 - new timetable online
775 - new timetable online
782 - new timetable online
783 - new timetable online (with likely error)
785 - new timetable online
789 - new timetable online
790 - new timetable online
791 - new timetable online
795 - new timetable online
797 - new timetable pending
798 - new route Cranbourne - Cranbourne East. New timetable online.
799 - interpeak upgrade. New timetable online

802 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
804 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
828 - new timetable online
831 - new timetable online
834 - frequency adjustments, new timetable online
835 - frequency adjustments, new timetable online
836 - new timetable online
837 - new timetable online
838 - new timetable online
839 - new timetable online
840 - new timetable online
841 - peak & interpeak upgrades. New timetable online
843 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
845 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
846 - new timetable online
847 - frequency adjustments, new timetable online
849 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
861 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
862 - interpeak upgrade, new timetable online
891 - new timetable online
892 - new timetable online
893 - interpeak upgrade. New timetable online.
894 - interpeak & evening upgrade. New timetable online.
895 - interpeak & evening upgrade. New timetable online.
896 - interpeak upgrade. New timetable online.
897 - interpeak upgrade. New timetable online.
898 - interpeak upgrade. New timetable online.

901 - new timetable online
902 - new timetable online
903 - new timetable online
905 - new timetable online
906 - Warrandyte - Ringwood extension removed. New timetable online.
907 - new timetable online
908 - Now runs Park+Ride - The Pines only outside peaks. New timetable online.
925 - new timetable online
926 - new timetable online
927 - new timetable online
928 - new timetable online
929 - new timetable online

PaxInfo pro-tip: To get some of these timetables you need to search using the timetable search window (not the site search). Sometimes you won't get it if you type in the full route number (eg 460). But if you type in part of it (eg 46) you get a selection, including in this case a choice of current and proposed 460 timetables. Another trick is to type in 27/07/2014 in the route number box to get those routes with new timetables that have that date annotated. Not only that but you can type in the previous days date for those timetables that are ending.

Kind Regards


Craig

[RailwayBus]

http://ptv.vic.gov.au/july-timetable-changes/

[Craig]

Transdev route changes noticed so far:

201 (Doncaster Shoppingtown - City via Kew Junction) appears to have been replaced by a new 304 service operating via the freeway & Victoria Pde. Belmore Rd passengers travelling to Kew will need to change to 48 at High St or 200/207 at Willsmere Shops. 202 shortworkings to East Kew dropped.

203 (Bulleen - City via freeway) and 205 (Doncaster Shoppingtown - Melb Uni via Kew Junction) dropped to avoid network complexity.

207 (Donvale - City via Kew Junction) now commences at Doncaster Shoppingtown and amended to operate via North Kew as per 200.

286 (The Pines - Box Hill) scrapped to avoid duplication with 901 & 906, with 271 (Ringwood - Box Hill) amended to skip Tunstall Square loop and operate via Blackburn in lieu of Kerrimur

238, 250, 251, 253 in Port Melbourne replaced by new 234 & 236 services. Disappointingly, 236 skips Bay Street Shops, an important local destination.

232 now runs expresss route skipping Port Melbourne at all times, and also via Southern Cross Station instead of along Flinders St.

350 has made a return, although appears to be renumbering of 340? Meanwhile, 246 no longer operates north of Clifton Hill (passengers can still use 250 or 350).

In City, 201 & 207 have been extended from Melbourne Central onto Queen Street along with 350, while routes 302, new 304 will terminate at the western end of Lonsdale St.

219 still runs to Sunshine South, but Sunshine Park section dropped (served by 903). Saturday afternoon & Sunday variation to Sunshine West dropped (finally reflecting previous upgrade to 471 to run 7 days).

Kind Regards


Craig

[Thebusofdoom]

Another change I've noticed is that the Box Hill - Westfield Doncaster section of route 295 has been scrapped to avoid duplication with the 903.

As pointed out in the other thread, there's a new route 798 from Cranbounre Centro to Cranbourne East via Cranbourne Station & Linsell Bvd.

EDIT: Route 270 now terminates at Mitcham station. Mitcham - Ringwood section replaced by a new route 370.

[Craig]

It also looks like very limited peak-hour routes 313 (City - Doncaster Park+Ride) & 315 (City - Box Hill) have gone.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

EDIT: Route 271 now terminates at Blackburn station instead of Box Hill to avoid duplication with the 270.

Have another look at the map - the 271 is drawn on Whitehorse Rd between Blackburn & Box Hill, the bubble at Blackburn Station is only there as Blackburn is an interchange with other routes.

Beyond me why the twice-daily 279 deviation via Blackburn has survived given some of the widespread changes elsewhere, unless this is an oversight?

Kind Regards


Craig

[RailwayBus]

There have also been changes to 270, 271, 366 and 367.

For non Transdev stuff, changes to most routes in Brimbank, also changes effecting routes 439, 478, 479, 500 and 541. Possibly others.

[RailwayBus]

Beyond me why the twice-daily 279 deviation via Blackburn has survived given some of the widespread changes elsewhere, unless this is an oversight?

It might be considered an important diversion.

[Craig]

Also notice 284 & 285 now terminate at Doncaster Park+Ride instead of running to Doncaster Shoppingtown.

The 380 is a throw-back to the old 666 Ringwood loop that Invicta ran in the early 80s....!

Kind Regards


Craig

[Thebusofdoom]

Brimbank changes I've noticed:

New route 420 from Watergardens and Sunshine via Kings Road, unchanged from proposed network.
New routes 427 & 428, unchanged from proposed network.
Route 451 & 454 scrapped.
Route changes for routes 408, 418, 421, 423 & 424, unchanged from proposed network.
Route change for route 419. same as proposed network except it doesn't run via Melton Highway as originally propsed.
Route change for route 460, same as propsed network except it has a deviation that follows its current route.
Route change for route 476 in Hillside, Will retain current route on the Melton Highway, changed from the proposed network.

The local area map also contains an error which lists 427 as being a route that's exactly the same as route 419 between St Albans and Watergardens.

[MAN 16.242]

Summary of Transdev changes

200/201/203/205/207
Now 200/207 are only 2 Kew Junction routes.
Both routes will now terminate in Queen St.

201
Replaced by new route 304

202
Scrapped, all services to Box Hill now run by route 302.

203
Scrapped

205
Scrapped

207
Re-routed in Kew area away from High st, to have a common route with route 200 in North Kew.
Truncated at Doncaster. No longer operates to Donvale.

219
No longer operates to Sunshine Park, or Sunshine West. Now terminates at Sunshine South.

232
No longer operates via Port Melbourne, instead all services run express.
Also no longer uses Flinders St, instead going via Southern Cross and Collins St.

234
New route
Vic Market - Garden City, replaces south half of 250/251.

235
No longer terminates at Market St, instead it now extends to Vic Market.
235 no longer extends to end of Lorimer St, instead this be covered by just 237.

236
New route
Vic Market - Garden City, replaces south half of 253.
Though misses Bay St Shops.

237
No longer terminates at Market St, instead it now extends to Vic Market.
237 no longer extends to Boeing, instead this be covered by just 235.


238
Scrapped

246
No longer operates to La Trobe Uni, all services now terminate at Clifton Hill.

250/251/253
Split in the City, with 250/251 covering north half, while south half is covered by new routes 234 and 236. 250/251 will terminate in Queen St.

270
Now terminates at Mitcham. Mitcham - Ringwood section now covered by 370.

271
No longer operates a common route with 270.
Now operates via Moorondah Hwy, and Blackburn Station.
Also no longer goes via Tunstall Square.

284
Truncated at Doncaster Park & Ride. Section east of Doncaster Park & Ride scrapped.

285
Truncated at Doncaster Park & Ride. Section east of Doncaster Park & Ride scrapped.

286
Scrapped

295
Truncated at Doncaster. Section south of Doncaster scrapped.

302
Now terminates in Lonsdale St instead of Queen St.

303
Scrapped

304
New route
Replaces 201, and extends via freeway to the City Lonsdale St.

313
Scrapped

315
Scrapped

340
Re-numbered 350

350
Re-numbering of 340
No longer terminates in Russell St, instead will terminate in Queen
St.

366
Replaced by 380

367
Replaced by 380

370
New route to replace the Mitcham - Ringwood section of route 270.

380
New loop route to replace 366/367.

[Craig]

For non Transdev stuff, changes to most routes in Brimbank, also changes effecting routes 439, 478, 479, 500 and 541. Possibly others.

439 - now operates past Wyndham Harbour.

478/479 - now runs Airport West Shoppingtown - Airport or Sunbury only

482 - new peak hour route between Airport West Shoppingtown & Aiprort serving industrial parts of Tullamarine

500 - dropped as part of the other Airport route upgrades and avoid duplication with 901

541 - now operates much more directly between Meadow Heights & Roxburgh Park Shops/Station, before continuing north to developing parts of north-eastern Greenvale.

Kind Regards


Craig

[MAN 16.242]

New routes 427 & 428, unchanged from proposed network.

Route 428 has had a small change and will be using Hampshire Rd instead of Anderson Rd.

Route change for route 476 in Hillside, Will retain current route on the Melton Highway, changed from the proposed network.

Route 476 route remains unchanged from the proposed network, it'll still cover parts of Hillside for the loss of route 460.

[RailwayBus]

340
Re-numbered 350

350
Re-numbering of 340

This is stupid. Renumbering a route just for the sake of it serves no benefit to anyone.

[Thebusofdoom]

Another change I've noticed, the 906 peak hour extensions between Warrandyte and Ringwood has been scrapped.

[MAN 16.242]

Changes to Bacchus Marsh network.
Now split into 3 routes, from 1 off peak and 1 peak route, giving better coverage.
As with the recent changes in Gisborne, these routes have also been numbered in the Metro numbering system, with the routes numbered from 433 to 435.

[jarf]

Another interesting point is that the 908 appears to now only run into the city in peak. Hmm...

[Craig]

New Cranbourne Transit timetables available for download from the PTV website for Routes 789, 790, 791, 795, 796, 798, 799, 891, 892, 893, 894, 895, 896, 897 & 898 (although a few minor errors). Timetables for 797 to come.

Highlights include:

• Updated weekday times to meet new timetables on the Pakenham, Cranbourne & Frankston lines including improved headways that are harmonised with trains
• Run time adjustments to better reflect actual run times with a move away from the current approach with impossible runtimes in earlier sections of the route followed by excessive run time in the last section (eg on 895 travel time from Narre Warren - Fountain Gate has been reduced from 15 mins to 8 mins, but end-to-end travel times off-peak only reduced by 3 mins)
• Revisions to timetable for 789/790/791 (Frankston - Cranbourne West) to improve off-sets between individual routes and provide more clock-face departures (for instance almost all buses now depart Karingal Hub for Frankston at :06, :26 & :46 past the hour from 9am until 8pm)
• 798 (Selandra Rise - Cranbourne) - new service for new estates in Cranbourne East and Clyde North. 15 min peak service, 20 min off-peak & early evening service, 20 min Saturday service, 30 min Saturday night service and 40 min Sunday service. Services running until 10pm weeknights & Sundays, and until midnight Saturdays. Timetables have been designed to meet trains at Cranbourne Station with a slight dwell - buses arrive in time for the City train, and then wait for passengers off the arriving service. Connections work for both passengers travelling from Selandra Rise as those travelling to Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre (Lyall St Interchange). One would have to question if this route is overly duplicative of the existing 896 Trainlink & 898 services though, and the service levels are excessive.
• Interpeak services on 799 (Cranbourne - Cranbourne North) upgraded from 50 - 55 mins to 40 mins. Revised peak hour timetable, with evening peak buses now operating express from Cranbourne North to Merinda Park, the reverse of the current morning peak arrangement.
• Interpeak services on 893 (Dandenong - Cranbourne) upgraded from 30 mins to 20 mins.
• Interpeak & evening services on 894 (Hallam - Amberly Park) & 895 (Narre Warren South - Fountain Gate) increased from 45 mins to 40 mins. Through-routing between 894 and 895 retained, maintaining one-seat ride to Fountain Gate for 894 passengers living in Hampton Park east.
• Interpeak services on 896 (Cranbourne - Cranbourne East Trainlink) increased from 30 mins to 20 mins. Morning peak shortworkings now commence at Lyall Street and operate via Casey Complex, providing service to new estates being built in vicinity of Berwick-Cranbourne Rd.
• Interpeak services on 897 (Cranbourne - Central Parkway) & 898 (Cranbourne - Archersfield Dr) increased from 30 mins to 20 mins, although peak service levels remain every 25 - 30 mins.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Another interesting point is that the 908 appears to now only run into the city in peak. Hmm...

In a sign of common sense though, the span of services has been adjusted on 905, 907 & 908 (new 906 timetable not yet available). The first DART buses leaving the City has been adjusted from around 5am to closer to 6am, with the last inbound trip around half an hour earlier, instead of having trips into the City that leave Warrandyte at midnight! On the 907, there are some shortworkings between Doncaster Depot & Mitcham to ensure the first trip and last trips for those changing to the train are still in the spirt of the SmartBus service specs.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Thebusofdoom]

Route 841 (Cranbourne - Narre Warren North) has had it's interpeak frequency increased from 45 minutes to 30 minutes. I've also noticed a couple of new services on routes 802, 804 and 862

[Thebusofdoom]

New timetables for routes 436, 437, 439, 442, 444, 446, 448 (with 439, 441, 443, 445, 447 & 449 still pending). Routes 437, 444, 446 & 448 now have extended operating hours on weekdays and weekends finishing at 9pm - 10pm on weekdays and 7pm - 9pm on weekends.

[Paul_Nicholson]

There are a few subtle amendments to the 901 with some services starting and finishing at Blackburn.

The changes to the airport services are interesting; I've noticed quite a few airport workers seem to use the morning services from Moonee Ponds. But, presumably, it's considered passengers offering can use 477 between Moonee Ponds/Essendon and Airport West?

The 500 (plus the occasional 479s) did provide some connection from the Bendigo line towards the airport.

Maybe there'll be more people using 901 between Broadmeadows and Melbourne Airport?

Paul in Melbourne

[RailwayBus]

There are a few subtle amendments to the 901 with some services starting and finishing at Blackburn.

The changes to the airport services are interesting; I've noticed quite a few airport workers seem to use the morning services from Moonee Ponds. But, presumably, it's considered passengers offering can use 477 between Moonee Ponds/Essendon and Airport West?

More likely tram 59.

[Craig]

New Transdev timetables for routes with timing adjustments are available for Routes 216, 220, 279, 309, 318, 364, 901, 902, 903, 905, 907 & 908.

At a quick glance, some notable changes include:

216 - Much more realistic runtimes - for instance, a trip leaving Caroline Springs just after 7am will now have another 14 mins to reach Brighton and one leaving around 2pm has an additional 16 mins, while a trip just after 5:30pm is actually 4 mins faster than now. Analysis of headway changes will need to wait until a 219 timetable is also uploaded.

220 - Towards Sunshine, PM peak services are now every 20 mins from Gardenvale and 10 mins from City, instead of 15 mins from Gardenvale and 7-8 mins from City, while services after 10pm reduced from 15 mins to 20 mins in both directions. Again more realistic runtimes, for instance an extra 12 mins for off-peak services from Gardenvale to Sunshine and an 4 mins from Sunshine to Gardenvale.

309 - Last bus from City is now 17:55 instead of 18:10, but number of peak trips remains unchanged

318 - Cut from 6 trips each way to 4 each way

364 - Deep Creek extension now only operates for Warrandyte High bell times - previously most morning peak pull-outs commenced here as it was enroute to Warrandyte. (BTW, anyone want to confirm where the route actually starts/ends at Warrandyte currently? In 2011 the route was extended to Harris Gully Rd roundabout, later the timetable was updated to show Warrandyte Reserve without an official announcement. Now the northbound timetable has reverted back to Harris Gully Rd while southbound trips are shown starting from Warrandyte Bridge, contradicting the route description. From July 27, looks like Warrandyte Reserve is the terminus. )

901 & 902 - runtime adjustments for the first time since they were introduced in 2010 (the 903 at least had one timetable change approved 12 months after commencement) with extra runtime along Springvale Rd across the day, which currently has very tight runtimes. As Paul Nicholson has observed, changes to start/end locations of trips at start and end of the day with a reduced span in some sections. Some of the reductions are significant, such as the last 902 southbound departing Glen Waverley at 23:35 on weeknights instead of 00:15.

903 - Intervals into Altona before 10am are still around 30 mins or so remain, despite 15 min headways in the opposite direction. A decent effort has been made to have intervals between trips 15 mins or better across the day, rather than the messy headways that Ventura came up with (largely as a result of trying to have every departure from either end on the quarter (:00, :15, :30 & :45). Having departures from termini closer together results in lesser impact from variations in runtimes between individual trips, thus avoiding gaps of over 20 mins.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Route change for route 476 in Hillside, Will retain current route on the Melton Highway, changed from the proposed network.

Route 476 route remains unchanged from the proposed network, it'll still cover parts of Hillside for the loss of route 460.

The draft network had 476 running into Watergardens via Bond Dr - instead it will continue to run it's existing alignment between Taylors Lakes Secondary College & Watergardens. I assume this was what Thebusofdoom was referring to?

Also related to the Brimbank changes, 471 (Sunshine - Williamstown) will receive a boost during the inter-peak, with a 20 min headway to be introduced, compared to the existing 25 min service. Evening services are also set to improve, with buses every 30 to 40 mins, instead of the current 40 to 60 min offering. On weekends, the 35, 35, 40 min Saturday service will be smoothed to every 40 mins, while on Sundays the 50 min frequency gets a boost to 40 mins.

461 (Caroline Spings - Watergardens) will also operate to a revised timetable from 27 July.

No new timetables have appeared for Bladin St routes 414 (Laverton - Footscray) or 417 (Laverton - Laverton North loop) so possibly the 400 timetable has been written around the existing timetables for these services (off-setting the 3 routes in this corridor was hinted in Brimbank review draft plan). Guess we will have to wait and see.

Kind Regards


Craig