On the train

Yes, still on the Regional Rail Link topic – Ballarat and Bendigo trains now had their own tracks through Footscray to Sunshine, along with their own next train displays located away from the ones showing suburban trains.

But for now Geelong line services were still running along the Werribee line. Here we see a N class locomotive hauled train passing through Williams Landing.

A VLocity train passing through Laverton station.

And another passing through the platforms at South Kensington.

Which then took the crossover at the city end of the station to access the new V/Line tracks towards Southern Cross.

Freight trains

A decade ago Pacific National still had the contract to transport grain by rail to the flour mill at Kensington. Southern Shorthaul Railroad won the contract in November 2017.

Meanwhile down at North Geelong Yard Pacific National was busy scrapping surplus wagons – the bulk of which once transport freight that has been lost to road.

Down around Geelong

The North Geelong B signal box was still hanging around a decade after it had been decommissioned in 2005, and surprisingly it hung around almost a decade longer – eventually being demolished in May 2022.

While down in Grovedale money was getting spent on Baanip Boulevard, with a new bridge being built over the railway to link the Geelong Ring Road to the Surf Coast Highway.

And down at North Shore even the dive of a station was getting some attention – new asphalt!

Ding ding on the trams

Remember the ‘Melbourne Star’ observation wheel? This tram was advertising it, before the operator went broke in 2021.

But a tourist icon that people actually patronised was the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant – it ran until 2018 when their restaurant trams were kicked off the Yarra Trams network due to safety concerns.

Another safety concern that is having to dodge cars to climb onboard tram at South Yarra station. The platform stop there wasn’t opened until 2021.

Another crappy tram stop was the one at La Trobe and Swanston Street – on this December afternoon it was overwhelmed by a crowd of RMIT graduates spilling out onto the road. Platform stops were not provided along La Trobe Street until July 2024.

And continuing on that theme, now we’re at Collins and Queen Street – closed in 2015 following completion of a new platform stop at Collins and William Street.

Another stop to close being the one for southbound route 96 passengers at the corner of Spencer and Flinders Street.

Works about to start on new platform stops at Batman Park a short distance to the south.

A few buses

A decade ago route 400 between Sunshine and Laverton was operated by plain white liveried buses – an artifact of the shared operation of the route between Westrans and Sita. Today the operations are now CDC Melbourne and Transit Systems, and the white buses are gone – they’re mostly PTV orange, with the exception of a few buses still in the old poo brown Sita corporate livery.

Another oddball bus was the British-built Optare Solos used on the SkyBus hotel shuttle service around the Melbourne CBD. Later branded as ‘SkyBus Link’, the service was discontinued in 2020 thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, and never restored.

And the last bus is a Designline ‘bubble’ bus running on route 903 along Bell Street in Coburg.

Stuck in traffic waiting at the level crossing with the Upfield line – which was removed in June 2020.

Ticketing bits

Down in Geelong it was once possible to buy a ‘Short Term Ticket‘ from bus drivers rather than use a Myki card – an option removed in April 2013.

While in the lead up to the November 2014 election both parties promised to cap Melbourne suburban travel to zone 1 prices, and introduce the ‘Free Tram Zone’ in the CBD.

Both starting from 1 January 2015.

But don’t think they’re giving you something for nothing – PTV was simultaneously running yet another fare evasion campaign.

As well as promoting free travel on Christmas Day.

Car parking

What’s a worse use of prime CBD land than a ground level car park? This is the ‘Golden Square’ car park at 217 Lonsdale Street, which is still a car park today.

And this is the ‘Safe City Car Park’ at 132 Little Bourke Street in Chinatown – which has since been turned into a pop up event space.

And finally – a power station

Here we are at the main gate to Anglesea Power Station.

Located in the middle of the Anglesea Heathlands.

Next to a brown coal mine.

Opened back in 1969 to power Alcoa’s Point Henry smelter outside of Geelong, the smelter was closed down in July 2014 but the power station remained open pending a new owner, before it too was shut down in August 2015.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Yep, it’s cooked

Three out of the seven displays are barely visible – leaving the next seven V/Line departures MIA, along with the entire list of V/Line arrivals, and all services on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston lines.

But luckily you turn around and find a second set of screens – only to discover half these ones are also broken – you can now see the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston lines; and the V/Line arrivals are nice and bright; but the Lilydale, Belgrave and Glen Waverley line are gone.

And the next seven V/Line departures – if you squint hard, you might just be able to read them on the faded screen.

And don’t hope on walking over to the platforms either – the screen at the top of platform 11 and 12 was also hardly visible.

As was the one above platform 15 and 16.

But why?

The reason for the screens not working? The screens aren’t broken outright, as they work most of the time.

The clue being in tiny text in the corner of the screen – ‘TEMPERATURE WARNING!!’. I photographed the failing screens on December 5th, when the top temperature was 33.2 °C, and that was enough for the the screens to be unable to cope.

I found a similar warning on one of the platform screens on February 4th – when the top temperature was 37.5 °C.

So in theory a simple fix – but the management at Southern Cross Station can’t even change a light bulb.

And they aren’t that old

You might point the finger at the screens being old, but that isn’t exactly true – for years Southern Cross Station used a ‘temporary’ array of CRT television screens to display the next suburban train departures.

The permanent LCD screens not being switched on for suburban trains until March 2009.

Allowing the ‘temporary’ screens to be covered up.

Until they were finally removed in April 2010.

And the LCD screens didn’t last long anyway – they were removed in November 2012 for “maintenance”.

Out of service from November 12 to December 23 – that’s 41 days to change eight screens!

Footnote: another other things cooking in the heat

Melbourne’s Comeng suburban trains from the 1980s also once had a reputation for failing in the heat.

The air conditioning failing once the temperature reached 35 degrees.

So after a spate of failures during the summer of 2008-09, the decision was made to upgrade the air conditioning units fitted to said trains.

And lo and behold – they’re just as reliable as newer trains in hot weather.

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A trip to Sydney

I decided to make the trip up to Sydney this month, catching the XPT north from Melbourne.

And being greeted by a light rail vehicle tram as soon as I arrived at Central Station.

I saw a double decker train the next day.

And presumably took some other photos up there, but they weren’t of trains – as I still haven’t uploaded them to my Flickr account.

Then then flew back home to Melbourne – to be greeted by a Myki visitors pack advertisement inside the Qantas terminal.

Along with a SkyBus one.

A decade on and the Myki machines at Melbourne Airport are just as hard to find, and SkyBus is still the only public transport route that runs from the airport to the CBD.

Melbourne Central

I also went on a tour of the Melbourne Central Tower this month, where we got to look out over the roof of Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, towards Myer House and Emporium.

But unfortunately we only got to look down on the glass cone, not look inside like some previous tours did.

Technology

It seems like an everyday scene now, but a decade ago seeing an entire tram full of passengers absorbed in their smartphones was still novel.

But Telstra was still behind the times – rollout out their ‘Telstra Air’ wifi hotspots to payphones, despite almost everyone having stacks of mobile data to use on their phone.

The Wi-Fi network is still in place today, but free since 2023.

Trams

‘Safety’ zone trams stops were still common place in the Melbourne CBD a decade ago – this one was on Collins Street at William Street.

This particular tram stop was replaced by a platform stop in June 2015, with the last safety zones in the CBD upgraded in July 2024. As for the rest of the tram network – the December 2022 deadline to make all tram stops accessible has been and gone, with hundreds still non compliant.

Meanwhile Yarra Trams was coming up with crackpot schemes like a coffee stall taking up precious space for passengers at the Flinders and Swanston Street stop.

Luckily that idea got kicked out very quickly.

A handful of 1970s-era Z1 class trams were also still kicking around the network, with their crappy little sliding windows and only two doors per side – despite having supposed to have been retired a decade earlier in favour of the incoming low floor C and D class trams, but kept on due to increasing patronage.

This particular tram – Z3.86 – was eventually retired in August 2015, following the delivery of the new E class trams.

A different flavour of stupidity are people who drive down Swanston Street – this driver managed to break down in the middle of the tram stop, and drum up help from passersby to get clear of the tracks.

While this confused country bumpkin headed up Swanston Street in their LandCruiser got pulled up by an unmarked police car, and got sent on their way.

And a decade on – nothing much has really changed.

V/Line trains

Here we see an original liveried VLocity train departing Richmond station for the city.

These days the entire VLocity fleet is in the PTV purple livery, the open air ramps at Richmond station are now roofed over, and Eureka Tower has been usurped by Australia 108 as the tallest building in Australia.

Down in Geelong I photographed a 6-car V/Line train approaching the brand new terminus station of Waurn Ponds.

Opened in October 2014, Waurn Ponds gained a second platform in 2022, and the 8 kilometers of track between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds has just been duplicated.

And a V/Line train in are more shocking condition was VLocity set VL12.

Involved in a collision on the Werribee line in August 2014 where a V/Line train passed a signal at stop and crashed into the rear of a Metro train, it had to be dragged to the workshops at Bendigo to be repaired.

The collision resulted in Metro trains rewriting the rules around passing a signal at stop, while VLocity VL12 reentered service in March 2015 as the only 2-car VLocity set to ever wear the PTV livery.

A load of rubbish

After the removal of rubbish bins from Melbourne stations due to the “increased terror alert level”, they all got dumped in a pile at Flinders Street Station.

And the average passenger responded as you might expect – like a filthy pig just leaving their rubbish on the ground.

The bins were eventually returned in March 2015, with the exception of the private management at Southern Cross Station, who still refuse to place any rubbish bins on their platforms.

A different kind of rubbish

It was the leadup to the 2014 State Election, and the Napthine Government was ramped up their ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfundedthe Melbourne Rail Link project.

Conceived as an alternative to the Metro Tunnel, the Melbourne Rail Link tunnel would have run between South Yarra and Southern Cross, serving new stations at Domain and Fishermans Bend – instead of Arden and Parkville, who would be stuck using buses and trams.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start, and a rail link to Fishermans Bend is as far away as ever.

And another piece of pork barrelling I photographed was this Denis Napthine’s $115 million dollar train on the Frankston line – or what the government called the ‘Bayside Rail Project’.

Announced in May 2013, the Bayside Rail Project was promoted as bringing the newest trains in Melbourne – the X’Trapolis – to the Frankston line.

However these trains accelerate faster than anything else in the Melbourne fleet, putting them at risk of beating the boom barriers at level crossings, but because of the upcoming election, it was decided in October 2014, to just run a single X’Trapolis train on the line each morning, but with a speed restrictor on the throttle and two drivers in the cab.

Following changes to level crossing timings on the line in August 2016, the restriction on X’Trapolis trains was removed, allowing any X’Trapolis set to run revenue services to Frankston, and more amazingly a decade later, the bulk of the level crossings on the Frankston line don’t even exist anymore.

And a third kind of rubbish

For decades this ancient advertisement for Medibank Private faced passengers at Melbourne Central platform 1.

But 2014 saw this billboard finally removed from the platform wall, replaced by the ‘Xtrack TV’ digital screens with their insipid loop of advertisements – with audio soundtrack.

And Medibank Private – it’s still just as useless as the rest of the Australian private health insurance system.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Regional Rail Link

Yep, I’m at it again, following the progress on the Regional Rail Link project.

At Footscray the widened railway cutting through Fordham Reserve had been partially reinstated.

Right up to abandoned Franco Cozzo showroom.

The backdrop is now filled with new apartment blocks, and the Franco Cozzo site has been turned into the Moon Dog brewery.

While down the line, trees marked the fenced off site of what used to be David Matthews Park.

That park has since been sold off for development.

Out in Albion brand new steel noise walls line the rail corridor parallel to Forrest Street.

A decade later they’re now hidden behind a row of gum trees.

A short distance away at Ardeer station a gravel platform welcomed passengers – along with a two hour wait for the next train, a mere 15 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD.

Thankfully the platforms have since been resurfaced with asphalt, and trains now stop every 20 minutes.

And finally – work had finally started at the future site of Caroline Springs station.

The station was eventually opened to passengers in January 2017.

Terrorism fears

In September 2014 Public Transport Victoria yanked the rubbish bins from Melbourne railway stations as a response to the “increased terror alert level”.

With the response from slovenly passengers being to just throw their rubbish on the ground instead.

The bins eventually returned in March 2015 as transparent plastic bags that resembled a scrotum, with the exception of Southern Cross Station – where they have never returned.

Penalty Fares scaremongering from PTV

August 2014 was the introduction of a new on-the-spot ‘Penalty Fares’ regime.

It allowed passengers caught travelling without a without a valid ticket to pay an on-the-spot penalty fare of $75 by credit card, instead of being issued with a $223 infringement notice that arrived in the mail a few weeks later.

As you might expect, fare evaders worked out it was cheaper to just pay the $75 penalty if you did get caught, and so the scheme was terminated in January 2017.

More Melbourne Airport Rail Link propaganda

With the lead up to the 2014 State Election, the Napthine Government ramped up their ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfunded ‘Melbourne Rail Link‘ project.

Covering Southern Cross Station with ‘From plane to train in 25 minutes’ propaganda.

On the big screen at Flinders Street Station.

Plastering propaganda stickers on the back of train seats.

On signs at railway stations.

And on billboards, like this one beside Ballarat Road in Albion.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, and work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start.

Level crossings that are gone

Level crossing removals in Melbourne were few and far between, so I didn’t think much about it when I photographed an X’Trapolis train departing Bayswater station on the Belgrave line.

Or this Comeng train departing Essendon station on the Craigieburn line.

But in 2017 the level crossings at Mountain Highway and Scoresby Road at Bayswater were replaced with rail under road bridges, and in 2018 the Buckley Street level crossing in Essendon was replaced by a road under rail bridge.

Before the West Gate ‘Tunnel’

Another project that didn’t exist a decade ago was the West Gate ‘Tunnel’.

Dynon Road through West Melbourne used to be two lanes in each direction.

With an empty paddock beside the railway bridge.

And you could see the sky above Footscray Road.

But now all three sites are covered by a tangle of freeway overpasses forming what is supposedly a ‘tunnel’, unsolicited proposal conceived by Transurban as a way to increase profits to their shareholders.

V/Line around the place

Just another view of Southern Cross Station, with work on the 699 Bourke Street development underway.

Since then the original purple and green VLocity livery is no more, and only a single Sprinter railcar is left in the red and yellow ‘cheeseburger’ livery.

Locomotive hauled carriages were also still being shunted out on peak hour runs.

The last of the H sets was withdrawn in February 2024, with the N sets soon to follow.

The one thing I did expect to see go was A66 leading a Shepparton service through Moonee Ponds.

The fleet of A class locomotives are now with railway heritage groups, and the Shepparton service has been exclusively VLocity trains since 2022.

Ding ding on the trams

The brand new E class trams entered service in November 2013, and were now starting to dominate route 96 services.

The older D2 class trams being demoted to route 19 services, including one plastered in ‘E class trams on route 96’ advertising.

The tram allocations are the same today, despite the low floor trams lacking any platform stops on Sydney Road.

Melbourne’s prototype high floor light rail vehicles from 1985 were also still in service.

Both were withdrawn a few years later, and eventually scrapped.

Speaking of platform stops, the only recently constructed tram stops in the Bourke Street Mall were closed, so they could rebuilt to a revised platform height.

The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant was still trundling around the streets of Melbourne.

The service last ran in October 2018, when Yarra Trams banned the fleet of the network citing safety concerns.

Another W class tram had been turned into the ‘Tram Bar‘ at the Arts Centre.

Opened in 2011, the tram came and went with the seasons, until permanently closed in January 2015.

And finally, what was then an unremarkable photo of trams at Domain Interchange on St Kilda Road.

Rebuilt in 2013 at great expense to modern accessible standards, in 2018 the interchange was closed to make way for the construction of Anzac station, with route 58 trams being diverted onto a new alignment via Toorak Road, pending the completion of a replacement tram stop in December 2022.

And forgotten bus companies

I didn’t realise it at the time, but a decade ago I photographed a long list of bus companies that no longer exist.

Sita Bus Lines used to use plain white buses on the route 400 service to Melbourne’s prisons.

They were bought by Transit Systems in 2019, but their clapped out poo brown and orange buses can still be seen the western suburbs.

East West Bus Company once ran bus sources in the northern suburbs, as a joint venture between Dysons Group and Reservoir Bus Company.

The joint venture was taken over by Dysons in February 2014, with the East West brand phased out in 2019.

Tullamarine Bus Lines once ran bus routes around Moonee Ponds and Airport West.

They were acquired by ComfortDelGro Corporation in 2018, and merged into the operations of CDC Melbourne.

Moonee Valley Coaches was another bus operator in the inner north.

They were acquired by Dyson Group in 2024.

Kastoria Bus Lines is another smaller operator in the north-western suburbs.

They lost out in the recent Metropolitan Zero Emission Bus Franchise process, and will be taken over by CDC Melbourne from 2025.

I also found a Melbourne Visitor Shuttle bus on St Kilda Road.

Funded by the City of Melbourne, the service was discontinued in 2017 after competition from the Free Tram Zone.

And City Sightseeing Melbourne once ran a hop-on hop-off tourist service with open-top double decker buses.

They suspended operations in March 2020 thanks to Covid-19, and are yet to restart operations.

And a final word

Remember Melbourne Bike Share, with bikes that needed to be pedaled, and docks to return them to?

The service was withdrawn in 2019.

And what about yellow taxis?

A common sight since introduced by Jeff Kennett in the 1990s, the requirement was dropped in 2013 as part of the legalisation of Uber and other so called “ridewhare” services.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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In the beginning

The story starts back in December 2005, with the introduction of the VLocity trains to the V/Line fleet. Each set consisted of two carriages seating a total of 140 passengers, with a drivers cab at each end. For the peak hour express trains on the Geelong line, they would coupled together three units to make a six car train.

We then saw a politically motivated 20% cut in V/Line fares in 2007, resulting in an explosion in patronage, especially on the Geelong line.

One response to this was the ordering of additional trains for V/Line, who saw their first three-car long VLocity set enter service in August 2008.

But with patronage still growing and suburban and V/Line trains sharing the tracks out of Melbourne, running more services on the Geelong line wasn’t an option. But V/Line had another solution – 7-car long VLocity train, made up of two 2-car sets with a 3-car set.

These trains were introduced to the Geelong line in November 2008 and ran until June 2015, when Geelong trains commenced using the new Regional Rail Link tracks, and the last of the 2-car VLocity trains had been extended to be three cars along.

So what next?

As early as 2011 V/Line knew longer trains would be required – their ‘Initial Strategic Operations Plan’, obtained by the Greens under the Freedom of Information Act, says the following:

V/Line anticipates that by this point in time (2018) a high capacity style DMU will be required for Geelong services. It is expected that these trains would operate in 8- or 9-car consists and would each be able to carry 750 – 800 customers. It is expected that the eight peak hour services would be operated with the high capacity DMUs.

And the Regional Rail Link project also included provision for these longer trains – providing 250 metre long platforms at Footscray, Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations to cater for a hypothetical nine car long train, made up of three 3-car sets.

But for some unknown reason, they decided only only build a 190 metre long platform at Sunshine, despite plenty of space at the city end for a 250 metre long one.

But in 2016 the State Government’s focus switched to a ‘high capacity next generation regional train’ – from the PTV website:

High capacity next generation regional trains

The 2016-17 State Budget includes $10 million in development funding for High-Capacity Next Generation Regional Rolling Stock to cater for the future needs of regional Victoria.

A next generation high capacity regional train will be commissioned in the coming years to cater for strong patronage growth and provide new peak services.

With V/Line saying in 2017 that nine car trains are possible, but won’t be happening any time soon – from the Geelong Advertiser.

Nine-carriage V/Line trains possible, but no plans for Geelong line yet
23 October 2017

The boss of the regional rail network has admitted for the first time nine-carriage trains on the Geelong line are a possibility.

Potential for a mega-train carrying more than 660 passengers comes after calls from commuters and rail experts to reduce peak-time overcrowding on the line.

But while James Pinder said a nine-carriage train was possible, he said it was not a current priority.

Mr Pinder said V/Line’s priority was bolstering its fleet from three to six-carriage trains.

“The (VLocity) train is capable of running in a nine-car configuration. (To run nine-carriage trains) it becomes an issue around infrastructure and number of vehicles (available),” he said.

“We don’t currently have any plans to run nine-car ser­vices. To run large numbers of nine-car services we would have to have a look at (increasing) platform lengths.”

On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Public Transport Minister did not say if the Government was considering introducing nine-carriage trains on the regional network.

The Geelong Advertiser under­stands platforms at Geelong station are long enough for nine-carriage trains — which could open the possibility for Geelong to Melbourne express trains.

Platforms at other smaller stations on the line would need to be extended for a stopping-all-stations Waurn Ponds to Southern Cross train.

Mr Pinder said nine-­carriage trains did not run across the V/Line network at present.

And they finally happen

On Sunday 21 June 2020 V/Line ran their first nine car VLocity train on the mainline, taking it from Southern Cross Station to Wyndham Vale and back to test their operation, as well as platform clearances.

Sunshine station being the sticking point.

The last one and 1/2 carriages fouling the junction when the front was stopped at the city end of platform 3.

Or sticking out in front after the rear of the train was brought onto the platform.

These tests were then followed in July 2021 by more testing, this time between Ballarat and Lal Lal, which doesn’t see any V/Line passenger services run along it.

ThebusofdoomFSX video

But it took another year for the first nine car train to take passengers – following the 30 May 2022 timetable change.

Passengers in Melbourne’s west now have more space on selected peak services with 9-car VLocity trains running to and from Wyndham Vale Station for the first time.

The longer trains, which have the highest-capacity of any regional commuter train in Victoria, will boost capacity by 50% cent on the busiest part on the V/Line network.

The new 9-car services will run each weekday, with 1 in the morning peak starting at Wyndham Vale and 2 in the evening peak departing from Southern Cross.

As well as improving capacity, the 9-car trains also provide more doors for boarding, reducing crowding in corridors particularly in peak periods.

Platforms will also be extended at Sunshine Station to allow nine-car VLocity trains to stop there in the future.

But due to the short platforms, these nine car services had to run express through Sunshine, as well as Deer Park.

Extending the platforms at Sunshine

With level crossing removal works at Deer Park station regularly closing the Geelong and Ballarat lines, V/Line took the opportunity to finally extend the platforms at Sunshine. In March 2023 the piled foundations were installed.

The real work kicking off in April, with assembly of the steel platform supports.

And pouring of the concrete deck.

They then left the completed section of platform fenced off for a month.

The nine car trains still having to skip the stop.

Until May, when they decided to take down the fence between new and old.

And the introduction of a new timetable from 28 May 2023 adding a stop at Sunshine to the nine car Wyndham Vale services.

However in recent months I haven’t seen a nine car train run – possibly due to a shortage of VLocity railcars following the retirement of the H set locomotive hauled carriage fleet.

And so they choose to cut down a nine car train to six cars, than a six car train to three.

And now to Melton?

In May 2021 the State Government announced that funding would be provided to allow nine car VLocity trains to run to Melton, a promise repeated in October 2022.

And reiterated yet again in March 2024.

The Melton level crossing removal works will help introduce larger nine-car VLocity trains as part of the $650 million Melton Line Upgrade, increasing capacity for passengers by 50 per cent and creating 1,000 jobs during construction – while making roads safer and less congested for pedestrians.

To support the introduction of nine car trains, a new train stabling facility is being investigated at Cobblebank where trains could be stored when they are not operating, further supporting local jobs in construction and ongoing maintenance.

But look at what else was happening at the same time – a brand new station at Deer Park was opened in April 2023, with platforms only 215 metres long – half a carriage (10 metres) too short!

That flew under the radar until August 2024, when the State Opposition gave a media drop to the Herald Sun, and then it was all over the news.

Footnote: it’s not just platform length

The new platform extensions at Sunshine also happen to be ~100mm higher than the existing platforms.

This happens to be a new platform height standard, which was also used at Deer Park station – and happens to be incompatible with the outward swinging plug doors fitted to V/Line’s Sprinter railcars.

And so those trains are banned from stopping at the new platforms.

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The story starts

Opposition transport spokesman and part time gunzel Matthew Guy kicked off the topic with a video posted to Instagram, detailing how the newly built platforms at Deer Park station were 10 metres short of a nine car VLocity train.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matthew Guy (@matthewguymp)

Liberal Party HQ also sending a media drop over to the Herald Sun, who published it on Sunday 18 August.

As well as a comment from the opposition transport spokesman who tipped the newspaper off to the topic.

To add to the confusion and frustration, a Freedom of In-formation request by the opposition seeking documents on the nine-car train plan was refused due to the fact it was an “unfunded future project”. The nine-carriage trains, which come in sets of three carriages, are 225m long, and Sunshine station was recently upgraded from 190m to 225m to allow them to stop there. But Deer Park station, re-built during the $234m Mt Derrimut level crossing removal, is only 215m.

Look at who else got a mention.

The oversight was spotted on rail documents by self-described “train nut” Marcus Wong, who described it on his transport blog as a “comedy of errors”.

The blog post in question being my piece “First day at the new Deer Park station” from May 2023.

Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight also drew the short platform in cartoon form for Tuesday 20 August edition.

On the ground at Deer Park

The new platforms at Deer Park are longer than a 6-car VLocity train, with plenty of empty platform beyond the back of the train.

But it turns out they aren’t actually long enough for the 9-car trains currently used on services to Wyndham Vale to stop at.

The new platforms are only 215 metres long – half a carriage (10 metres) too short!

So why can’t they be longer?

The western end of Deer Park station is located hard up against a brand new townhouse development.

The townhouses almost touching the retaining wall that supports the tracks.

So there is no room for the platforms to be any longer at that end.

But what about the city end?

Here the platforms end right where the reinforced earth embankment that the station is built atop also end.

The tracks transitioning to the precast concrete u-trough viaduct.

So why didn’t they make the viaduct a little bit shorter, so that the platform could be made a little big longer?

Personally I don’t know – possibly if they made the viaduct one span shorter, the bus interchange wouldn’t be long enough for the “one stop per bus route, no matter how infrequently it runs” rule PTV follows.

Or the longer station would have taken up space for car parking down at ground level, and “no net loss of car parking” is the one rule that level crossing removals always follow.

Footnote: the other Deer Park platform problem

The new platform at Deer Park was also built to a new platform height standard, which isn’t compatible with V/Line’s Sprinter trains.

OPERATING RESTRICTION – DEER PARK STATION
SPRINTER RAILCARS

Upon advice from V/Line Network Engineering, Sprinter Railcars will NOT be permitted to stop at Deer Park Station at KP 17.943.

Any Sprinter Railcars travelling towards/from Wyndham Vale and Geelong or Melton and Bacchus Marsh will be required to run express through Deer Park Station.

The Operating Restriction will apply until further advised due to clearance issues between the Sprinter Railcar and the new Platform when the doors are in the Open position.

You can read about that saga here.

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Regional Rail Link

The Regional Rail Link project was now approaching the finishing line, with a ‘consolidation train’ running back and forth over the newly laid tracks to bed them down before the commencement of revenue services.

The new platforms dedicated to V/Line services at Footscray were also open.

As restoration works continued on the station buildings.

The new platforms were also ready for 9-car long trains, the first of which didn’t run until 2022.

The new dual gauge tracks across the North Melbourne flyover also opened for trains, but not successfully – the Sydney-bound XPT derailed on the first attempt to leave Melbourne!

The cause of the derailment – the new tracks were incompatible with the wheel flange profile used on New South Wales trains.

And elsewhere on the rail network

The original blue/green and purple VLocity train liveries still dominated the view at Southern Cross Station.

Work had started on the 664 Collins Street development atop the south end of Southern Cross Station.

The escalators at North Melbourne station where entering a steep decline into unreliability.

Myki gates at stations were also failing regularly.

And Metro Trains – they were using the next train displays at Richmond station to promote the Channel 7 TV show ‘House Rules’.

Views that are gone

This view of a V/Line diesel headed over to the South Dynon locomotive depot was an unremarkable sight at the time, but today is hidden beneath the tangle of flyovers for the West Gate Tunnel at Dynon Road.

As were these trains at the Wagon Storage Yard at North Melbourne – now taken over by the Wurundjeri Way extension.

At Footscray station there was only a single small apartment tower to be seen – not the dozens found there today.

And you’d be hard pressed to guess that this scene is now the site of the Metro Tunnel portal at South Yarra – this private garage and car park was cantilevered over the railway cutting on Arthur Street.

And these trees cover Siding Reserve, which has been completely rebuilt to make way for the new railway tracks passing beneath.

Trams

A decade ago route 78 passengers were still having to put up with clunky old W class trams trundling down Chapel Street.

As did route 30 passengers on La Trobe Streets – the old clunkers finally being sent off into retirement in December 2014.

Meanwhile on William Street was a sign of the future – a brand new E class trams headed through on test. However it took until December 2021 for these trams to carry passengers on route 58.

Buses

The transition from National Bus to Transdev Melbourne started back in August 2013, but buses in the old liveries could still be seen on Hoddle Street.

And the Melbourne Visitor Shuttle bus was still kicking around, before it was discontinued in 2017.

Some loose ends

The big stadium in Docklands was still called ‘Etihad Stadium’.

Beside the Monash Freeway at Church Street in Cremorne, I found this small part under construction, on what was once a freeway off-ramp.

And a random photo I took of the Geelong skyline – the Kardinia Park light towers in place, but not the massive new grandstands.

And the view of Saint Mary of the Angels Basilica still dominated the skyline, with the office and apartment towers still to come.

And an Melbourne Airport Rail note

At Footscray station I found a giant banner linked to the Napthine Government’s ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfunded ‘Melbourne Rail Link‘ project.

With a promise of trains running every 10 minutes to Melbourne Airport.

Conceived as an alternative to the Metro Tunnel, the Melbourne Rail Link tunnel would have run between South Yarra and Southern Cross, serving new stations at Domain and Fishermans Bend – instead of Arden and Parkville, who would be stuck using buses and trams.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start, and a rail link to Fishermans Bend is as far away as ever.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Regional Rail Link

These has been an ongoing theme for many months now, but ten years ago Regional Rail Link was nearing the finishing line – the finishing touches were being applied to the new platforms at Footscray.

And the site offices were being cleared away.

The road under rail grade separation on the Sunbury line at Anderson Road was open to traffic.

Noise walls were going up beside the existing railway line around Ardeer.

And the new railway through Wyndham Vale.

Wyndham Vale station looked ready for trains.

But the street entrance was boarded up – the first train was still a year away.

V/Line trains still sharing the suburban tracks into North Melbourne station.

But Ballarat trains were snaking across the new tracks to use the new country platforms at Sunshine station.

Flinders Street Station

Metro Trains Melbourne was more interested in making money at Flinders Street Station than running trains.

Leasing the site of the long abandoned platform 11 for the construction of a bar.

With views of the Yarra River.

The station also gained a massive video wall on the concourse, screening an endless loop of advertisements.

They didn’t stop until 25 November 2022, where an activist covered it with paint, shutting it down until June 2023 when a replacement screen was installed.

Southern Cross Station

V/Line’s fleet of A class diesel locomotives were still in frontline service a decade ago.

While the western end of Southern Cross Station was a much brighter place.

But not for long – work on the 699 Bourke Street development atop the station was underway.

The work supposedly the reason for the failed lighting above the platforms, which has never been fixed.

New signalling

The Kensington Racecourse Essendon Signaling Project (KRESP) was wrapped up on the Craigieburn line.

The old signalling equipment placed trackside waiting collection.

The project enabled the retirement of the 1885 signal box at Flemington Racecourse, 1918 signal frame at Kensington, and 1969 signal panel at Essendon.

Trams

The last of the Z1 class trams were still in revenue service, but apprantly not too reliable – this one was being followed by mechanics onboard tram recovery truck ‘R10’.

And motorists were having trouble figuring out the bike lanes on Swanston Street – like this wanker driving a BMW through the tram stop at A’beckett Street.

While at the nearby State Library tram stop was the aftermath of an even less competent driver.

And new liveries

June 2014 was the first V/Line train painted into the new PTV ‘shard’ livery – VLocity railcar 3VL40.

The shiny new colors a contrast to the faded livery the rest of the VLocity fleet was then wearing.

The move to PTV colors had also started on Melbourne’s bus fleet, with Westrans moving away from their corporate livery, before their eventual rebranding as part of CDC Melbourne.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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You have Metro Trains Melbourne in blue.

Yarra Trams in green.

V/Line in purple.

And buses in orange.

I cheated on the last one because it’s a van, and it’s operated by outdoor advertising company oOh!Media, who have the contract to maintain the network of around 5,000 bus shelters across Melbourne.

And a few more

Melbourne bus operators also have their own vans so mechanics can attend to broken down buses in the field.

Some of the ones I’ve spotted over the years include Transdev.

Kinetic.

Dysons.

And Sita.

Bus operators in Sydney and Adelaide also have own dedicated tow trucks for recovering broken down buses.

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The story starts

V/Line now has 115 and counting VLocity trains in service.

And with locomotive hauled trains on the way out, their diesel-electric locomotives ended up stored at Geelong.

And so in August 2023 V/Line invited expressions of interest to repurpose them on freight services.

V/Line is seeking proposals from organisations capable of repurposing its passenger locomotives for broad gauge freight in accordance with V/Line approved application(s).

V/Line is progressively retiring its fleet of ‘classic’ passenger locomotives as new V/Locity trains are introduced, creating an opportunity to reinvigorate competition in, and grow Broad Gauge (BG) rail freight in Victoria.

V/Line is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from ONRSR (Office of National Rail Safety Regulator) accredited private sector organisations or consortia, to invest in locomotive upgrades to V/Line’s specification and maintenance requirements and operate them on the BG freight network.

The EOI proposals will encompass V/Lines classic passenger locomotive fleet, as they are progressively decommissioned, as they become available to be repurposed locomotive fleet for the BG Network.

A handful of of locomotives to start with, and more to come.

New VLocity trains are being introduced across the network, therefore V/Line is progressively retiring its fleet of ‘classic’ passenger locomotives. This fleet provides an opportunity to encourage competition and grow BG rail freight in Victoria.

To repurpose these locomotives, V/Line is running this public Invitation process for the N and P Class locomotives.

Following this, V/Line then expects to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to selected parties from the EOI Process.

The expectation is that the N and P Class locomotives will remain in V/Line ownership but will be made available for the freight network under a long-term lease arrangement.

While subject to change, the fleet surplus to requirements for this EOI Invitation is projected to be:
• 19 x N Class
• 3 x P Class

Of these, seven locomotives are available for repurposing now: four N Class and three P Class.

The next tranche of N Class locomotives will be released once replacement V/Locity trains are in service.

The total number of N Class made available through the program, and the timescales, are yet to be confirmed and will be subject to change.

With a hope to encourage more freight on rail in Victoria.

The objectives of the locomotive repurposing program are to:
• Increase the capacity and performance of the broad gauge freight system
• Prioritise proposals that support broad gauge freight growth, meet upgrade specifications, and offer co-investment on the freight system such as in wagons and terminals
• Support broader government policy on rail freight, health and road safety, and legislative requirements obligations under legislation such as the 2017 Climate Change Act and the 2010 Transport Integration Act.
• Maximise the return to the State through public tender processes that invite proposals from parties able to contribute to growing rail freight’s mode share

V/Line is looking for robust and innovative proposals that support these program objectives and demonstrate a collaborative approach to work with V/Line to improve BG rail freight in Victoria.
Key to this is to demonstrate value for money to the State. V/Line expects the EOIs to demonstrate this value, including by:
• direct investment in the locomotives (overhauls, upgrades, maintenance)
• investment in the BG freight network, such as in new/upgraded wagons and new/expanded freight rail terminals
• indicative lease payments to V/Line for locomotives
• indirect benefits including “externalities” such as reduced road damage and congestion, improved road safety and reduced carbon emissions.

Respondents are encouraged to prioritise investments in longer term assets, rather than just the lease payments for the locomotives.

And work around the ‘break of gauge‘ Victorian rail freight is limited by.

V/Line is currently investing $181 million on upgrades to the rail freight network. Complementary investment in the locomotive and wagon fleet is also being actively encouraged to maximise the benefits of these upgrades.

Surplus V/Line passenger locomotives are currently being repurposed and will be offered to rail operators for use on the BG freight network. The aim is to increase capacity and competition.

The Victorian BG freight system operates using a rolling stock fleet that is aging and, in some cases, not necessarily aligned to current and expected future requirements. The average age of the privately-owned BG freight locomotives in Victoria is 41 years, and most wagons in use are 30-50 years old.

SG rolling stock can operate on other networks interstate, therefore locomotives and rolling stock are more readily available and the market is more competitive.

In contrast, due to the relatively higher cost of meeting the gauge and axle load requirements, investment in growing the BG locomotive fleet has been historically restricted.

V/Line hopes that its commitment to, and investment in, the rail freight sector will generate commitment from freight operators towards growing their Victorian BG rail freight operations.

And it begins

In March 2024 four N class locomotives departed South Dynon for a new life on freight with the successful bidder – Southern Shorthaul Railroad.

N467 transferring classmates N463, N466, N455 and N464 along the goods lines under Footscray.

To Tottenham Yard, where the locomotives were handed over to Southern Shorthaul Railroad.

The V/Line and PTV branding was quickly stripped from the locomotives.

And on the evening of 16 March 2024 they led their first freight train, with N463 leading B80, S311 and N455 out of Melbourne on a grain train towards northern Victoria.

Allowing aging diesel locomotives from the 1950s to head into the workshops for a well overdue overhaul.

Footnote on the P class locomotives

Back in 2017 V/Line’s also retired a number of smaller P class locomotives.

Five were sold outright to Southern Shorthaul Railroad in April 2019, and pressed into service delivering newly completed High Capacity Metro Trains.

Transporting X’Trapolis trains to Ballarat for overhaul.

And Comeng trains to the scrapyard.

They have also been used on infrastructure inspection trains.

To transport rails, ballast and sleepers to work sites.

And to fill in for the bigger B and S class diesels on grain trains.

Initially they ran around in a stripped V/Line livery, but were eventually repainted in SSR yellow and black in 2022.

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