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.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Photos from ten years ago: December 2014 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Trains

We start the month with an ongoing project – Regional Rail Link. Work was underway to make room for a third pair of tracks through Footscray.

And the rebuilt station was starting to take shape.

Meanwhile at Southern Cross Station was another project – constructing the 699 Bourke Street office tower on top, a design feature proposed a decade earlier.

A hole was cut in the deck above platforms 13 and 14.

And a steel tub installed in it – possibly the base for lift shafts and escalators.

Was this the work that damaged the lights above platforms 13 and 14, leaving them in darkness? It’s quite possible.

New trams

Monday 4 November 2013 saw the first of the E class trams enter service – the first Melbourne-built trams for 20 years.

Trams E.6001 and E.6002 entered service on route 96 through the city.

Supplementing the bright yellow ‘Bumblebee’ trams.

Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is held on the first Tuesday of November, and the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant used to run a special breakfast tram out to Flemington Racecourse to start the day.

But in the afternoon the most convenient tram stop to leave the racecourse was closed to create an extra lane for cars.

Trams instead shunting through the third track on Union Road back at the Showgrounds.

Or crowding onboard high-floor Z3 class trams on route 57.

Slow progress

Work on the new platform stop at Collins and Elizabeth Streets was still progressing in November, months after the tracks were first relaid.

The yet to be commissioned stops confusing passengers.

A disappearing act

The Franklin Street tram stop on Elizabeth Street – now you see it.

And now you don’t.

In theory the stop was removed to speed the passage of trams through the CBD, but the reality is different – trams have to stop at both the new tram stops, and the traffic lights beside the removed tram stops.

Traffic light priority for Melbourne trams is still a dream!

And another something different

November 2013 also saw me fly off to China, visiting the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Xi’an and riding high speed trains between them.

Followed by two weeks in Hong Kong.

Along with a short transit through Changi Airport in Singapore.

And a Myki related footnote

I tried my Myki card on the Yikatong card reader in Beijing, and the ‘invalid card’ message appeared quicker than anything the 1st generation Myki readers would give you.

Footnote

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

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Photos from ten years ago: November 2013 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Regional Rail Link

Work on Regional Rail Link was well underway, with the new flyover outside Fotscray taking shape to carry the new tracks over the Werribee line.

And the cutting closer to Footscray was being widened for the extra tracks.

The new suburban platforms were also taking shape at Footscray station.

And the existing footbridge was being extended north over the future tracks.

The bridge over the low level goods lines was also being widened.

With the rail alignment outside Sunshine also ready for the extra tracks.

While at the stalled Caroline Springs station site, work had restarted – but it was only a road deviation due to RRL related road closures.

The final stage of Regional Rail Link opened in June 2016, but Caroline Springs station had to wait – it finally opened to passengers in January 2017.

And off to Ballarat

I went on a trip to Ballarat onboard a 80 year old diesel railcar.

Along the way we had to give way to some far more modern trains.

Before our arrival into Ballarat.

But there is one thing that hasn’t changed in 80 years – the diesel exhaust belching into the air at Southern Cross Station.

Protective Services Officers

Melbourne’s first group of Protective Services Officers were deployed in February 2012 to Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations, with the roll out ramping up soon after.

The limiting factor on their deployment – providing a prison cell at every railway station.

Ding ding!

A decade ago there were no accessible tram stops or low floor trams running along Elizabeth Street in the Melbourne CBD.

But there was some progress being made – the tram tracks along Elizabeth Street were being relaid.

And Yarra Trams was using their new ‘kletterweichen’ (‘climbing turnout’) to allow trams to terminate short of the works, rather than forcing passengers to walk from the nearest permanent crossover.

However the new crossover still had some teething issues, as the first tram to pass over it derailed!

Yarra Trams having to send their heavy recovery vehicle to the site, to pull the tram back onto the rails.

Meanwhile over on Swanston Street, dimwitted motorists were getting confused by the new platform stops – driving through the bike lanes.

While out at Ascot Vale motorists were inflicting more damage, this driver having impaled their ute on five metres of safety zone fence.

So what was the solution that Yarra Trams has been applying across the network?

Closing tram stops.

“A recent review by Yarra Trams and Public Transport Victoria of the environment and layout at these stops has identified an increased safety risk to passengers and pedestrians. A number of improvement strategies have been trialled with minimal success”

And on the tram stops that remain – hiding network maps behind advertising slogans.

Buses

A decade ago City Sightseeing Melbourne was running a hop-on hop-off bus services around Melbourne using a fleet of open top double deck buses.

The service was a victim of the Covid-19 pandemic, and is yet to restart operations

Another competing tourist service was the Melbourne Free Visitor Shuttle.

It was discontinued in 2017 after years of declining patronage.

Meanwhile out in Footscray, I found a colourful arrangement of Westrans, Sita and Melbourne Bus Link buses running route services.

Today they’re operated by CDC Melbourne, Transit Systems Victoria and Kinetic Melbourne, and the orange PTV livery has replaced that of the private operators.

Myki

Myki had taken over as the only ticketing system in Melbourne, with Metcard ticket machines pulled out of trams, and replaced by an extra seat.

But the reliability of the new system was somewhat lacking – I found this stack trace for ‘log4net‘ displayed on this Myki reader.

And the rest

Remember Melbourne Bike Share?

It ceased operations in November 2019.

Meanwhile over at 447 Collins Street, work was underway to reinforce the failing facade.

The marble facade panels being removed from the lower floors to avoid any further pieces falling to earth.

But it was only a temporary fix – the entire tower was demolished in 2015, with the ‘pantscraper’ known as ‘Collins Arch‘ completed on the site in 2020.

Footnote

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

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Photos from ten years ago: May 2013 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Farewell to Metcard

The Metcard ticketing system in Melbourne was switched off on 29 December 2012.

Myki having taken over.

But the machines still advertised descoped features, like short term tickets.

And printed out credit card receipts that included the full name of the card holder, nine digits of their credit card and the card’s expiry date.

January 2013 saw that vulnerability fixed, but the “print a receipt even if I don’t want one” bug wasn’t addressed until June 2019.

Trams go ding ding

A decade ago passengers at the Toorak Road terminus of route 58 had to play frogger between four lanes of traffic.

It took until 2015 for VicRoads to cave in and allow Yarra Trams to build a safer tram stop, at a cost of $3.8 million.

Meanwhile at Domain Interchange intending tram passengers just had a few shelters in the middle of St Kilda Road.

It was replaced in 2013 by a four track, four platform tram stop, which was itself demolished in 2018 to make way for the new Anzac station as part of the Metro Tunnel project.

Trams heading along Queens Bridge also used to get stuck behind queued cars.

This was eventually fixed in 2015, when the shared bus and tram lane along Queensbridge Street was extended the short distance over the bridge to Flinders Street.

Route 75 trams used to travel from Flinders Street along Spencer Street to the Remand Centre.

A few months later the southbound tram stop at Spencer and Bourke Street was closed due to a “increased safety risk to passengers and pedestrians“, and in 2014 the city terminus for route 75 was moved to Docklands.

W class trams on the free City Circle service used to be painted maroon, to distinguish them from the green W class trams used on regular tram services.

A distinction no longer needed – W class trams were withdrawn from route 30 and 78 in December 2014, and the introduction of the Free Tram Zone in 2015 meant every trams in the CBD was free. The remaining W class trams are now painted green, following the W8 class tram modernisation project.

On my lunch break I often saw the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant making it’s way around the Melbourne CBD.

But they no longer run – withdrawn by Yarra Trams in 2018 due to concerns they didn’t meet modern crash safety standards.

But the one thing that hasn’t changed – trams covered with advertising for the Australian Open.

The 2023 iteration of this tradition is already on the tracks.

Old clunkers on the bus network

A decade ago high floor buses still popped up on bus routes across Melbourne.

Thankfully that is a thing of the past, but on the tram network not so much – we have squandered multiple opportunities to acquire low floor trams, with the 2032 deadline for an accessible network unlikely to be achieved.

Closed for the weekend?

Closing a railway station on the weekend sounds stupid, but we used to do that at Flagstaff station.

A situation not fixed until 2015.

Reworking Footscray for Regional Rail Link

2013 saw work on Regional Rail Link kick off at Footscray station.

Land cleared ready for the extra two platforms to be built at the station.

But they were also demolishing a footbridge only completed two year earlier.

Thanks to the bridge being too short to span the additional tracks.

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Trucks versus low bridges

In January 2013 an over height truck took out the tramway overhead at the intersection of King and Collins Street, stranding trams throughout the Melbourne CBD.

Mechanics having to push trams by hand.

So they could get their recovery truck into position, and push the trams to a section of track still with power.

The Craigieburn line couldn’t get a break either, with a truck striking the low bridge on Racecourse Road at Newmarket station, and cooking itself on the live tramway overhead.

Some things never change.

Footnote – something a little different

January 2013 was also the tail end of my month long rail trip across Europe.

Where I travelled 8,898 kilometres six countries, ten cities, three rail gauges and 15 rail operators.

Along the way I also transited via Qatar.

And missed my connection back to Australia, giving me an unplanned 24 hour stopover in Doha.

The end result – my spin off blog Euro Gunzel – An Australian railfan in Europe.

Footnote

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

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Photos from ten years ago: January 2013 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Stop 31 Queens Way, Windsor

Stop 31 on route 5 and 64 is located in the middle of Queens Way.

The tram stop consisting of two narrow strips of concrete linked by a pedestrian crossing.

And the only connection to the rest of the world being a single flight of stairs to the Upton Road overpass.

The tram stop opened in 1969 as part of the St Kilda Junction project, which saw 2 kilometres of tram track along Wellington Street relocated to the current grade separated alignment at a cost of $458,000.

Stop 33 Hornby Street/Dandenong Road, Windsor

Only a short distance away on route 5 and 64 is another tram stop only accessed via steps.

Again the tram stop is just two narrow concrete strips, linked by a pedestrian crossing.

A pedestrian bridge crosses the eight lanes of Dandenong Road, with two flights of steps connecting it to the tram stop.

Agitation for a safe crossing location of Dandenong Road between Hornby and Westbury streets commenced in the 1970s, with local member D. G. Elliot raising the issue in parliament in 1973.

The current three span, 59 metres long by 1.8 metres wide prestressed and reinforced concrete beam bridge was completed in 1976 by the Country Roads Board as part of the ‘grade-separated crossings to serve schools’ program.

Stop 63 Deakin University/Burwood Highway, Burwood

The outer end of the route 75 runs in the middle of Burwood Highway, and outside the Deakin University campus in Burwood is an inaccessible platform tram stop.

A pedestrian crossing links the citybound and outbound platform stops.

But the only way out is via the pedestrian underpass.

Accessed via a single narrow flight of steps.

Leading to a thankfully well lit underpass.

The northern end entering the Deakin University campus.

And the southern end disappearing into a small park.

The pedestrian underpass opened in 1978 as part of the East Burwood tramway extension from Warrigal Road to Middleborough Road, the remainder of the tram stops having been provided with a pedestrian crossing for access.

By 2005 the underpass was described as dirty and poorly-lit.

Whitehorse Leader
Move for safe crossing
20/04/2005
Jan Harkin

Students are dangerously dodging Burwood Highway traffic to avoid a dirty, poorly-lit underpass near a tram stop outside Deakin University, Burwood state Labor MP Bob Stensholt says.

“If you stand there at four o’clock and watch the students, they come across the road like Brown’s cows,” Mr Stensholt said.

Mr Stensholt said the long-term plan was for a superstop with an enhanced pedestrian crossing and lights although that would not happen before 2007.

But a meeting of university, VicRoads and Yarra Trams representatives has come up with short-term measures to improve pedestrian safety.

Yarra Trams will upgrade the stop with extra safety rails and VicRoads will tackle the underpass.

“They are going to extend the railings as a temporary measure and put some signage on to tell people to be careful and hopefully put in more lighting,” Mr Stensholt said.

But in the years since a ‘enhanced pedestrian crossing’ has never happened – but the current pair of ‘accessible’ platforms were provided in May 2007.

Grade separated – but thankfully accessible

On route 70 there are three grade separated tram stops serving the spots precinct, but thankfully all are accessible.

Stop 7A William Barak Bridge/Melbourne Park has steps and a lift.

Stop 7B Rod Laver Arena/MCG Gates 1-3 has a loooong ramp to each platform.

And stop 7C 7C-MCG Gates 4-7/John Cain Arena has stairs and lifts.

All three tram stops opened in 1999 as part of the rerouting of route 70 trams onto a new reserved track to the Exhibition Street extension, freeing up the previous route via Swan Street and Batman Avenue to make way for the Federation Square project.

And since removed

Stop 14 on St Kilda Road at the Arts Centre once had a set of stairs connecting it to the City Road underpass – opened in 1971 it was replaced by the current ground level tram stop in 2008.

Footnote: close, but not quite on route 59

Route 59 has a number of tram stops beside the Tullamarine Freeway.

A footbridge crosses the freeway at each tram stop.

But the tram stops themselves are not connected – access is via a pedestrian crossing.

St Kilda Junction

The St Kilda Junction tram stop is surrounded by cars.

Served by a maze of pedestrian underpasses.

Running beneath the surrounding roads.

But thankfully there are no steps – just steep ramps.

And there is one ground level access route – this dark footpath between overgrown trees.

Leading to a pedestrian crossing at the Punt Road / St Kilda Road traffic lights.

Google Street View

And two aborted proposals

Early plans for the Metro Tunnel featured direct access between trams and trains on Royal Parade at Parkville station.

As well as the Domain Interchange tram stop on St Kilda Road as Domain station.

But direct tram stop access at Parkville station has been dropped from the current plans.

But thankfully at the renamed Anzac station, plans show the main station entrance is connected to the tram stop.

With a total of three station entrances – one either side of St Kilda Road, and a third between the tram tracks, with a large atrium looking down on the station concourse below.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Melbourne’s triply inaccessible tram stops appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Pedestrian crossings at major intersections have been widened.

But a few days later, half of the new crossing at the corner of William and Little Lonsdale Steet was fenced off.

As was half of the pedestrian crossing at the corner of William and Little Bourke Street.

So what gives?

Meanwhile on the other side of Melbourne

Back in September 2018 a new platform stop was installed on route 96 at Nicholson and Gertrude Street.

But soon after, the pedestrian crossing was fenced off.

Hey @yarratrams, what’s the deal with the blocked off pedestrian crossing across half of Nicholson Street. It’s at Stop 11 Gertrude/Nicholson Street. It’s been closed for months now, prevents access to @StVincentsMelb. @rwynnemp pic.twitter.com/Ix7RHYm3kr

— BT (@Br_Tr) November 9, 2019

With Yarra Trams providing the response when the problem was raised in November 2019.

Good afternoon, this pedestrian crossing has been closed due to issues with the gradient of the slope posing a safety hazard for pedestrians. We are working with the local council to implement a solution. Thank you for your patience and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

— Yarra Trams (@yarratrams) November 9, 2019

With rectification work completed between November 25 and December 13.

Last year Public Transport Victoria (PTV) and Yarra Trams installed new platform stops along Route 96 on Nicholson Street between Victoria Parade, Carlton and Rose Street, Fitzroy.

To finish our upgrades, we need to improve the accessibility of south east pedestrian ramp at Stop 11, by modifying the levels of the road as well as the footpath, kerb and ramp.

The design standards for pedestrian crossings are well documented – so how did Yarra Trams manage to make the same mistake again on William Street?

And another flaw

There is also another flaw in the widened pedestrian crossings – there is no kerb cut in the middle of the crossing.

This caught out someone at William and Little Bourke Street the other day – crossing the road in the middle of a pack of pedestrians, they missed the trip hazard, and faceplanted into the bluestone paving.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Flawed pedestrian crossings on William Street appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Today the challenge is to keep services moving despite increasing traffic congestion, carrying more passengers than ever before, while meeting new accessible transport standards. This is difficult activity given no two parts of the network are the same – so how can the Melbourne tram network be categorised by the environment they runs through?

Exploring the network

Melbourne trams pass through the CBD streets, stuck at traffic lights and mixing it with clueless motorists performing u-turns over the tracks.

They run down the middle of roads on the edge of the city, separated from cars.

Along tree lined boulevards.

They run though suburban shopping strips.

Pedestrians darting between shops.

Lined with parked cars.

With a single stopped car enough to delay multiple trams.

They trundle along residential streets.

But cars are never far away.

Other streets are lined with car yards and other ‘big box’ type retail outlets.

On rare occasions the tram tracks leave the road, running alongside the road.

But running in the median strip is more common.

Sometimes trees give way to concrete.

But trams still don’t have right of way at traffic lights.

The sole exception being the former railway lines to Port Melbourne and St Kilda.

Where the service is more ‘train’ than ‘tram’.

Classifying the network

Thankfully I didn’t need to explore the entire Melbourne tram network to classify the environments that it passes through – this 2008 report by SKM Maunsell/Evans & Peck did all of the work for me, with figure 2.20.

The legend is as follows:

• Mix – shared on-street with other vehicles in mixed (residential, retail, commercial etc.) land use environment (eg. Commercial Road, Keilor Road, Droop Street)
• Shopping strip – shared on-street with other vehicles in shopping strip (eg. Chapel Street, Glenhuntly Road, Sydney Road)
• Residential – shared on-street with other vehicles in residential area (eg. Riversdale Road, Hawthorn Road, Melville Road)
• Residential right of way – segregated track in road median in residential area (eg. St. Georges Road, Dandenong Road, Victoria Parade)
• Priority light rail – grade-separated segregated track in former heavy rail reserve (eg. St. Kilda, Port Melbourne lines)
• Light rail – segregated track in road reserve or parkland (eg. Plenty Road, Burwood Highway, Royal Park)
• CBD – right of way in centre of road in CBD
• Boulevard – right of way in centre of road (St. Kilda Road, Royal Parade, Flemington Road)

Problems – we’ve got loads

The report details the challenges facing the Melbourne tram network.

Tram stops are located at varying spacing along each route. Most stop intervals are between 200 and 500 metres, but in places they are less than 200 metres. Close stop spacing generally increases access to the system but reduces the average speed of the service, reducing the attractiveness of tram travel for passengers.

Most tram stops are not DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant, although there is a program of platform stop implementation underway. DDA compliant stops provide level boarding, enabling easy access for everyone, including wheelchair users and mobility impaired passengers. Furthermore, platform stops are more popular with passengers on account of the improved access, safety and amenity afforded. Monitoring studies have found that stop dwell times have been reduced owing to quicker boarding and alighting times for passengers resulting from the removal of stepped access.

The tram rolling stock which currently serves the network varies widely in performance and capacity.

Service speeds are slow by world standards mainly because of the large proportion of shared running with other vehicles. Speeds average 16km/hr across the network, slowing to an average speed of 11km/hr in the CBD. The segregated sections of track achieve about 25km/hr, however this represents only a small portion of the network.

Reliability is a key issue for tram operations. The high degree of shared running with other road vehicles gives rise to many delays, which can be attributed to traffic signals or obstruction by other vehicles. Traffic congestion accounts for about 40% of tram running time. Modelling undertaken for DOI suggests that unless substantial improvements are made to tram priority and operation in the roads, tram speeds could fall by at least a further 8% by 2020 as a result of increasing road congestion. Tram operating costs will correspondingly increase.

As the tram network shares the road with other traffic, considerable delays to tram services are experienced where the demand for road space is high. These delays are exacerbated by the lengthy signal delays encountered at intersections crossing Alexandra Parade and Victoria Street.

But also details how a quality tram service builds patronage.

Work completed by the Department of Infrastructure highlighted that Route 96 along Nicholson Street has the highest patronage, possibly due to the fact that it offers the best relative journey times to the car in the corridor it serves, has a degree of separation from traffic and has rolling stock with greater passenger capacity.

Smith Street and Brunswick Street have lower tram speeds, reflecting the interaction and conflicts with traffic due to parking and right turning vehicles. However services using these routes have very high levels of patronage, suggesting that a substantial proportion of the people-moving task on these roads is performed by trams. Any works which assist in reducing the tram travel time on these roads would attract even more passengers.

And the moves being made in 2008 towards improving the system.

The ‘Think Tram’ initiative being managed by VicRoads involves the implementation of a series of priority measures across the tram network, with a stated aim of increasing tram service speeds. Measures include the implementation of physical separation devices, part time tram lanes, ‘T’ lights at intersections and traffic signal re-phasing. Recent part time tram lanes and associated signs have been installed in Fitzroy (Smith Street, Brunswick Street) and Balwyn (High Street, Doncaster Road).

The Think Tram program has had some success in giving trams greater priority; at a minimum it has enabled trams to maintain their travel times relative to growth in traffic congestion, as opposed to reducing travel times. The application of ITS technologies and the positive separation of tramway right-of-way from other road users, especially right turning vehicles, appear to offer the best solutions

A decade later, and unfortunately little has changed – the new low floor E class trams have allowed the retirement of a handful of remaining high floor W and Z1/Z2 class trams, and the rollout of platform stops across the network is slowly progressing, but improving tram priority is still in the ‘too hard’ basket.

Footnote

The report I’ve quoted above is titled East West Needs Study: Transport Supply and Demand and was completed in 2008 report by SKM Maunsell/Evans & Peck. From the report preface.

The Victorian Government has appointed Sir Rod Eddington to lead a study into the need for an East-West Transport Link. The East-West Link Study Team supporting Sir Rod has commissioned Sinclair Knight Merz- Maunsell to undertake the Transport Planning Study forming part of the East-West Link Needs Assessment.

The purpose of the Transport Planning Study is to carry out a strategic evaluation of the existing and future mobility constraints for travel between the east and west of Melbourne and identify opportunities for a range of options to address future travel requirements.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Categorising the Melbourne tram network by environment appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The stop list was:

• St Vincents Plaza
• Nicholson Street
• La Trobe Street / Victoria Street
• Exhibition Street
• Russell Street
• Melbourne Central Station / Swanston Street
• Melbourne Central Station / Elizabeth Street
• Queen Street
• Flagstaff Station
• King Street
• Spencer Street
• Etihad Stadium Docklands
• Central Pier

But when I looked at the map further, I realised something – the map actually includes extra tram stops than don’t exist in the real world!

Stop 7 for westbound trams at Russell Street was one of them.

And stop 2 for westbound trams at King Street was the other.

Both tram stops were closed on March 24, 2014 for ‘safety reasons’ – this notice was posted inside one of the tram stop shelters.

Apparently the safety issue was long trams overhanging the safety zone, resulting in passengers from the rear doors stepping out into moving traffic.

Some of the tram stops along La Trobe Street were able to be lengthened, like this one at Exhibition Street.

However in the case of the King and Russell Street stops, nearby laneways prevented the tram stops from being extended, so removing them from service was the cheapest option.

Footnote

Closure of the tram stops along La Trobe Street only affects a handful of people – the current service frequency along the north end of the CBD is so useless, any intending passenger could walk to their destination before the next tram turns up!

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Route 30 and non-existent tram stops appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The stops

Currently Yarra Trams is rebuilding the tram stops at the south end of Elizabeth Street, replacing the former ‘safety zones’ with new platform stops that occupy a full city block each.

Once the work is completed later this month, the list of stops used by route 59 trams along Elizabeth Street and Flemington Road will be as follows:

• Stop 1: Flinders Street
• Collins Street
• Stop 2: Collins Street
• Bourke Street
• Stop 3: Bourke Street
• Lonsdale Street
• Little Lonsdale Street
• Stop 5: La Trobe Street
• A’Beckett Street
• Franklin Street
• Therry Street
• Stop 7: Queen Victoria Market (Victoria Street)
• Queensberry Street
• Stop 9: Haymarket (Royal Parade)
• Haymarket roundabout
• Stop 14: Grattan Street
• Royal Melbourne Hospital entrance
• Stop 15: Park Drive
• Stop 16: Gatehouse Street
• Royal Children’s Hospital entrance
• Stop 19: Royal Children’s Hospital (Abbotsford Street)
• Stop 20: Melrose Street
• Stop 21: Racecourse Road

All up that is 12 tram stops, as well as 21 sets of traffic lights. Note how the stop numbers jump around!

To explain the gaps in tram stop numbers, I consulted the Edition 27 of the Melway (dated 2000) which gave me the following list of tram stops.

• Stop 1: Flinders Street (Flinders Lane)
• Stop 2: Collins Street
• Little Collins Street
• Stop 3: Bourke Street
• Little Bourke Street
• Stop 4: Lonsdale Street
• Little Lonsdale Street
• Stop 5: La Trobe Street
• A’Beckett Street
• Stop 6: Franklin Street
• Therry Street
• Stop 7: Queen Victoria Market (Victoria Street)
• Stop 8: Queensberry Street
• Stop 9: Haymarket (Royal Parade)
• Stop 13: Peel Street (southbound only)
• Stop 14: Grattan Street
• Royal Melbourne Hospital entrance
• Stop 15: Park Drive
• Stop 16: Gatehouse Street
• Stop 17: Royal Children’s Hospital
• Stop 19: Abbotsford Street Interchange
• Stop 20: Melrose Street
• Stop 21: Racecourse Road

So a decade ago there were five more tram stops and three fewer sets of traffic lights encountered by route 57 trams.

What happened?

Some inconsistencies in tram stop numbering can be easily explained: stops 10, 11 and 12 never existed, the gap due to route 55 joining route 59 at Peel Street. Stop 18 is also missing from the 2000 list: presumably it was eliminated before that time.

Stop 4 at Lonsdale Street is a victim of the present program of work on Elizabeth Street,due to it being a short walk from the new stops a block south at Bourke and Little Bourke Street, or a block north at Little Lonsdale and Lonsdale Street. A side effect is the removal of the interchange between Elizabeth Street trams and the SmartBus services towards Doncaster – the same change was made to Swanston Street last year.

Further along the line, we start to find large gaps between tram stops. The removal of stop 6 at Franklin Street a more difficult one to justify, forcing passengers to walk two blocks north to the Queen Victoria Market, or two blocks south to La Trobe Street. The original safety zones at the site were located a reasonable distance from the neighbouring stops: presumably building a platform stop there was canned as traffic lanes would be lost.

Competing demands on road space also killed stop 8 at Queensberry Street: it was removed as part of the VicRoads managed rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout. The rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout was also responsible for the two new sets of traffic lights: one at the entry to the central island, and a separate out-of-phase set on the exit.

Another oddity in tram stop spacing is between Park Drive and the Abbotsford Street Interchange, and is a result of the rebuilding of the Royal Children’s Hospital: stop 17 outside the former entrance was removed a few years ago, replaced by an upgraded platform stop down the road at stop 19. For the similar reasons stop 16 at Gatehouse Street is probably on death row: still just a safety zone with Flemington Road’s right turns lanes adjacent, there isn’t enough room to build a new platform here.

So trams are now faster eh?

One would think by removing stops, trams would now being able to travel faster along Elizabeth Street and Racecourse Road. On that front, you are wrong: every single set of traffic lights along the way appears to be configured to do the opposite. Here is an example at the removed Franklin Street tram stop:

If it isn’t bad enough for to roll up to a set of traffic lights and need to wait, this tram copped it even worse – the traffic lights change to red right in front of it.

The most obvious fix is traffic light priority – but we’ve been asking for that for a long time.

Further reading

• Myth: The purpose of tram priority is to stop trams running late from the PTUA
• Myth: Tram passengers benefit from fewer tram stops from the PTUA
• Observational analysis of tram delays in inner Melbourne from the PTUA

Notes

Stop 1 is the Sir Robert Risson terminus: rebuilding of this stop is still to come.

Stops 2, 3 and 5 have been just rebuilt as platform stops.

Stop 4 at Lonsdale Street is about to closed.

Stop 6 at Franklin Street has been eliminated, forcing passengers to walk north to the Queen Victoria Market, or south to La Trobe Street.

Stop 7 at the Queen Victoria Market was rebuilt as a platform stop in 2007.

Stop 8 at Queensberry Street was removed in 2011 as part of the rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout, forcing passengers to walk a block north to Royal Parade, or south to the Queen Victoria Market.

Stop 9 was rebuilt as a platform stop at the same time two sets of traffic lights replaced the Haymarket roundabout.

Stop 13 at Peel Street also also removed as part of the rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout.

Stop 14 at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and stop 15 at Park Drive were rebuilt as platform stops around 2008.

Stop 16 at Gatehouse Street still remains as a safety zone, but is probably on the kill list due to the proximity of the Park Drive stop.

Stop 17 at the Royal Children’s Hospital was removed in 2011, at the same time as the new platform being opened at stop 19.

Stop 20 at Melrose Street is still a safety zone, and will require road lanes to be removed if a platform stop was built.

Stop 21 at Racecourse Road is also a safety zone, and would probably get killed off due to the proximity of the existing platform at stop 22, Boundary Road.

Footnote

Between writing this piece and publishing it, Yarra Trams have announced the death of stop 21 at Racecourse Road:

Since the introduction of Stop 21 Flemington Road and Racecourse Road, safety requirements for tram stops have changed.

Yarra Trams is committed to ensuring the safety of its passengers.

A recent review by Yarra Trams has concluded that this stop should be closed permanently in both directions, effective from Sunday, 24 November 2013.

Routes 57 and 59 – Stop 21 Racecourse Road and Flemington Road will close permanently in both directions.

Passengers can catch trams from Stop 20 Melrose Street and Stop 22 Flemington Road.

Another one bites the dust.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Disappearing tram stops on Elizabeth Street appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Closed from 22 May 2013, Yarra Trams gave the following explanation for the closure:

A recent review by Yarra Trams and Public Transport Victoria of the environment and layout at these stops has identified an increased safety risk to passengers and pedestrians. A number of improvement strategies have been trialled with minimal success. Yarra Trams is committed to ensuring the safety of its passengers and has therefore decided to close these stops permanently.

Here is the stop before it was removed.

Congestion from passengers wanting to board trams bound for the City Centre must have been one of the reasons for the stop closing, as back in 2012 Yarra Trams ran a trial where route 86 trams would skip the stop, instead using the platform stop around the corner.

However I am yet to be convinced closing the stop will fix all of the problems – plenty of dimwitted motorists managed to miss the stop line for the traffic lights, and almost lose their front bumper to turning trams.

It also does nothing to fix the congestion at the westbound platform stop at the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets, where crowds of commuters in afternoon peak fill the street in an attempt to reach Southern Cross Station.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Another Melbourne CBD tram stop removed appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.