Back in the bad old days

Going back the very start of trains in Victoria, entire carriages were designated as ‘smoking’ and ‘non-smoking’.

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 4165

But with the introduction of electric suburban trains from 1919, carriages were divided up instead – three smoking and six non-smoking compartments, with a full length partition dividing the two.

Weston Langford photo

This layout was retained in Harris trains of the 1950s.

SLV image H31188. Photographer unknown. Undated but circa 1956 to 1968.

Country trains also had separate smoking and non-smoking compartments – for example the ‘Z’ type saloon carriages divided into two sections, the first class carriages having 20 smoking and 28 non-smoking seats, while second class had 24 smoking and 40 non-smoking seats.

Rob O’Regan at www.robx1.com (002.AL633.b)

But in October 1971 thanks to the upcoming stainless steel ‘Hitachi’ trains, smoking and non-smoking accommodation on suburban trains was changed back to a whole carriage arrangement – ‘motor’ carriages being for smoking, and ‘trailer’ carriages non-smoking – which when usually marshaled in a 50/50 ratio, gave more space for smokers.

Weston Langford photo

And the start of smoking bans

15 November 1976 was a breath of fresh air for Melburnians – the state government banned smoking onboard all public transport vehicles.

Photo via GSWRHS Collection

In what might have been the first such ban in Australia.

Smoking will be banned on all Melbourne public transport from November 15.

The Minister for Transport, Mr Rafferty, said today that the ban would apply on all of the city’s electric trains, trams and government buses.

“I believe the great majority of the travelling, public will strongly support the decision”, he said.

The ban was designed to promote cleanliness, improve passenger comfort and reduce vandalism.

The NSW Minister for Transport, Mr Cox, said tonight that he ‘could see no point in “rushing in” with similar legislation for NSW without all points of view being considered.

Mr Cox said he was aware of “a certain resentment”. among smokers who could no longer smoke, particularly on long journeys.

The smoking ban was also welcomed by the Victorian Railways, as it made running their railway easier.

The banning of smoking on suburban trains, by Government request, as from 15 November 1976, has resulted in increased cleanliness at lower cost, greater comfort for the majority of passengers, and more flexible train operations because it is no longer necessary to consider the location of smoking compartments in the consists of trains. The ban has resulted in no detectable loss of patronage and must be regarded as a successful innovation.

December 1986 saw smoking banned from first-class V/Line carriages and onboard V/Line road coaches, then on 3 April 1989 smoking was banned from all V/Line trains.

The Victorian Government will ban smoking on all Victorian country trains from April 3.

The Transport Minister, Jim Kennan, announced the move yesterday. It follows a December 1986 decision to ban smoking in first-class sitting carriages and in V/Line road coaches.

Smoking was banned on Melbourne suburban public transport in 1978.

There had also been a progressive reduction in the capacity for smokers in economy-class carriages on V/Line’s intrastate rail services.

And now for stations

The opening of the City Loop in the 1980s appears to be another move towards smoking bans, if these Metropolitan Transit Authority-era ‘no smoking’ signs are anything to go by.

But it took until March 2006 for smoking bans to be introduced at outdoor railway stations.

But these bans only applied to covered areas.

Smokers who light up under covered areas at Victoria’s train station platforms, tram and bus shelters will face a stiff fine from today.

Transport Minister Peter Bachelor said areas where smoking is prohibited include all spaces where the cover was specifically provided for sheltering people.

“A covered area means any part of a train platform, tram or bus shelter that has a roof overhead, regardless of its height,” Mr Batchelor said.

He said it did not include covered areas like shop awnings, verandahs or overhanging balconies where the cover is intended for use other than to shelter people waiting for public transport.

Mr Batchelor said complaints from commuters about people smoking under covered areas at train station platforms and tram and bus shelters prompted the government to change the law.

But a roof doesn’t make a difference to secondhand smoke on a station platform.

And so in 2014 the smoking bans were extended to the entire station platform and tram stop platform.

From Saturday 1 March 2014, all areas of train stations and raised platform tram stops will be smoke free, increasing the comfort for customers who travel on Victoria’s public transport network.

The new arrangements will extend the existing smoke free zones, which already include covered areas of train platforms and under covered tram and bus shelters.

The fine for smoking in a smoke free area on public transport is $212 for adults and $72 for children.

Signage and information at stations will help to raise public awareness of the extended smoke free areas.

The plague of vapes

Disposable vapes are a joke of a product, with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery inside that goes straight into the bin once the vape juice is used up, but for once the government is actually ahead of them from a legislative perspective – from 1 August 2017 laws were updated to ban the use of e-cigarettes in places smoking is also banned.

However updated signage didn’t start appearing at railway stations until 2022.

Footnote: other modes of transport

Interstate coach operators started introducing non-smoking buses from 1987.

Ansett Pioneer will ban smoking on some express coaches running daily between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next month, after having tested the demand with three of its 11 daily each-way services between Canberra and Sydney for some time.

Deregulation under the Interstate Road Transport Act has resulted in eight non-smoking coach services a day between Canberra and Sydney, and there is also a direct non-smoking daily service between Canberra and Adelaide, with 10 coachlines taking up the trend around Australia. Greyhound, Redline, Skennars, Transborder and Central Australia Tours Association all have some fully non-smoking services, and others have services with smoking available only in allocated seats at the rear.

The new Ansett Pioneer service is being intro duced “because of public demand”, the general manager of operations, Mr David Raven, said yesterday.

It would be only on the Silver Service express, once daily between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. If demand was sufficient, more would be introduced.

The president of Action on Smoking and Health. Mr Alan Shroot, said yesterday that proprietors were recognising the demand for smoke-free travel, and several state governments had legislated to ensure smoke-free urban bus and intrastate coaches and rail lines.

With smoking bans on aircraft also rolled out during this period.

The Australian Government banned smoking on all flights within Australia by domestic airlines in December 1987 and extended these domestic bans to all services operated by international carriers between airports within Australia from October 1990.

Footnote: an interstate straggler

Trains like the Indian Pacific and The Ghan travel for days across Australia, which might be a problem for a compulsive smoker.

So in 1995 Australian National installed a small smoking compartment in the luggage vans of their trains, which remained available for passengers until 2006.

Smoking will soon be a thing of the past on the Ghan’s railway journeys between Adelaide and Darwin.

An enclosed area for smokers inside the lounge car will removed by October 1.

Great Southern Railways chief executive Tony Braxton-Smith says the company is responding to tougher smoking legislation across most of the country.

He says people will not be able to smoke even once The Ghan crosses into the Northern Territory, where there are few anti-smoking laws.

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Spencer Street Station Redevelopment newsletter Interchange Issue 5: May 2002

In the beginning

Spencer Street Station opened in 1859 as dead end terminus, five years after Flinders Street Station. The platform ran parallel to Spencer Street – not on an angle like today – and had a single main platform, with a dock platform at the north end. In the years that followed, the number of platforms expanded, but access was always via the southern end.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1109

In 1888 work started on a double-track viaduct linking Spencer Street Station to Flinders Street Station, with the line opening in 1891 to goods traffic, and in 1894 to passenger trains. In conjunction with this project a through platform was provided on the western edge of the station complex.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1 item H 1501

Passengers accessing the island platform via a footbridge to the south end.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1497

Leading them to the suburban concourse at the south end of the existing station.

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1498

Enter the first subway

In conjunction with the electrification of the Melbourne suburban rail network, the viaduct to Flinders Street was expanded to four tracks in 1915, and between 1918 and 1924 four additional platforms were built at Spencer Street Station – today’s platforms 11 though 14.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1507

The new platforms were west of the existing station.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1505

With access provided by a tiled pedestrian subway.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P3, item ADV 0620

Linked to each island platform by ramps, not stairs.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1508

Note the resemblance to the pedestrian subways at Flinders Street Station – constructed during the same period.

But this subway did not stretch the entire length of the station – the sub ended country platforms were still accessed via the concourse at the southern end.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P3 item ADV 1580

Leaving a ramshackle mess of station facilities for intending passengers.

Diagram from ‘Railway Transportation’ magazine

The 1960s redevelopment

Having grown organically over the years, there had been many proposals to rebuild Spencer Street Station into something befitting it’s status as the main country railway station for Melbourne. However it took the Melbourne-Albury standard gauge railway project to finally see the go ahead given for a new station, with work starting in 1960.

Victorian Railways annual report 1961-62

The new station building on Spencer Street was the most visible part of the project, but the major change for passengers was the construction of a new subways beneath the existing platforms.

Weston Langford photo

The work included:

• suburban subway with north and south facing ramps on Spencer Street, running west beneath the existing station to the existing subway that served platforms 9 through 14;
• a parallel country subway linking the basement of the new station building to platforms 1 through 8;
• parcels subway at the north end of the station, providing a segregated route for parcel and baggage trolleys between the parcels office and country platforms 1 through 8.

PROV VPRS 12903/P1, Box 683/01

Work on the new station was completed in 1965.

Photo by Graeme Butler, part of the 1985 Melbourne Central Activities District (CAD) Conservation Study

Extension into the CBD

An eastern extension to the suburban pedestrian subway beneath Spencer Street commenced in 1973, with the tunnel breakthrough made on 18 June 1974.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 4221

Opened to pedestrians on 11 September 1975, the tunnel continued east of the station.

Where it split to serve three exits.

One towards Bourke Street, emerging from the Savoy Hotel on the northern corner of Spencer and Little Collins Street.

With escalator and stairs to street level.

A second exit with escalator and stairs led towards Collins Street, passing through the basement of MMBW House at the southern corner of Spencer and Little Collins Street.

And a third exit with just stairs led to Little Collins Street, emerging outside the Savoy Hotel.

A final extension

In conjunction with the Melbourne Docklands development, the station subway was extended 80 metres west under Wurundjeri Way, to give access to the brand new Docklands Stadium.

Building the subway before the road made construction easier.

The subway was constructed to extend the existing Spencer Street subway. It is a reinforced concrete structure 9 metres wide to match the width of the existing subway. It extends the existing subway a distance of 80 metres.

Most of the subway was constructed using cut-and-cover construction and in-situ concrete as it was in the clear. For the section under the tracks, the reinforced concrete tunnel section was first cast alongside the tracks, and during an occupation, the material under the track was excavated and the tunnel jacked into position. A length of the cut-and-cover tunnel was first cast to provide the anchor block for the jacking operation.

With the extended subway ending at a roller door.

The beginning of the end

The primacy of the subway for access to Spencer Street Station ended in 2000, when the Bourke Street Bridge was completed as part of the Docklands Trunk Infrastructure project.

Ian Harrison Photo, SLV H2000.184/20

The new 20 metre wide, 205 metre long pedestrian bridge stretched across the station platforms, forming an extension of Bourke Street towards the new Docklands Stadium.

Weston Langford photo

And also included escalator, stair and lift access to platforms 3/4, 9/10, 11/12 and 13/14 at Spencer Street Station.

Diagram from ‘Bridges for Melbourne Docklands Infrastructure’

The Spencer Street Station Authority was also created, to manage the redevelopment of the station.

The Spencer Street Station Authority commenced operations on 1 July 2001, having been created by legislation and supported by all sides of Parliament.

In its first 17 months, the Authority has concentrated on improvements to public safety and amenity, for the 60,000 – 70,000 people who pass through the station each day. Matters such as emergency evacuation procedures, fire services, security, cleaning and public health have been dealt with, as well as a considerable upgrade to retail facilities, seating, signage, etc.

The aging escalators between the subway and Spencer Street were one issue – so they took the cheap option of taking them out of service, and enclosing them in timber boxes.

But inside the station itself, the subway was patched up so it could handle the growing number of users.

Spencer Street Station Redevelopment newsletter Interchange
Issue 5
May 2002

Spencer Street Station’s subway – the key artery for the station’s users – has just received a much needed facelift. The subway at Spencer Street Station, which was first opened in 1963, is the main connection to all rail platforms and will remain an important access point throughout the construction of the new station.

The Spencer Street Station Authority completed the refurbishment in March 2002, as an interim improvement before the station redevelopment. It brings the facilities up to modern standards and helps create a safer environment.

An average of 55,000 people use the station each weekday, the majority of which use the subway. It services metropolitan, country and interstate rail commuters. These numbers swell dramatically for sporting events at Colonial Stadium and other major events such as the Grand Prix, the Spring Racing Carnival and the Royal Melbourne Show.

The layout is now improved to provide for added commuter ease and security and to allow for potential greater patronage as the Docklands project develops. The central retail outlets have been relocated to the side of the subway to create greater capacity for passenger movement, and have been upgraded, giving them a new welcoming look.

New ceilings and additional lighting have been installed to create a more inviting atmosphere. Taking four months to complete, the subway works mainly took place out of peak hours to ensure a safe working environment for builders and minimal disruption to the travelling public.

The Spencer Street Station Authority still saw a need for the subway while the new station took shape around it, as well as once it was completed.

It is anticipated that construction work will begin in mid 2002 on the Spencer Street Redevelopment Project with construction proposed to be finished by mid 2005. During this period the existing pedestrian subway will be a vital, probably the only, means by which the travelling public will be able to safely gain access to and from the train platforms.

After the new station has been built, the subway will continue to have an important role for luggage transfer and other operational matters, and as a vital emergency evacuation route.

The Authority therefore made a decision to upgrade the subway, to achieve three things:

(a) to eliminate health problems by removal of asbestos and termite infestation;
(b) to open up the passageways by removing three shops from the centre aisle; and
(c) to provide better retail facilities for the public, bearing in mind that those on the two upper levels may have to be closed at certain stages during the redevelopment.

The original scope of works was expanded to meet these objectives, prior to being competitively tendered. The lowest tender of $737,938.85 (including GST) was accepted from Allmore Constructions, who had previously carried out the refurbishment of the main concourse. The Authority has since approved variations to this contract of approximately $50,000 to deal with more extensive termite damage in the subway than originally anticipated.

The improvements currently being carried out are fully funded by the Authority using revenue it generates from its retail activities and property leases, including public car parking and rentals paid by the train and bus operations.

And the end

Demolition of the old station began in 2003.

Spencer Street Station Authority photo

Temporary wiring being run through the subway.

And holes punched in the access ramps to allow the new roof to be built overhead.

As late as 2005 shops inside the subway were still open to serve passengers.

But as the project progressed, they were progressively closed.

In May 2005 the subway beneath Spencer Street was closed.

Spencer Street Station Authority media release
Friday 20 May, 2005

LOOK FOR THE CHANGES AT SPENCER STREET

Spencer Street Station is continuing its transformation into a world class station, with the Spencer Street Station Authority today announcing external access to station platforms through its 80 year old subway will close from Saturday 28 May 2005.

The Authority’s Chief Executive, Tony Canavan, said that the subway closure would coincide with the partial opening of a new passenger facility on Collins Street with limited access to metropolitan platforms.

“Change is in the air at Spencer Street, with the spectacular roof taking shape and now the closure of subway access to the station to allow construction works to continue. “Many metropolitan passengers will have a small taste of the new look station with the partial opening of the Collins Street Concourse, which will eventually provide access to all metropolitan train services at the station.”

Mr Canavan urged Spencer Street Station users to be aware of the best entrance points to the station following the subway closure on 28 May 2005. The clear message for metropolitan rail users is that the Bourke Street Bridge is now the best entrance point while construction continues at the station.

Mr Canavan said the closure of subway access to the station means that station users will use pedestrian crossings at Collins Street and Bourke Streets to cross Spencer Street. “We are working closely with VicRoads and will monitor crossing times carefully once these changes take place to ensure a safe and smooth flow of people,” said Mr Canavan.

Mr Canavan thanked station users for their patience and understanding during the construction and in light of ongoing changes at the station in the months to come. “This really is a case of some inconvenience in the short term, in order to deliver improved services and facilities for the future,” he said. “The closure of external subway access to the station is essential to the redevelopment, and will eventually see the dark and ageing subway replaced with wide open entrances to improve safety and access.”

In the months that followed, access to country platforms 1 through 8 was changed to be via the new ground level concourse at the Collins Street end.

And access to suburban platforms 9 through 14 changed to the new elevated Collins Street concourse.

However the subway remained open for passenger interchange for a few more months.

The western end closed to the public.

As well as the section towards the country platforms.

My last visit was on 24 July 2005, with public access ending very soon after.

Today the subway remains in place, but for the use of staff only.

Footnote – where did the subway go?

The July 2001 ‘Spencer Street Station Redevelopment Planning Study’ details the extent of the subway network.

There are two main subway systems accessing station platforms.

The passenger access subway extends some 300m from entrances to the city side of Spencer Street to a single entrance at Wurundjeri way. The subway width varies from about 9m to 14m, and the floor is some 4m below the general track level of RL 8.0. It grades gradually from east to west. Ramps (at slope 1:12) provide passenger access to all platforms. Several 9.0m deep alcoves on the southern side of the subway, below the regional platforms, house various businesses and services. The access from Wurundjeri Way (Docklands) is currently used only for events at the Stadium.

A baggage handling tunnel runs the full length of platform 1, below the platform, and links the basement in the main building to an access ramp on the southern concourse and a cross track tunnel to the north. There are also access ramps to regional platforms. Levels are similar to the main pedestrian subway. An additional baggage tunnel branches off the main subway at Platform 8 and links to access ramps to suburban island platforms.

How many shops were down there?

The planning study also listed the tenants of the subway, and the total area they occupied.

Subway Ticket sales area – 340 sq.m.

13 vending machines – 13 sq.m.

Commonwealth Bank Autobank – 2 sq.m.

Subway newsagency – 16 sq.m.

Subway snacks – 205 sq.m.

Mrs M Ireland’s Florist – 16 sq.m.

Tattersalls – 16 sq.m.

Subway clothing shop – 72 sq.m.

Toilets – 30 sq.m.

Other retail spaces – 180 sq.m.

Circulation, ramps etc. – 5,510 sq.m.

Total – 6,400 sq.m.

And how many people used it?

The same study also included the result of a pedestrian count completed on 24 November 2000, showing the routes used to access the station – noting that the subway east under Spencer Street was closed at weekends.

Entrance/exit	Pedestrians	Percentage
Spencer Street subway	18,920	40%
Bourke Street intersection	9,744	21%
Ramp to Spencer Street south	9,104	19%
Coach Station	8,201	17%
Ramp to Spencer Street north	1,567	3%
Bourke Street pedestrian bridge	82	0%
Total	47,618	100%

And noted the lack of capacity for future growth.

A recent survey of use indicates that the passenger access subway under Spencer Street facilitates about 19,000 movements on a Friday (40% of total station movements) with 7,000 occurring in the peak hour. Daily movements in the main subway within the Station were recorded at 34,000.

With projected levels of growth it is only a matter of time before the capacity of the current subways is inadequate. Optional responses to this situation would include:
· enlarging the existing subway;
· constructing an additional subway; and
· providing another form of platform access, such as an elevated concourse.

Fast forward to 2016, and now the rebuilt station is already at capacity – some great forward planning there!

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Finding the entrances

The first remnant of the Spencer Street Station subway is on Little Collins Street, outside the Savoy Hotel. Now boarded up, it once contained a stairwell down into the subway.

A roller door on the Spencer Street side of the Savoy Hotel was another entry point, secured by a roller door.

It remained in this state until May 2019, when the stairwell inside was covered over.

And the space converted into a shop.

Meanwhile on the other side of the street, the basement of the old Spencer Street Station building still exists, converted into staff offices.

But the connection under Spencer Street was bricked up.

And a second life

The subway might no longer continued under Spencer Street, but beneath the station it has been retained as a ‘back of house’ area.

The path it takes beneath the platforms still visible.

But the ramps from platform level have been fitted with doors to keep prying eyes out.

Storage cages filling the subterranean space, along with water, power, data, gas and fire systems.

And the western end turned over to a reclaimed water treatment facility.

And new users

Passengers might be gone from the old subway, but rail staff still use it everyday.

Luggage hall staff use the subway to deliver parcels and baggage to trains.

As do V/Line catering staff delivering food to buffet carriages.

V/Line fitters on their way to fix trains.

And Travellers Aid volunteers in their electric buggies.

Helping passengers unable to walk long distances around the station.

But the most famous users passed through on 27 August 2009.

Victorian Premier John Brumby, Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky and Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.

Who used the subway to reach the future site of platform 15 and 16, where they turned the first sod for the Regional Rail Link project.

What about reopening it?

With Southern Cross Station at capacity in peak times and pedestrians spilling out onto Spencer Street, many people have called for the pedestrian subway to be reopened, including the City of Melbourne.

Pedestrian subway may re-open
CBD News
April 1, 2016

The City of Melbourne has pledged $750,000 to investigate the re-opening of a subway between Little Collins St and Southern Cross Station.

According to a council spokesperson, the tunnel formed part of the passenger subway through the former Spencer Street Station, before it was redeveloped as Southern Cross Station.

“Council has agreed to allocate funding in the current capital works budgets to investigate the feasibility of re-establishing a connection to an existing tunnel which runs under Spencer St and which could connect the station frontage to Little Collins St,” the spokesperson said.

According to the council spokesperson, the disused subway now supports a number of service and utility ducts for the station.

But these proposals came to nothing.

A council spokesperson said an investigation found that “significant” underground services had been installed in the tunnel along the west side of Spencer Street.

“These large pipes prevent access through the tunnel,” the spokesperson said.

With the only upgrades completed since being an extension of footpaths along Spencer Street.

Bonus content – a second subway to the north

At the northern end of country platforms 1 through 8 is another set of ramps, secured with automatic gates.

And ‘DANGER KEEP OUT’ signs at bottom.

This subway was once used for the transport of baggage to country trains, and is large enough for light trucks to pass through, such as the V/Line toilet pumping truck.

And also has road access to the wider world via the coach terminal.

Footnote – more photos

Over on Reddit someone posted some photos showing the current state of the station subway.

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SLV photo H2001.308/2928

Work kicks off

Large scale removal of level crossings in Melbourne kicked off in the early 20th century, when thirteen level crossings between South Yarra and Caulfield were grade separated in 1909-15, as part of the regrading and quadruplication of the railway.

Nine level crossings between Hawthorn and Camberwell were removed in 1915-19 when that section of railway was regraded.

The Queens Parade tramway crossing on route 86 at Clifton Hill was replaced by a bridge in 1925.

As was the Epsom Road tramway crossing on route 57 in Ascot Vale.

And finally, four level crossings between Footscray and West Footscray were removed in 1926-28 in conjunction with track amplification works, including the Geelong Road bridge.

VPRS 12800/ P3 unit 13, item ADV 0138

But more work was still needed

In 1929 the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission published their ‘Plan of General Development‘ for Melbourne, with their scheme for new roads intended to reduce the need for level crossings.

Associated with the main roads scheme is the important question of the relationship of railway level crossings to it. In planning the roads scheme, due consideration has been given to those thoroughfares which at present pass under or over the railway lines.

In the location of new thoroughfares care has to be taken, where contours are favourable, to plan the crossing of the railway where there is a cutting or an embankment, so that the crossing in the future by bridge or subway could be effected at a minimum of cost.

Where the traffic from areas on the side of a railway more remote from a defined main road has been compelled to cross the railway at many places, intercepting main routes have been planned in favourable instances so as to avoid extensive or unnecessary movement across the railway.

In other cases the arrangement of minor streets has been planned so that a greater use will be made of the defined crossings. They can then be fewer in number and still provide the same facility for vehicular traffic. The ends of safety and economy are thereby served.

But there would still be dozens of level crossings left behind.

Within that portion of the metropolitan area dealt with by the Commission there are 155 level crossings. The main roads, as planned by the Commission, and which would give reasonably direct access between all parts of the metropolitan area, necessitate the use of 55 level crossings, and in addition eleven occur on tramline streets not in the main roads schedule.

So they flagged a program of level crossing removal.

Therefore, in any systematic scheme of railway level crossings abolition, it appears to be desirable to concentrate on the 66 crossings which would be on main traffic or tramline streets.

Expanding works that the Railways Department had already started.

Wherever the Railway Department has undertaken the construction of new metropolitan lines during recent years, or has been engaged on extensive remodellings, it has endeavoured to avoid level crossings.

The Railway Department is to be highly commended for the expense it has incurred, and the installations it has made in a variety of ways, with a view to making these crossings safe for all but the most reckless people.

The Railway Department for the five years 1923-27 expended £177,000 on level crossings abolition. Approximately 75 per cent of this amount was spent in the metropolitan area, and is therefore equivalent to an annual expenditure of over £26,000.

But there was one problem – money!

The amounts contributed by other authorities have not been ascertained, but it is expected that they would at least equal the average annual expenditure by the Railway Department. The total amount that would be available might therefore be set down at £50,000 annually, the capitalised value of which at a rate of 5.5 per cent, would enable a loan of over £900,000 to be devoted to this work, the repayment of which should be spread over 20, 30, or more years.

The scope of work was massive.

Sums from £1,000,000 to £2,000,000 have been mentioned by the Railway Department as the probable cost of the abolition of the 290 level crossings in the metropolitan electrified area. The Commission’s scheme would obviously require much less expenditure, as only 66 crossings would be involved to free the defined main roads and tramway routes from the delays and dangers that are brought about where the roads and railways cross each other on the same level.

And there was the question of who would foot the bill.

The question of the allocation of the costs and contributions is no doubt the most vital aspect of this very difficult problem.

Authorities have claimed that as the Railway Department has had the preferential right over the level crossings for many years,the accumulated value of the savings in original construction warrants placing the responsibility of abolition almost wholly upon the Railway Department.

Conversely, the Department has claimed that if the local governing authorities were offered at the time of construction the choice between no railway or a line containing level crossings, they would gladly have chosen the latter.

Another point of view is that it is only since the extraordinary growth of motor transport that a condition of things which previously was more or less satisfactory to both parties has now become such a nuisance and a hazard. A study of official opinions and decisions abroad shows the same divergence of views.

The Metropolitan Town Planning Commission believed the cost should be shared, but raised other concerns.

Except where extensive regradings become essential from the point of view of railway working, it is unreasonable to throw the whole responsibility on to the Railways Commissioners for the abolition of nearly 300 crossings. Several of them will cost in the vicinity of £100,000 each.

The electrification of the lines has rendered any improvement in the grades of the lines less necessary, whilst the cost of regrading in conjunction with a maintenance of frequent services makes any such wholesale proposition financially impracticable.

Quoting a contemporary report on a proposed level crossing removal.

In its Special Report to the Minister of Railways, supplied at his request, in regard to the abolition of the Clifton Hill level crossing on Heidelberg Road, the following opinions were given in reference to the allocation of cost:

23. The Commission considers that the principal party concerned in all level crossings is the Railways Commissioners, and that theirs is the greater financial responsibility for the abolition of them. It is the Commission’s opinion that, although the Railway Department should not have to bear the whole cost, it certainly should be required to contribute substantially.

24. The Heidelberg Road and the other roads converging at this point are all arterial in character, and consequently the municipality in which the crossing is located should not be called upon to meet an undue proportion of the cost of providing an improved thoroughfare which obviously will be used by traffic foreign to Collingwood in a much greater degree than that which can be regarded as local.

26. As the roads will be used almost wholly by motor vehicles it is recommended that a substantial contribution towards the cost should be made from the motor registration fees, which are now devoted almost wholly to country roads.

And proposed what they saw as a just way of allocating costs.

It is recommended that a single Transport Authority would have this matter of level crossings referred to it for decision as to the allocation of costs. The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board and any other public authority directly concerned in a particular crossing should be assessed for a just share. The wide distribution of the costs suggested should be the means of expediting the abolition of the most urgent of these crossings.

And things we are yet to do

Unlike today’s politically motivated Level Crossing Removal Project, the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission saw the need for a orderly plan for the removal of level crossings, looking at the road network as a whole.

The order of abolition of the 66 level crossings should necessarily be determined by their urgency, and it is suggested that a factor which combines the number and classification of vehicles with the duration of delays at crossings should be used in deciding the precedence.

It is believed that the adoption of a systematic scheme dealing with this important problem would enable the diversion of traffic into these crossings of the railways with separated grades, and probably permit of the closing of the least important level ones.

The Commission’s schemes for roads in the area to be served by the Darling to Glen Waverley and Doncaster lines illustrate how a greater use can be made of fewer crossings of the line, while at the same time preserving reasonable access between lands on each side of it.

Including a redesign of surrounding road networks to reduce the number of level crossings that needed to be grade separated.

One of the factors that has contributed to the large number of level crossings in existence is the fact that the Railway Department possesses inadequate powers for the acquisition of land. It is considered that if the Department had power, subject to any necessary safeguards to acquire more land than is immediately necessary for railway purposes, it would be enabled in many instances to provide one crossing which would serve two or more cross streets by the diversion of certain streets at suitable places, with consequent saving in cost. The Commission is convinced that, by judicious planning and adequate legislative powers, it should be, possible to reduce the number of level crossings, the abolition of which would require heavy expenditure in the construction of subways or bridges.

So what happened?

Following the publication of the Plan of General Development in 1929, grade separation of level crossings stalled for three decades, with a grand total of ZERO crossings abolished.

It took until the 1954 passing of the ‘Country Roads and Level Crossings Funds Act’ for work to be restarted, which saw twenty level crossings in Melbourne grade separated between 1958 and 1977, as well as a larger number of crossings in country Victoria.

Museum Victoria item MM 92947

After the dedicated fund for level crossing removals was wound up, another twenty crossings were removed as standalone road projects in the period 1978-2014, until the launch of the Level Crossing Removal Project in 2015.

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This Weston Langford photo from 1963 shows a Footscray bound tram headed west along Maribyrnong Road in Ascot Vale.

Weston Langford photo

And here is the same location today.

High floor trams still clunk their way along route 82 on the same timetable as decades ago, so it is no surprise that Maribyrnong Road is clogged with motorists headed to Highpoint Shopping Centre from the surrounding suburbs.

At least I can’t complain about lush trees that now flank the road.

Footnote: a history of the tram

You might think the tram in the 1963 photo is a rickety old W class, but it isn’t – it’s actually VR tram #52, one of three trams built by the Victorian Railways in 1942 for use on the broad gauge St Kilda to Middle Brighton ‘Electric Street Railway‘.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P1, item H 2870

Following the closure of the Victorian Railways tramway in 1959, the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board acquired the three newest trams, converting two to standard gauge, and allocated them to Essendon Depot where they saw regular service use on route 82.

Of the three ex-Victorian Railways trams, tram #54 was scrapped in 1967 for spare parts. Tram #52 was withdrawn in 1975 is now preserved by the Tramway Museum Society of Victoria at Bylands, while classmate #53 is preserved at the Melbourne Tram Museum, Hawthorn.

Today Z3 class trams are used on route 82, the high-floor non-air conditioned trams having entered service between 1979 and 1983.

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SLV photo H2016.33/103

Around the factory

In the early years employees had to trudge through mud on their way from Sunshine railway station.

Museums Victoria image MM 93156

But McKay had visions of a company town in Sunshine, including the H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens across the tracks from the railway.

Photo by Reinthal, via Wikimedia Commons

By the 1940s Hampshire Road had also been extensively landscaped.

Museums Victoria image MM 16351

Including the gardens around the railway station.

SLV image H2016.33/102

But in 1960 the entire area was turned into a concrete jungle, when the level crossing was replaced by as tangle of road overpasses.

VPRS 12903/P1, item Box 681/53

Down in the underpass

Access to the railway station was via pedestrian underpasses, including one beneath the northbound off-ramp towards Hampshire Road.

Museums Victoria image MM 92947

But by the 2000s this underpass had been closed.

Boarded up, until someone kicked in the wooden wall.

Inside the underpass was filled with rubbish and debris

The station end bricked up.

A ‘Pedestrian underpass closed’ sign.

Hiding behind the brick wall.

But in 2018 the decision was made to reopen the underpass, as part of the construction of a new bike path alongside Harvester Road towards Albion station.

The brick wall removed.

Murals cover the reopened pedestrian underpass.

Connecting to the new Sunshine-Albion bike path.

Looking much like what used to exist back in the 1960s.

Google Earth 2018

And the footbridge

In 1911 the timber H.V. McKay Footbridge was constructed over the railway, connecting the Sunshine Harvester Works to the McKay Housing Estate on the western side of the tracks.

The bridge was extended in 1930 to cross Harvester Road, and extended further in 1997 as part of the redevelopment of the factory site.

In 2012 it was announced that the footbridge would be demolished due to the Regional Rail Link project.

The replacement bridge opened in 2014, and is 66 metres long.

Dominating the area.

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Trouble on the tracks

V/Line has a major issue with inaccessible trains.

Ray, Warnambool: In my area, it’s almost impossible to use the V/Line in a wheelchair. Even when I book I can get to the railway station and find there is no accessible carriage. Why are people with disabilities stuck in a #LifelongLockdown we fought to end last century? #PWD pic.twitter.com/A1Dz6P65ok

— Voices of DRC Advocacy (@DRCadvocacy) May 14, 2020

With thousands of dollars spent in 2018 calling up accessible taxis to transport passengers unable to board inaccessible trains.

Two north-east Victorian residents have claimed V/Line regularly pays more than $1,000 for return taxi trips to Melbourne due to train and coach services being wheelchair inaccessible.

Albury-based Luke Sefton said V/Line had recently arranged a taxi for at least three return trips to Melbourne.

“If there’s more than two wheelchairs they tell you the train’s full and you can’t get a ticket. If it’s not running you’ve got to get a taxi and they pay the money for that — maybe $700 or more, one way,” he said.

But Mr Sefton said V/Line would sometimes turn him away.

“I’ve called up a few times and there’s only two [people with wheelchairs] allowed on there and they say ‘we’ve sold out today’,” he said.

“In that case they don’t get you a taxi either, they just say they’ve sold out.”

The chair of The Victorian Disability Advisory Council, Colleen Furlanetto, said she had used replacement taxi services from Euroa and Seymour more than a dozen times at a cost to V/Line of around $300 each way.

Ms Furlanetto said she felt guilty depriving local residents of a wheelchair accessible service whenever V/Line arranged a taxi for her to Melbourne.

But this tale from the Warrnambool line really takes the cake.

In May 2019 Janet and Susan, who use wheelchairs, decided to travel from Melbourne to Warrnambool on V/Line trains.

For both it was a work-related visit, they were attending a forum hosted by All Abilities Advocacy and supported by Warrnambool City Council’s Rural Access program.

Janet, after first checking with V/Line, booked a first class ticket in order to sit next to colleagues. On May 14 when she arrived at the Southern Cross platform she was advised she could not sit next to her colleagues and was segregated.

On the way to Warrnambool she received a call from V/Line advising that the return booking was not an accessible service and she was requested to use an earlier train. This was not possible because Susan would still be at the forum.

On May 15, at 12.30pm, both women were contacted by V/Line and informed that the accessible carriage was not available. They had no alternative means of returning home to Melbourne.

V/Line asked Susan if she could leave her wheelchair in the conductor’s area and sit down, which she had been required to do on the trip to Warrnambool. Susan said this did not work properly and she needed her wheelchair with her.

V/Line advised Janet and Susan they return to Melbourne in separate taxis with the bill of about $1200 to be covered by taxpayers.

At 5pm Janet and Susan arrived at the Warrnambool Station to catch the taxis back to Melbourne.

They then discovered the disabled toilet at Warrnambool Railway Station was not accessible. The toilet was behind swinging doors and at the end of two cubicles for ambulatory people. The room was narrow with insufficient space for a wheelchair to turn into the “accessible” cubicle.

When the taxi arrived, V/Line initially wanted Janet and Susan to share a ride home – impossible given the size of their two wheelchairs. With the insistence of a support person V/Line eventually called a second taxi.

So why are V/Line trains so dysfunctional?

In the beginning

Back in the ‘good old days’ accessible public transport wasn’t a concern.

Photo by Weston Langford

Country carriages consisted of a series of small compartments, located through narrow doorways at the end of skinny corridors.

Later carriages dumped compartments for open saloons, but the narrow doorways and end vestibules remained.

The last of these carriages entered serivce in the 1980s, and are still in service today.

The only space for wheelchairs and mobility aids being the luggage van.

But the area cannot be used by passengers.

Customers are not permitted to travel in the conductor’s van on locomotive–hauled services, unless you are travelling between an unstaffed station and a staffed station where alternative transport will be arranged. You can store your mobility aid in the conductor’s van if you are able to move to a seat in the carriage.

Dumb luck from the 1980s

In the 1980s the New Deal for Country Passengers saw the retirement of clapped out non-air conditioned timber bodied carriages, replacing them by retired suburban trains refurbished for country use.

Photo by Weston Langford

These carriages are still in use today on on commuter services, and have wide doors thanks to their suburban heritage, providing easy access for wheelchairs and mobility aids.

But only ‘normal’ toilets were installed, with no accessible toilet access provided – so you’re on your own.

Enter the Disability Discrimination Act

In 1992 the Disability Discrimination Act was passed, right in the middle of the procurement process for the ‘Sprinter‘ railcar fleet.

They were built with doors wide enough for wheelchairs and mobility aids, allocated spaces to park them, and an accessible toilet.

However the provision of luggage areas in the doorway limited the number of mobility aids that could be parked inside each carriage – a problem not resolved until a 2018 refit.

Now to play catchup – and one big problem

With an existing fleet of carriages that were inaccessible to many passengers, in 1995 V/Line commenced the ‘BZN’ carriage program. Each converted carriage has a wider door at one end, accessible to mobility aids.

With a disabled toilet and allocated parking area inside.

These newly converted carriages were then coupled onto their fixed 3-car locomotive hauled sets, which solved the accessibility problem – provided that a train was more than three carriages long.

A constraint that bit V/Line in the arse in 2013, after bogie cracks were discovered beneath the accessible carriages.

V/Line played down the impact of the problem.

Public Transport Victoria said today that V/Line had decided to immediately remove 22 of its older carriages from service for testing and repairs.

V/Line decided to remove the carriages from service following a safety audit which revealed fatigue cracks in some critical areas of the ‘bogies’ or undercarriages of ‘Z’ class carriages.

Shepparton, Warrnambool, Swan Hill, Bairnsdale, and a small number of Geelong and Traralgon trains will have fewer seats while this essential work is carried out, so road coaches will be made available when necessary.

V/Line trains have a total of 70,000 seats each weekday and the withdrawal of these carriages involves less than 10 per cent of seats, not all of which are occupied. Most of the affected trains will operate with four carriages instead of five.

But the reality was different for anyone with special needs.

A fleet-wide audit has been called on V/Line’s ‘Z’ class carriages; the only carriages on Bairnsdale services with wide enough doorways to allow mobility vehicles on board.

While V/line spokesperson Clare Steele said some “narrow” wheelchairs may still fit through the doors on remaining Bairnsdale carriages, most people with mobility needs were being urged to phone V/Line to order multi-purpose taxis 24 hours in advance.

A total of 22 carriages were impacted by the bogie cracks, with 13 returned to service by 30 June 2014, the last finally fixed by the end of 2016.

So close, but still not quite

And now to V/Line’s newest trains – the VLocity railcars. The first of which entered serivce in 2005, and on paper ticked all of the accessibility boxes – wide doors, allocated spaces for mobility aids, and an accessible toilet – but they still managed to miss the mark!

With overcomplicated toilet doors that could not be used by the visually impaired.

Eventually fixed by an even more complicated system in 2017.

And doorways not quite wide enough for easy manoeuvring of mobility aids.

From 2016 the handrails beside the wheelchair access door were modified to provide more space.

A change that required the removing the crew access to ground level!

With the problem not resolved properly until 2019, when they made the doorway itself wider.

This change is now being applied to all new-build VLocity trains, but cannot to be retrofitted to the first 75 VLocity trains without a massive amount of work, which just goes to prove – get it right the first time!

Further reading

V/Line has more information about accessibility on their website, with their 2019-2022 Accessibility Action Plan detailing where they aim to improve in the next three years.

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So where do express trains run?

The Lilydale and Belgrave share a third track as far as Box Hill, allowing express trains to overtake all stations services.

The same applies to Frankston services as far as Moorabbin.

But double track lines also see express trains – like the Sunbury line as far as Sunshine.

And what does it mean for capacity?

In March 2008 Rod Eddington raised this question in his ‘East West Link Needs Assessment’ report:

In 2007-08, Melbourne’s train system will carry about 200 million passengers – a historically high number exceeding the peak of the 1940s and 1950s.

With the city’s train system only recently exceeding the number of passengers carried in the 1950s, some Melburnians ask the question: if the system could carry that many people 50 years ago, why is it so hard today?

Then provides the answer:

When measured in passenger kilometres – rather than simple passenger numbers– today’s rail system performs a much greater task than in the 1950s.

The geographic expansion of Melbourne (with low density land use and widely spread employment and residential locations), together with the introduction of express commuter trains, means that a direct comparison between the passenger numbers carried today and those carried in the 1950s is more complex than simply counting passengers.

Melbourne has changed considerably since the 1950s – and so has the way the city’s trains are operated. In the 1950s Melbourne’s population was around 1.5 million, with 70 per cent living within 10 km of the GPO. Today, Melbourne’s population is moving towards 4 million, with around 16 per cent of people living within 10 kilometres of the GPO.

Industry was concentrated in the inner and middle suburbs, meaning that people had very short journeys from home to work. In addition, very few people owned cars – in 1950, there were less than 200,000 cars in Melbourne (around 113 vehicles per 1,000 people) compared to today’s 3.5 million vehicles (around 680 vehicles per 1,000 people).

This animation by GIS analyst Cody Phelan illustrates this growth.

Making GIFs of Melbourne's urban extent from 1883 to 2015#maps #cartography #GIS #Melbourne #growth #mapping@simongerman600 @GIS_Sharer @CartoBot pic.twitter.com/37YkPOo6yX

— cody phelan (@CodyPhelan) April 16, 2018

‏With Rod Eddington describing the impact it had on the rail system.

With such short journeys to work and with so few people owning cars, there was no great demand for express trains over such short distances, and no competitive pressure from car travel. Melbourne’s trains ran regular services of short distances compared to today, with very few express trains.

In 2008, express trains are a highly valued part of the metropolitan train timetable, with some Melburnians commuting 40 or even 60 km each day from the outer suburbs to the CBD. Express trains were introduced partly as a response to competition from the rise in car ownership: as car ownership exploded in the 1960s, people began to leave the public transport system and a long steady decline commenced that has only recently turned around.

Express trains ‘eat up’ capacity. Where express trains share track with ‘stopping all stations’ trains, greater space between trains must be ‘hard coded’ into the timetable, limiting the number of trains that can be run on the line. Reducing the number of express trains would help to increase capacity, but would significantly increase travel times from the outer suburbs and may dissuade commuters from using the train at all. Boarding data supplied to the EWLNA shows a clear commuter preference for express trains, with maximum loads on these trains and ‘stopping all stations’ trains carrying significantly lower loads.

The distance people travel on the train has also increased as the city has grown. Today, the average journey length is around 18 km; in 1930, it was less than 11 km. The result is that when the number of passenger kilometres run today is compared to that of the 1950s, the load being carried by the system in 2008 is far greater.

In addition, the peak hour ‘spike’ is far more extreme today than in the past. Today, the system has to cope with a peak period of extreme demand that is 50 per cent greater than 1969, stretches system capacity and makes it difficult to meet that demand with extra services. These differences between the way the system operated in the 1950s and today mean that direct comparisons about passenger numbers are misleading.

The growth in express services is shown in figure 31 – Percentage of trains running express, 1940 and 2006.

East West Link Needs Assessment report

And figure 32 shows the driver in demand: average distance passengers travel by train, 1930 to 2006.

East West Link Needs Assessment report

With the end result figure 33 – CBD station exits, 1939, 1969 and 2006.

East West Link Needs Assessment report

Looking back

As far back as the 1950s, the Victorian Railways was concerned that Melbourne’s suburban sprawl was impacting on their ability to efficiently provide rail services.

SLV image H31188

From the 1956-57 Victorian Railways annual report:

At the same time, suburban travel demands have changed. The growing population in the developing outer suburbs involves a greater proportion of longer distance suburban travel and this imposes operating problems during the peak periods because the track facilities serving many of the areas limit the service which can be provided. More trains are also required for peak period operation because of the longer turn-round.

The following graph illustrates the steady increase in suburban journeys over six miles in distance and the gradual decrease in journeys under six miles.

Work is in progress to increase track capacity on several suburban lines so that, with the new trains being put into running, improved services can be provided. Increased traffic in the outer suburbs has also necessitated the provision of four new stations. One – Oak Park on the Broadmeadows line – was opened during the year, but progress could not be made with the others due to limited funds. For similar reasons, a number of other essential works to facilitate suburban train running had to be deferred.

Combined with the growth in private car ownership and a reduction in off-peak passengers, rail patronage began to enter a death spiral – with express trains seen as the saviour.

Weston Langford photo #113741

With the 1958-59 Victorian Railways annual report explained the financial impact of these changes.

Suburban passenger journeys totalled 162,631,736 – 376,668 more than in 1956-57. This traffic is also adversely affected by the use of private cars but the chief difficulty is the lack of patronage during off-peak periods.

During the intense morning and evening peak periods, aggregating about 3 hours daily, it is necessary to operate 122 trains and even then the loading is mostly uni-directional, but off peak traffic requires only 60 trains. The balance of the trains remain idle. Drivers, guards, shunters and station staffs must also be augmented to handle the peaks and they cannot always be economically utilised at other times. The fact that the suburban electric system is not used to capacity needs no further elaboration.

Another factor affecting suburban traffic results is the increase in the average length of the suburban journey, which in 1957-58 rose from 8·73 miles to 8·82 miles, continuing its progressive increase with the growth of population in the outer suburbs. Concurrently, however, traffic at the inner stations has declined substantially with the result that the total number of suburban journeys has remained relatively static in the last few years.

The increased average length of journey has necessitated the spending of large sums of money on development of the suburban system by duplication of lines, provision of new stations, additional trains, etc., but the revenue accruing from the longer journeys has fallen far short of making good the losses of short haul traffic and meeting the heavier fixed charges and increased cost of operating the added train mileage.

Increases in fares having failed to keep pace with increased costs, it is not surprising that for a number of years the suburban electric system has been operated at a substantial loss-estimated at £2,500,000 in 1957-58 after making arbitrary allocations of the cost of facilities common to suburban, country passenger and goods services, e.g. tracks, signalling, stations, etc.

With the object, therefore, of complying with Government policy that this loss be reduced and one class suburban travel introduced, a new schedule of one class fares, estimated to produce additional annual revenue of £1,300,000, was brought into operation on the electrified system on 14th September, 1958.

Continuing to run clapped out ‘red rattler’ trains from the 1920s didn’t help to attract passengers.

Weston Langford photo #112453

With the 1963-64 Victorian Railways annual report describing the worsening of the post-WW2 malaise.

During the past fifteen years, the extensive development of outer suburban areas, particularly to the north, east and south-east of Melbourne, has been reflected in the steadily increasing length of the average distance travelled by suburban passengers. The following table is indicative of this trend:

Although there has been a growth of traffic from the outer areas, the traffic at stations within nine miles from Melbourne has declined substantially, the overall result being a drop of about 26 million passenger journeys compared with the total for 1 949-50, the peak year for suburban rail travel.

The increased average length of journey has necessitated the spending of large sums of money on track duplication, signalling improvements and the provision of new stations and additional trains. However, the revenue accruing from the longer journeys is not sufficient to offset the loss of short haul traffic or to meet the heavier fixed charges and increased cost of operating the extra train mileage, because of the manner in which the suburban fare tariff tapers off as the distance from Melbourne increases.

The great disparity between peak and off-peak traffic further militates against economical working of the suburban system. During the intense morning and evening peaks, totalling about three hours daily, it is necessary to operate up to 130 trains of seven carriages, but for the off-peak traffic less than 60 trains, many of which are reduced in length to four or two carriages, are sufficient to handle the traffic offering. Because of this uneven distribution of traffic, a great proportion of the suburban carriage fleet, representing an investment of many millions of pounds, remains idle for most of the day.

Moreover, the necessity for much of the costly duplication and other works undertaken in recent years to increase track capacity has been dictated largely by rush hour traffic requirements.

The general decline in off-peak rail travel has been contributed to by many factors, the chief of which is undoubtedly the increased popularity of the private car as a means of transport during leisure hours.

The 1980 Victorian Transport Study Report on Metropolitan Public Transport also discussed the fall in patronage.

However the use of public transport subsequently declined with the increasing ownership and use of private cars. Population and jobs have become dispersed and people travel, in the main, by private motor car. As recently as 1955 public transport provided approximately 50% of annual passenger travel in Melbourne.

Since then travel in Melbourne has approximately trebled and the public transport share has dropped to little more than 10%. Over this period public transport patronage has declined from approximately 500 million per annum to slightly more than 250 million.

This rapid change in patronage has been associated with increasing costs of operation and reduced productivity – the relatively greater reduction in off peak usage being an important factor in this.

And the impact on rail operations.

During 1978-79 suburban trains covered 13.4 million kilometres and carried over 89 million passengers. Although the suburban network has seen some expansion in overall physical capacity (an increase of 28 route kilometres, 76 track kilometres and more than 60 carriages over the past 20 years) much of this capacity has been absorbed in catering for an increase in the average length of journey from 13.9 to 16.2 kilometres during the same period.

In the 1970s the City Loop was conceived as the saviour to turn the tide in patronage – but all it did was arrest the fall.

So transport planners came up with another way to deploy express trains – off peak ‘flyer trains’ to Dandenong, Frankston and Ringwood; and triplication to Ringwood and Dandenong.

But it took the growth of visitation to the Melbourne CBD from the mid-2000s to see patronage commence the climb seen today.

Today’s priorities – the Metro Tunnel under the CBD, removing level crossings and rolling out all-day 10 minute train services to more lines.

Footnote

The PTUA looked at the why can’t we run more trains question from a different angle, in their article titled “Myth: We’d have to spend heaps of money on infrastructure“. Their conclusion – kill off express trains:

However one looks at it, the supposed capacity shortage is revealed to be a management problem, not an infrastructure problem.

In conclusion, if there really is money available to spend on new tracks, the priority should be

• the remaining single-track sections in the network, which make the provision of reliable high-frequency services difficult to impossible whether inside or outside peak hour;
• and network extensions to areas that currently have no train services at all, no matter how fast or frequent.

Once the real bottlenecks have been fixed it may then be appropriate to consider additional tracks for ‘super expresses’, which are in any case only useful in peak hour and then only for central-city commuters. Needless to say, all of this should be undertaken by competent and skilled planners, every one of whom is worth more than their weight in gold-plated steel rails.

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As you can see, Franklin Street goes nowhere near a railway line.

While the signal box bearing that name is wedged between the Dudley Street and La Trobe Street bridges.

But I found the answer in this 1855 map of Melbourne.

Map of Melbourne, 1855, via Wikimedia Commons

Franklin Street continues through what is now the Flagstaff Gardens, terminating at Adderley Street as ‘Franklin Street West’.

This 1895 plan by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works also features ‘Franklin Street’ adjoining Adderley Street.

But jump forward to the 1920 Morgans street directory, and we find Batman Street – the same as today.

So when did the name change? From Melbourne newspaper The Age on 16 December 1907:

The question of changing the name of the western end of Franklin Street to Batman Street, which will be considered by the City Council to-day, draws attention to the deplorable oversight by which the memory of John Batman, the founder of Melbourne, has been allowed to lapse into oblivion. It is late in the day to name a street after Batman, though better late than never, even if the street is only half a street.

But it may well be asked if the memory of Batman cannot be best incorporated into the beatification of Melbourne scheme by the erection of a statue to him? John Batman founded Melbourne, and he made no fortune by it, but it is fitting that the people of Melbourne should know of him and of the manner of man he was. With his fine, stalwart, broad shouldered figure, and strong, determined face. Batman in his picturesque habit as he lived would be an admirable subject for a statue!

And the day after, 17 December 1907.

The idea mooted in “The Age” of yesterday that some better plan of perpetuating the memory of John Batman, founder of Melbourne, than of naming half a street after him should be thought out was warmly supported at yesterday’s meeting of the City Council.

In calling on the tenth order of the day, that the portion of Franklin Street west of King Street be changed to Batman Street, the Lord Mayor, Cr. Weedon, referred to what he termed the excellent suggestion in “The Age” that John Batman, the pioneer of Melbourne, was a worthy and an artistic subject for a statue.

The idea had already occurred to himself, and now that there was a tendency to erect statuary in suitable places, it was beyond question that there was no name in the history of Melbourne better deserving of prominent public recognition than that of Batman, and no better means of doing honour to his memory than by the erection of his statue. At a recent meeting of the Geographical Society, he had brought the mutter forward, and had suggested that the A.N.A. Society should take the work in hand and carry it through, for Batman was a native of whom natives I might feel proud.

Cr. Aikman said this was a matter that should not be allowed to drop. It was certainly a reflection upon the city that
Batman should be forgotten. He hoped that a statue of the courageous pioneer might be incorporated in the scheme for the beautification of Melbourne, and erected in some suitable position overlooking the river and the city.

Cr. D. V. Hennessy said the City Council should take this matter in hand, and not leave it to the A.N.A. It was true that Batman was an Australian native, but it was as the founder of Melbourne that his memory should be perpetuated, and thus the obligation rested upon the municipality. He would like to see Batman’s statue standing in a prominent place in the municipal gardens near the Yarra.

Crs. Gardiner and Marks also supported the idea of erecting a statue, and Cr. Gardiner put forward a further suggestion that the name of Flagstaff Gardens should be changed to Batman Reserve. This, however, did not appeal to councillors, who voiced objections to interfering with the spot where the flag was first unfurled.

The order of the day was carried, and the west end of Franklin Street is now Batman Street.

So my question is answered: the signal box was opened at the west end of Franklin Street, but the thoroughfare being renamed ‘Batman Street’ in 1907 to remember John Batman, founder of Melbourne.

History of the signal box

A history of the signal box at Franklin Street can be found on page 170 of ‘Docklands Heritage Study: A Report to the Docklands Task Force‘, completed by Andrew C Ward and Associates, in conjunction with Dr Peter Milner, Gary Vines and Ron Greenaway in 1991.

Description

The Franklin Street box controls passenger train movements at the junction of the suburban and country lines from the Up side of North Melbourne station to the points of interface with Spencer Street No. 1 box and No. 2 box. It is a two level brick signal box with concrete slab floor and walkway, steel approach steps and pipe railings and terracotta tiled hipped roof.

Condition: Good
Integrity: Good (architectural), Poor (technical)
Original Owner: Victorian Railways Department
Chief Engineer of Way and Works: E.H. Ballard
Chief Architect: Builder: J. TN. Fawcett

History

The Franklin Street and Viaduct Junction (demolished) signal boxes formed part of the rearrangement of the passenger suburban lines through the Melbourne Yard from the Spencer Street viaduct to Kensington. These works were associated with the construction of the Spencer Street suburban platforms opened in August 1924, and the interlocking frames were electro-mechanically operated in a manner similar to earlier installations at South Yarra and Camberwell.

The original box, close to the present building was opened on 6.9.1884 and replaced by the present installation on 17.8.1924. The interlocking frame was closed in March 1984 and replaced with a control panel which has been remote controlled by Metrol since 18.10.1986.

Significance

Although the original electro-mechanical apparatus has been removed, the Franklin Street box has controlled train movements since 1924 and forms a part of the suburban lines reconstruction plan at the Melbourne Passenger Yard of that date. It forms a unit with suburban platforms 11-14 and is typical of the Department’s work of the period, comparing with Camberwell (1924), Footscray ‘A’ (1930), Caulfield (1933), North Melbourne (1928) and Dandenong (1929).

The interior of 1924 signal box can be seen in this photo from the collection of the Public Records Office Of Victoria.

VPRS 12800/P5, item S 1179

Here the electro-mechanical interlocking frame used to direct trains takes centre stage.

VPRS 12800/P5, item S 0077

While this 1968 photo from West Tower shows the signal box among an array of railway tracks.

VPRS 12800/P5, item S 1007

In conjunction with the opening of the City Loop, in March 1983 a new electronic control panel was installed to control signals in the area, allowing the retirement of the mechanical interlocking frame in March 1984.

Finally in 1986 Franklin Street signal box was closed, control transferred to the Metrol train control centre, but the remote control panel that replaced it was still in place as late as 2012.

Panel inside Franklin Street signal box, normally remotely controlled from Metrol. pic.twitter.com/p16DoVZR

— Vicsig (@vicsig) October 16, 2012

The building itself remains in place today.

Footnote

This history of the W.G. Goetz & Sons engineering works also mentions Batman Street.

After operating at 140 and later 260 Queen Street, the Goetz engineering works moved to 399-401 Franklin Street West (later Batman Street), West Melbourne.

The move from 260 Queen Street to Franklin Street West occurred sometime between 1892 and 1895. Franklin Street West was renamed Batman Street in 1909, and the Goetz property was later renumbered as 115 Batman Street.

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With the passing of the Country Roads and Level Crossings Act in 1954, the removal of level crossings across Victoria kicked up a gear, resulting in dozens of new concrete bridges being constructed across Melbourne’s suburbs.

Among them was the road over rail bridge for Burnley Street at Burnley station, completed in 1965.

And the Canterbury station rail over road bridge at Canterbury Road, completed in 1970.

As grade separation works continued along the line, Union Road at Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road in Mont Albert were now the last remaining level crossings between Box Hill and the city, which saw them attract the attention of the Country Roads Board – predecessor of VicRoads.

The 1978-79 annual report of the Country Road Board tells the rest of the story.

In 1974 the Abolition of Level Crossings Committee comprising the Engineer in Chief, CRB. Chief Civil Engineer, Victorian Railways and Chief Engineer, Public Works Department, recommended that the Board be the co-ordinating and construction authority for a direct road connection from Warrigal Road to Union Road, eliminating the railway level crossing at Union Road. Surrey Hills. This recommendation was based on the predicted traffic delays and accident potential at the level crossing.

The proposal at Surrey Hills was more than just a simple level crossing removal project – as you can see on a map, there are plenty of houses preventing a direct road connection between Warrigal Road and Union Road.

The Country Roads Board continues.

The proposal was approved in principle by the then Minister of Transport and agreed to by Box Hill and Camberwell City Councils in 1976. Such a road connection would require the acquisition of some houses and shops in the area. Plans for an amendment to the Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme to provide for the proposed connection were placed on public display in May, 1977.

A considerable number of people in Surrey Hills were concerned by the proposal and a public meeting was convened by local residents in August, 1977. Following this meeting, and after discussions with the Ministry for Conservation and the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works, the Board decided to prepare an environment effects statement and to re-examine the need for a road overpass of the railway. Other alternatives including traffic management measures, and the use of the existing Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme provision for the future widening of Canterbury Road were also considered.

These investigations showed that the need to eliminate the Union Road level crossing was not as great as envisaged some years ago. However, the investigations indicate a need to alleviate traffic congestion in Canterbury Road between Warrigal Road and Union Road.

The community was involved in the investigations in various ways. For example:

• detailed discussions were held with representatives of Box Hill and Camberwell City Councils, the Surrey Hills Association and the Victorian Railways Board;
• a study bulletin was produced and widely distributed in the area;
• interviews and discussion with individuals and groups of 6 to 10 people. including household, shopper and shopkeeper surveys;
• Board representatives attended a public meeting called by the Surrey Hills Association.

As well as the community involvement outlined above, a considerable amount of data was collected on matters such as:

• local history of the area;
• land zoning;
• the transport network in the area;
• the social profile of the area;
• town planning aspects;
• various traffic aspects.

The investigations concluded that in view of the relatively short delays and good safety record at the existing level crossing in Union Road, the high cost and environmental effects of an overpass, and the fact that other road improvement alternatives (not involving abolition of the railway level crossing) could satisfactorily handle expected future traffic:

• (a) there was not sufficient justification to proceed with the grade separation proposals in the foreseeable future;
• (b) there was for improved traffic operation in Canterbury in the study area by the application of low cost traffic management measures and that steps should be taken to implement these as soon as possible; and
• (c) the existing planning scheme widening along this section of Canterbury Road should be retained to provide for future improvements to Canterbury Road.

On Friday, 6th April, 1979, the Minister of Transport, the Hon Robert Maclellan, MLA, announced that the proposed elimination of the railway level crossing would not proceed in the light of the Board’s further investigations

In the years since, the residents of Surrey Hills have watched their house prices rise, but the Union Road level crossing has stayed the same – today ranked #14 in Victoria for risk according to the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model and now closed for up to 30 minutes of every hour.

Footnote

In October 2015 Robert Clark, Liberal member for Box Hill, had this to say on the Union Road level crossing:

In the Box Hill electorate, removing the Union Road, Surrey Hills crossing was ranked a high priority by last year’s VicRoads study, and was also ranked as the 14th highest removal priority in a 2008 expert study based on risk.

With many other crossings now having been removed or funded (mainly by the Coalition Government), this crossing should now be high on the list for future removal.

Yet Transport Minister, Jacinta Allan, has refused even to consider it, and has insultingly claimed it has “relatively low road and rail benefits”.

Politicians often forget history when sinking the boot into the opposition, and Robert Clark is no different here – it was a Liberal government in 1979 that cancelled the previous grade separation project at Surrey Hills, and they used similar arguments when justifying their decision.

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