Current state

The City Loop isn’t one tunnel but a network of four separate tunnels that encircle the Melbourne CBD, with train services from different lines taking different routes around it at different times of day, before finally arriving at Flinders Street.

A result of this is that inbound trains full of passengers will slowly empty out as they make their way around the entire loop.

Before arriving at Flinders Street Station almost empty.

A loading pattern shown in this diagram from the 2012 PTV Network Development Plan.

Figure 16-2: Existing City Loop operation and train loadings – 2012 PTV Network Development Plan

Which goes on to say:

Constraints in the Northern Group revolve around the need for Craigieburn and Upfield lines to merge in the City Loop, thereby restricting the combined frequency to 24 trains per hour.

On the Burnley Group, the terminating and turning back of Burnley local trains at Flinders Street limits capacity on all Burnley Group local lines.

The current routing and efficiency of the loop and terminating lines in the city is an inefficient use of resources (trains and infrastructure), as demonstrated in Figure 16-2. The line thickness designates an indicative train loading for the AM peak period.

From the above figure, it can be seen that the loop operation is inefficient because all trains entering the loop will be overloaded. However, by the time they run across the viaduct between Flinders Street and Southern Cross, they will be nearly empty, which is a waste of valuable central area track capacity.

In addition, Burnley local services (the Glen Waverley and Alamein lines) that run direct to and terminate at Flinders Street will be underutilised as many passengers will transfer onto loop services at Richmond, which again is a sub-optimal use of trains and infrastructure.

And a solution?

The 2008 East West Rail Link ‘Analysis on Rail Capacity’ report introduced a solution – reconfiguring the City Loop tunnels.

Northern – Burnley loops connected

The existing four city loop tunnels operate independently from each other. Rather than operating each group independently, this option would see trains running between North Melbourne and Richmond, either via Flinders Street (FSS) and Southern Cross (SXS), or via the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop (MURL). For this option, the following operations could be achieved:

• Sydenham to Glen Waverley / Alamein / Blackburn via FSS, SXS
• Craigieburn / Upfield to Belgrave / Lilydale via MURL

Operations would assume that layovers and crew changes would take place at suburban termini rather than at Flinders Street or Southern Cross.

By allowing Burnley and Northern trains travelling in the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop (MURL) to continue on to North Melbourne or Richmond respectively rather than looping around to Flinders Street, track and platform capacity at Southern Cross, Flinders Street and across the viaduct would be released. In association with discontinuing the practice of reversing trains at Flinders Street station, this would allow for direct services from each group to be linked.

The spare capacity at Flinders Street station could be used for services from Caulfield and Clifton Hill groups, and allow for network expansion.

The infrastructure works required to enable Northern-Burnley operations as shown include:

• new tunnel connection from the Burnley loop tunnel west of Flagstaff to the existing western loop portal south of North Melbourne;
• new tunnel connection from the Northern loop tunnel south of Parliament to a new portal situated in the Jolimont rail yards and connected to existing Burnley down track;
• new platform 7 at North Melbourne, forming an island platform with existing platform 6;
• track slewing on either side of North Melbourne to enable sectorisation of lines.

Passenger impacts would need to be carefully managed due to need to terminate Werribee/Williamstown trains at Southern Cross. Furthermore, this option does not offer new travel opportunities or CBD connectivity, and introduces some risk of overcrowding issues which would need special attention during the design of this option.

This option would allow the metropolitan rail network to transport around 114,000 passengers into the CBD in the morning peak hour.

And the concept was further refined in the 2012 PTV Network Development Plan.

The removal of loop operations on the Northern and Caulfield loops and the connection between specific lines on each side of the city will result in the creation of two new Cross-City lines, with capacity for an additional 30 trains per hour in the peak (Craigieburn – more than six trains per hour, Upfield and future Northern lines – more than 18 trains per hour and Burnley local lines – more than six trains per hour)

High level scope of works:

• New tunnel link between Flagstaff (Caulfield loop) and North Melbourne platform 2. This will enable trains from Craigieburn to run into the Caulfield loop to Flagstaff, then exit via the existing portal at Richmond platform 5 and continue on to Frankston via Parliament
• New tunnel link between Parliament (Northern loop) and Richmond platform 3. This will enable trains from Frankston to run into the Northern loop to Parliament, then exit via the existing western portal at North Melbourne on to Craigieburn via Flagstaff
• Enabling works for new tunnel link from City Circle loop to down Burnley Through line to facilitate through running from Clifton Hill Loop Line to Ringwood Loop Line for the purposes of stabling and maintenance
• New fly-over from the Upfield line onto the through suburban lines at North Melbourne (over other Northern Group tracks)
• Bi-directional signalling at North Melbourne platform 1 to enable operation of city-bound and outbound Seymour services to Southern Cross

The package of works identified for this period will provide the following benefits:

• Free up two viaduct tracks following removal of loop routing, effectively providing two new tracks through the city
• Provide greater capacity for growing passenger demand on Craigieburn and Upfield lines and all Burnley express and local lines
• Enhance service reliability through the full sectorisation of lines through the city and suburban sections
• Enable quicker travel times for outbound journeys on the Burnley express line through segregation from local stopping services
• Provide faster cross-town journeys by eliminating the need for passengers to backtrack or suffer layover time at Flinders Street
• Extend the network connectivity for Burnley local services by providing direct through services to Southern Cross and the west
• Facilitate easier cross-town travel through the city for all northern lines to employment, education and retail precincts clustered in the east
• Provide a better balance in passenger loadings on trains bound for either the underground city stations (Flagstaff, Melbourne Central and Parliament) or the surface stations (Southern Cross and Flinders Street), as opposed to the heavily loaded loop services and relatively lightly loaded direct services terminating at Flinders Street
• Simplify the rail network by providing direct access to and from all city stations at all times of the day, reducing current confusion and inconvenience associated with daytime loop reversals
• Increase efficiency of train movements through the city by removing loop services
• Reduce train congestion at Flinders Street by eliminating terminating and turnback manoeuvers for Burnley local services, thereby increasing train efficiency through reduced train fleet requirements
• Enable the rationalisation of track and removal of excess point work in the central area to reduce maintenance requirements
• Provide network capacity to enable new rail corridors to be built in future years to serve new developments in the northern outskirts as well as an express link to Melbourne Airport

Along with a clear visual showing how two small sections of tunnel result in such a large uplift in the overall passenger capacity.

Figure 16-3: Proposed reconfigured loop operation and train loadings – 2012 PTV Network Development Plan

While 2021 Infrastructure Victoria spoke of the best time to deliver the City Loop reconfiguration project – now.

The Melbourne Metro Tunnel will enable some new services on Craigieburn and Upfield lines, but these would reach capacity by the mid-2030s. If these new services were introduced without
reconfiguring the City Loop first, they would be heavily disrupted for long periods during the project’s construction, and affect many more passengers.

Reconfiguring the City Loop immediately after completing the Melbourne Metro Tunnel minimises disruptions to passengers, particularly as the realignment of the Cranbourne and Pakenham services through the Melbourne Metro Tunnel upon opening can leave one of the two loop tunnels affected by this project empty. The Victorian Government should start detailed design and planning quickly to identify critical works to undertake before the Melbourne Metro Tunnel is completed. This can avoid significant disruption to the network.

The window of opportunity to deliver the City Loop reconfiguration project will close as demand continues to increase, and the network may only temporarily have enough spare capacity to change train service patterns during construction to minimise passenger impacts.

The Victorian Government should complete a business case for the project within the next two years. Reconfiguring the City Loop would enable more frequent and reliable services by creating two high frequency separated lines connecting northern and south-eastern areas. The business case should consider timing, including starting the project immediately after the Melbourne Metro Tunnel is completed.

Footnote: passenger capacity at the stations themselves

Turns out running more trains isn’t the silver bullet to increasing the number of passengers able to travel – capacity on the escalators and through ticket gates at railway stations is another.

A problem also flagged in the 2012 PTV Network Development Plan:

16.8 City Loop station upgrades

Service frequencies through the City Loop stations will increase with the provision of high capacity signalling on the Clifton Hill Group and better utilisation of existing signalling systems on the other loops. Moreover, the connection of the Northern and Caulfield loops will result in a higher proportion of train loads alighting at the City Loop stations.

Preliminary investigations completed to date, utilising simulation software and focused on Parliament station at this stage, have indicated that some additional escalator capacity will be required as well as an enlargement of the forecourt areas and an increased number of barriers at the main entrances.

At this stage of the investigation, platform capacities do not appear to be an issue even though these are causing some concern at present. This is due to the fact that in future all trains through a given platform will be running to no more than two stopping patterns and destinations.

It is currently considered that additional escalator capacity can be provided by insertion of new escalators into the existing escalator banks. The extension of the forecourt areas is an at-surface construction issue that should not be overly complex.

Key benefits
• Ensure station access and platform capacity can support passenger movements at peak times
• Reduced congestion and therefore improved travel times at key CBD stations.

High level scope of works
• Install new escalators at City Loop stations
• Widen forecourt areas and install additional ticket barriers where necessary to improve throughput.

And which is being addressed at Melbourne Central station as part of the Metro Tunnel project, with two new escalators being installed between the concourse and platform 1/2 to cater for the increased number of interchange passengers once the adjacent State Library station opens.

Further reading

• 2012 PTV Network Development Plan
• 2008 East West Rail Link Analysis on Rail Capacity report
• Infrastructure Victoria Reconfiguring the City Loop
• “Why Melbourne’s outgrown the City Loop” at Melbourne on Transit
• “Melbourne’s City Loop – the work of the Devil” at Under The Clocks

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Looking up the company name, I found the bus featured on the ‘Ride with Addikted’ Facebook page – their game being “Premium bus transport service: Birthdays, Hens, Bucks, Corporate events, Weddings & more!”.

The bus has national heavy vehicle plate number “XV22LW”, so my next step was to look up the registration plate on the VicRoads website.

Registration number:
XV22LW

Registration status & expiry date:
Current – 04/06/2024

Vehicle:
2005 BLACK M.A.N. BUS

VIN/Chassis:
WMAA66ZZ05C005571

Engine number:
19510105291015

Registration serial number:
7499449

Compliance plate / RAV entry date:
06/2005

I then searched online for the VIN of “WMAA66ZZ05C005571” – and found this expired auction listing on the machines4u website.

Showing a bus with a mismatched livery of white, blue and orange – a common sight for buses originally delivered to the National Bus Company, and then rebranded for Public Transport Victoria after their takeover by Transdev Melbourne in 2013.

With the full story becoming clear when I put the VIN into the search at the Australian Bus Fleet Lists site, which brought this up.

Operator
Transdev Melbourne

Depot
North Fitzroy

Fleet Number
#544

Registration
5840AO

Chassis Type
MAN 15.220

Chassis No
WMAA66ZZ05C005571

Body Manufacturer
Custom Coaches “CB30”

Body No
04-133

Body Date
6.2005

Withdrawn
15/10/2019

And with registration plate 5840AO on hand, I then searched my collection of photos, and what did I get – a photo of the bus in service with Transdev Melbourne back in June 2015.

And a parting shot from 2012, with the bus in the National Bus Company blue livery.

Quite the journey indeed!

Footnote – another ex-Transdev bus

I spotted another ex-Transdev CB30 bus in the back blocks of Ballarat earlier this year – where the wet weather and lack of shelter have not been kind to it.

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The scope

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link project has been divided up into three regions.

With the work to be tendered out as six ‘work packages’.

Which include:

Airport Station Package

The Airport Station package will be responsible for the following scope:

• construction of the new Airport Station including operational control systems (OCS);
• construction of a new 1.5km track pair from the new Airport Station to Mercer Drive;
• overhead wiring system and structures;
• land clearing and minor civil works for traction power substations and Digital Train Radio System (DTRS) Towers;
• Combined Services Route (CSR);
• utility services relocations;
• civil structures; and
• roadworks.

Viaduct Package

The Viaduct package will be responsible for the following scope:

• construction of approximately 5km of twin track viaduct commencing at Mercer Drive and continuing above the median strip of Airport Drive towards Steele Creek North and across the Western Ring Road;
• overhead wiring system, wiring and structures;
• land clearing and minor civil works for traction power substations and DTRS Towers;
• CSR;
• utility services relocations;
• civil structures and grade separations; and
• roadworks.

Corridor Package

The Corridor package will be responsible for the following scope:

• construction of approximately 6km of new track and associated civil works;
• overhead wiring system, wiring and structures;
• land clearing and minor civil works for traction power substations and DTRS Towers;
• CSR;
• utility services relocation;
• modifications to Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) tracks and supporting infrastructure including ARTC signalling works;
• shared user path works; and
• modifications to existing road bridges spanning the rail corridor.

Maribyrnong River Bridge Package

The Maribyrnong River Bridge package will be responsible for the following scope:
• construction of a new elevated twin track rail crossing to the West of the existing Albion Viaduct; and
• associated earthworks, drainage, lineside fencing and maintenance access.

RPV note that the Maribyrnong River Bridge package may ultimately be delivered as part of the Corridor package rather than as a standalone works package.

Rail Systems Package

The Rail Systems package will be responsible for the following scope:

• High Capacity Signalling (HCS);
• Automatic Train Supervision (ATS) system;
• Traction Power System (TPS) including:
– intake substation;
– new traction power substations and 22kV AC reticulation systems;
– 3.3kV Essential Services Distribution System (ESDS) Cable pulling, jointing and any required field equipment;
• Rail Control Systems;
• Communications Systems;
– Fibre optic network;
– Digital Train Radio System; and
• Systems integration and assurance.

And the controversial part

And the most complicated and controversial one – the Sunshine/Albion Package. The state government released the details of this work package back in March 2021 – an ‘exclusive’ media drop made to the Herald Sun by the State Government in return for not asking any difficult questions.

The headline feature – a rail-over-road-over-rail bridge at Albion station.

The rest of the work including.

Sunshine/Albion Package
The SAP Works primarily comprise of works in and around Sunshine Station, extending to the southern end of Albion-Jacana corridor. Key scope will include:

• modifications to the Anderson Road rail underbridge to accommodate the new Melbourne Airport Rail lines and the adjusted positions of the existing lines;
• construction of a new elevated viaduct for the Melbourne Airport Rail lines to span over Ballarat Road bridge, St Albans Road bridge and the Stony Creek;
• Overhead Line Equipment (OHLE) works between Sunshine Station and the Albion-Jacana corridor, crossing Ballarat Road, the Sunbury rail corridor, St Albans Road and Stony Creek;
• upgrades to Sunshine Station, including platform and car park modifications and the construction of a new concourse;
• upgrades to Albion Station car parks and forecourts;
• Shared User Path (SUP) works to connect the Principal Bicycle Network and the Strategic Cycling Corridor;
• relocation and implementation of rail systems;
• modifications to existing substations;
• diversion, relocation and protection of existing utilities and underground services;
• signalling, including relocatable equipment buildings (REB), signalling HT locations, axle counters in the Sunshine/Albion area; and
• CSR works in the Sunshine / Albion area and on the new Melbourne Airport Rail lines to the Corridor package interface.

Resulting in a tangle of new track between Sunshine and Albion.

To be delivered in three parts.

• Final Sunbury and Bendigo Commissioning Works – all track works, signalling works, substations and OHLE in relation to the Sunbury and Bendigo lines and all station works at Sunshine Station;
• MAR Spur Works – all works relating to the new Melbourne Airport Rail lines contained within the SAP scope; and
• Balance of SAP Works – the balance of works contained within the SAP scope.

Locals up in arms

Brimbank City Council had big plans for a ‘super hub’ at Sunshine and a rebuilt Albion railway station.

Their plans made public back in February 2021.

The Sunshine Super Hub and Albion Station precinct is a landmark project that is set to reinvent Brimbank as a thriving economic centre.

The council is hoping the hub will help unlock Brimbank’s investment, development and employment potential.

In preliminary designs for the hub, included in a document presented to last week’s council meeting, the council highlighted two possible scenarios for the future of Sunshine and Albion stations.

– The first scenario will result in both Sunshine and Albion stations being upgraded as dual ‘existing’ stations, with Albion station to move to the north.

– The second scenario involves moving Sunshine station to the north and into the new super hub.

Mayor Ranka Rasic confirmed the council had undertaken preliminary design work on the project.

“These options are indicative and exploratory only and further work is needed on the state-led project to determine the best outcome for our community and the western region.

“The Sunshine Super Hub and Albion Station upgrades could create Sunshine and Brimbank as the economic powerhouse of Melbourne’s west.”

The council has also commissioned art impressions to highlight the enormous transformation potential that could be delivered as part of this major infrastructure project.

Cr Rasic said the council will be discussing these preliminary options with the government.

So the announcement of the rail-over-road-over-rail bridge didn’t go down well.

The locals disappointed with the reduced scope of the project.

The proposed concept plans for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link will drive a “lethal stake through the heart of Sunshine,” according to a local advocacy group

The Greater Sunshine Community Alliance’s convener Stephen Torsi said the group was concerned by the plans which were released last month by the state and federal governments.

The plans include a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River and elevated twin tracks between Sunshine and the Albion Junction.

There was no mention in of the Sunshine Super Transport Hub in the plans.

Mr Torsi said community members were concerned by the information that had been released so far.

He said the alliance was concerned about two issues in particular: the omission of the Sunshine Super Transport Hub and the skyrail between Sunshine and Albion Junction.

As reported by Star Weekly, Brimbank council has raised also concerns that the hub has been overlooked.

“The fact that it looks like the superb hub has been downgraded is a massive blow as a community,” he said.

“We’re keen to work with developers and all the stakeholders and push back on something that looks like it will be second rate.

“We want to make sure we get the best for Sunshine, we don’t want just another track that divides the city.”

Mr Torsi said the proposed elevated tracks from Sunshine to Albion Junction would split Sunshine.

“They split Sunshine in two in the 60s due to bad planning and this goes further in splitting the city,” he said.

“It drives a lethal stake through the heart of Sunshine. We will fight hard on this, Imagine the uproar if this was Toorak.

So what is Albion station like anyway?

The disused railway substation and John Darling & Son Flour Mill form a distinctive industrial backdrop to the area.

But the pebblecrete station building has all the charm of a public toilet block.

Seedy at dusk.

And more so at night time.

Sections of the platform are made of timber.

Which is rotten away.

And the concrete Ballarat Road bridge is crumbling.

And the wider area

A non-DDA compliant ramp is the only access to Albion station.

Connecting to a dank pedestrian subway.

Car parking dominates the entire area.

The Ballarat Road bridge overshadows the Albion side of the station.

Making the car park feel even seedier than they usually are.

Go for a walk down the west side of the tracks, and you’ll find a cyclone fence with rusty barbed wire at neck height.

Or head towards Sunshine North via St Albans Road, where you’ll find a narrow foothpath squeezed beside cars.

Keep going, and you’ll find a second bridge over the Albion-Jacana railway.

Squeeze between the road and the fence.

Hopefully you don’t need to pass someone coming in the other directions.

Or get crushed into the steel guard rail by a wayward motorist.

So I’m not exactly surprised that a rail-over-road-over-rail solution was chosen for Albion – a penny pinching State Government doesn’t want to spend money on fixing the problems of the west, so they’re just throwing a new bridge over it all, so the rest of Melbourne doesn’t have to look at it.

Update – Albion isn’t completely forgotten

Turns out an upgrade to the shared use path between Albion and Sunshine North is in scope.

Designing and undertaking all works for the SUP between the Albion eastern car park and Gilmore Road including:

• SUP along the east side of the eastern Albion Station carpark; and
• SUP connection along St Albans Road under the Ballarat Road underpass and a new stand-alone bridge over the Albion-Jacana corridor.

As is ‘public realm’ improvements to the area:

• the architectural gateway feature including public artwork or creative design treatments associated with the viaduct near Ballarat Road;
• boulevard landscaping treatment to Ballarat Road between Anderson Road and Adelaide Street;
• public realm, shared use zone, public artwork and creative design treatments between rail corridor and John Darling Flour Mill site;
• landscape treatments to Talmage Street;
• establishment of forecourt area, including street furniture, from Albion Station eastern entry to pedestrian underpass;
• landscape upgrade works to existing Albion Station car park on eastern side of rail corridor; and
• temporary creative works to ameliorate construction-phase impacts including creative hoarding treatments, pop-up parklets, street furniture or other pedestrian infrastructure, lighting, programmable spaces, and creative wayfinding.

So at least Albion station is getting something other than a new row of concrete pylons.

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South Kensington – Footscray railway quadruplication

In 1973 work on this project was already underway.

The western suburbs of Melbourne are serviced by the electrified suburban railway lines to St Albans and Williamstown / Altona. They have a common section from Footscray to the City, a distance of 5.5 kilometres. These lines also carry passenger and freight traffic for the country rail services to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

The existing route from the City has six tracks to North Melbourne (junction for the Broadmeadows and Upfield lines) and four tracks to South Kensington. The remaining two kilometres to Footscray have double tracks. This section of double track line crosses the Maribyrnong River and is a bottleneck for the traffic to the western suburbs with trains in each direction converging from two to one track , only to diverge again a mile further on.

The project is to quadruplicate the remaining section of double track between the City and Footscray.

Work was completed on the project in 1976, with track capacity between the City and Footscray expanded to six tracks in 2014 by the Regional Rail Link project.

Caulfield – Mordialloc Railway third track

At the time of the report, the Frankston line was something of a basket case.

The railway between Caulfield and Frankston provides a passenger service for residents on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay. The line also carries limited passenger and freight traffic from the Mornington and Stony Point Lines.

At present the electric suburban services suffer from congestion in peak hours resulting in little travel time advantage from the operation of express trains. Although the capacity of the present line between Caulfield and Mordialloc can be increased by improved signalling, there would still be delays to the peak hour trains serving Mordialloc to Frankston.

The project is based on the provision of a third track signalled for two-way operation, between Caulfield and Mordialloc. This would provide significant benefits from improved travel times, and express and local services would be more efficiently combined. The peak hour express trains between Caulfield and Cheltenham/ Mordialloc would save up to six minutes travel time per trip.

The project would involve construction of 15.5 kilometres of single-track railway, together with the installation of associated signalling and electrical equipment. The capital expenditure on the project would occur between 1973 and 1976 for Caulfield to Cheltenham, and 1976 and 1978 for Cheltenham to Mordialloc.

But work on a third track was slow to start – by 1981 the the scope cut back to just Caulfield-Moorabbin – a distance of 6.5 kilometres. The project was given the go ahead by then Transport Minister Steve Crabb in 1984, and took until 1987 to be completed. It also also done on the cheap, with level crossings instead of grade separations.

Sunshine-Deer Park West Railway

Rail services to the west have long lagged the west of Melbourne, with Deer Park especially forgotten.

The Melbourne western suburbs of Ardeer, Deer Park, and Deer Park West are served by bus routes of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, as well as by private operators. All of the bus routes serve Sunshine Station, where a bus-rail interchange is proposed to replace the existing limited bus terminal facilities. The “TB bus routes at present continue on to the city but function mainly as a local bus service, because the Sunshine to the City running time by bus is 17 minutes longer than by train.

Sunshine is at the junction of the main Ballarat and Bendigo railway lines. The Ballarat line is single track with a station and crossing loop at Deer Park. This station is served by only a limited number of short distance country trains.

The project is to duplicate and electrify the existing railway to Deer Park West, and to introduce a suburban passenger service. This would involve the construction of a second track for about 7 kilometres and electrification of 14 track kilometres. New stations would be built at Ardeer and Deer Park West and the existing station at Deer Park would be rebuilt.

Two evaluations were completed. The first included the immediate electrification as well as the duplication. The second was on the basis of immediate duplication of the track, but deferment of electrification for ten years. The initial service would be provided by a shuttle service, using reconditioned railcars, between Deer Park West and Sunshine. This service would be supplemented by the existing Melton/Bacchus Marsh commuter trains.

The duplicated line opened to trains in 1976, in addition to the rebuilt Ardeer station, but no extra services were provided – something not addressed until the opening of Regional Rail Link in 2015, and the opening of Caroline Springs station in 2017.

As for electrification – 18km of track was duplicated between Melton and Deer Park West in 2019, but we’re still waiting for electric trains.

Macleod-Greensborough Railway Duplication

The Hurstbridge line was another goat track in need of upgrading.

The Hurstbridge Line is an electrified suburban railway in Melbourne serving the north-eastern suburbs of Ivanhoe, Heidelberg and Eltham, and the Diamond Creek valley to Hurstbridge.

The line is double-track for the first 16.5 kilometres to Macleod, except for single-track sections across the Merri Creek Bridge (Clifton Hill-Westgarth) and Heidelberg-Rosanna. Beyond Macleod the line is single-track for the remaining 20.5 kilometres with crossing loops at Greensborough, Eltham and Diamond Creek. The basic service is for alternate trains to Eltham and Hurstbridge, with extra trains to Heidelberg and Macleod during peak hours.

The numerous sections of single track, particularly between Clifton Hill and Eltham, considerably constrain the frequency of service which can be provided on this line without incurring excessive delays at crossing loops. The project is to extend the double track from Macleod to Greensborough, a distance of about 5.5 kilometres. The Merri Creek Bridge and Heidelberg-Rosanna single-track sections are expensive to duplicate and have not been included in the project.

In 1979 the line between Macleod and Greensborough was duplicated, with the ‘too expensive’ sections also tackled in recent years – Clifton Hill – Westgarth in 2009, and Heidelberg – Rosanna in 2018.

Electrification of Newport-Werribee Railway

Once upon a time Werribee was a country town and not a suburb of Melbourne, and had a rail service to match.

The Geelong railway provides services for the Western Suburbs of Melbourne. The services to Altona and Williamstown operate over the electrified section between Altona Junction/Newport and the city. A diesel service operates to Werribee.

The population in the area between Newport and Werribee is growing rapidly and so is the demand for suburban rail travel. The project provides for the electrification of the 18.5 kilometres of double track between Altona Junction and Werribee, allowing the service to be integrated with the electrified suburban system.

The project would be commenced in 1973 and would be completed by the end of 1974. New stations are proposed at Newport West and Tarneit at an estimated cost of $100,000 each.

It took until 1983 for electric trains to start running to Werribee, with services rerouted via Altona from 1985 following the completion of a new railway via Westona to Laverton.

However the extra stations proposed in the 1970s were never built, and instead two stations were closed – Paisley in Newport South and Galvin on the northern edge of Altona, made redundant following the rerouting of Werribee line services via Altona in 1985.

Capacity on the rail corridor was expanded in 1995 following the opening of the parallel standard gauge Melbourne-Adelaide track in 1995, and expanded again in 2015 following the diversion of Geelong line services to the new Regional Rail Link route via Tarneit.

Frankston Railway Resignalling

Track amplification on the Frankston line already appeared in the report, but the life-expired signalling elsewhere on the line was also in need to replacement.

The Frankston Line provides a passenger service to the residents on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay. The line also carries the limited passenger and freight traffic from the Mornington and Stony Point lines.

The present signal capacity on the Caulfield-Frankston section of this line is only sufficient to carry the existing number of peak hour trains, The double line block telegraph system of signalling is still in use between Glenhuntly and Bentleigh, and between Highett and Frankston, a distance of nearly 27 kilometres. This system is labour intensive and is not readily modified for the close headways usually required on urban railways.

The project would be the replacement of the existing double line block telegraph system between Frankston and Mordialloc to increase track capacity and improve reliability. The minimum headway would be reduced from 6 minutes to 3 minutes.

Thankfully this these upgrades happened much quicker than the track implication works – Glenhuntly to Bentleigh was upgraded in 1974, followed in 1976 by Carrum to Seaford and Carrum to Chelsea.

The last examples of double line block safeworking were replaced on the Williamstown line and Upfield line in the 1990s, and on the Bendigo line in 2005, leaving just the Seymour line.

Signal Improvements – Oakleigh Station

Way back in the 1920s Oakleigh station was rebuilt as the terminus for suburban services from Melbourne, but by the 1970s it had been left behind by post-war suburban sprawl towards Dandenong.

The Dandenong Line is one of a number of railway lines serving the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The line also carries the Gippsland rail traffic.

Oakleigh is the mid-point of the line, being 15.5 kilometres from Flinders Street Station ad 14.5 kilometres from Dandenong. During the peak hours, additional trains are run between the city and Oakleigh to supplement the Dandenong trains. Adjacent to Oakleigh Station there is a small goods yard and stabling facilities for suburban trains.

At either end of Oakleigh Station there are manually operated signal boxes. These control the section through Oakleigh Station, this being the only remaining section of manual signalling between Caulfield and Dandenong. These signal boxes also control entry of trains to the goods yard, suburban trains storage sidings and the movements of terminating suburban trains.

The project would replace the two existing signal boxes with one consolidated box within the station building. The design of the new signal box would be compatible with the proposed third track between Caulfield and Huntingdale.

In 1975 the new signal panel replaced the aging mechanical signal boxes, but in the years that followed the reason for it existing has disappeared. The first casualty was the goods yard which was removed in 1984, followed by the stabling sidings in 1995. A turnback platform was built at Westall in 2012 removing the need to use Oakleigh for the purpose, with the signal panel abolished in 2018 following the opening of the Dandenong Signal Control Centre to control the entire line.

As for the third track from Caulfield – we’re still waiting. The idea was revived in 2006, but the elevated tracks from Caulfield completed in 2016 only have space for two tracks.

Melbourne Train Replacement

In the 1970s Melbourne rail travellers with still stuck onboard old ‘red rattlers’.

The Victorian program for 1973-74 includes $10.7m for replacement trains. The cost of the trains has increased 7 per cent since 1972.

In view of some adverse press comment about seating on the one new train which has come into service since the 1972 evaluation, it is noted here that a sensitivity test of the evaluation was made in which passenger benefits were halved.

However, in response to the press criticism the Victorian Minister for Transport now has arranged for improved seating to be incorporated in the new trains.

The stainless steel ‘Hitachi’ trains were constructed between 1972 and 1981, remaining in service until replaced by the current Siemens and X’Trapolis trains in 2003–2004. The last Hitachi train carried passengers in 2014, with the last set moving on the Melbourne rail network in 2015.

Melbourne Eastern Railway – Stage One

Photo by Philip Mallis from Melbourne, via Wikimedia Commons

The 1970s saw yet another proposal to build a railway to Doncaster.

The section of the Eastern Freeway at present under construction is between Alexandra Parade, Collingwood and Thompsons Road, North Balwyn. This section of the freeway provides a central reserve for the proposed Eastern Railway. The railway would link Doncaster and Templestowe with central Melbourne.

The railway is planned to be constructed in two stages.

Stage One would construct the railway a distance of 8.5 kilometres to a station near Thompsons Road, Bulleen. The railway would branch from the Hurstbridge and Epping Lines at Victoria Park and use the railway reserve provided by construction of the Eastern Freeway. The only station on the new line would be at Bulleen, where interchange facilities would be provided for buses and cars.

Stage Two would extend the railway from Bulleen through Doncaster to East Doncaster.

In 1977 the Eastern Freeway opened to Bulleen Road, being extended to Doncaster Road in 1982 and Springvale Road in 1997, but today we’re no closer to a Doncaster railway.

Melbourne Bus Replacement

MMTB Annual Report 1979

Buses – the forgotten mode of Melbourne’s public transport network.

Of the 260 buses operated by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB), 135 are over 20 years old. It is intended to purchase 30 buses in 1973-74 to replace an equal number of 22 year old AEC Regal Mk I11 buses. The MMTB believes the new vehicles – integral construction National buses fully imported from UK – would have an economic life of approximately l5 years. Accordingly, the evaluation assumes a project case of replacing the 22 year old Leyland buses in 1973-74, followed by 15 year replacement cycles thereafter

And the story isn’t any different today – some Melbourne bus operators kept buying high floor buses despite the availability of accessible low floor models, and today we’re still buying old fashioned diesel buses instead of hybrid or 100% electric buses.

Melbourne Tram Replacement

Weston Langford photo

W class trams might be a Melbourne icon, but they served as everyday public transport for far too long.

The rolling stock of the MMTB consists of 696 trams of which 70 per cent were built before 1939. The MMTB have indicated that over the next five years they intend to purchase 205 new trams, of which 100 have already been ordered.

The first ‘modern’ tram was the 100 Z1 class trams that entered service in 1975 – 1978, followed by 15 Z2 class trams in 1978 – 1979, and 115 Z3 class trams in 1979 – 1984.

However this was not enough to send the aging W class fleet to the scrap yard – it took the arrival of 28 A1 class trams in 1984 – 1985, 42 A2 class trams in 1985 – 1986 to finally kill them off, with the last W2 class tram carrying paying passenger in December 1987.

Ringwood Corridor

Back in the 1970s the railway east to Ringwood was the ‘darling child’ of the Melbourne suburban network, but was still not up to scratch.

The Box Hill-Ringwood Railway is the main railway serving the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. There are four tracks over the first 4.5 kilometres to Burnley, the junction of the Glen Waverley Line. The next 10.5 kilometres to Box Hill has three tracks, allowing express trains to operate on this section in peak hours. The remaining 10 kilometres to Ringwood is double track.

Ringwood is the junction for the electrified service to Lilydale (13 kilometres) and Belgrave.(l6.5 kilometres). Ringwood is also an important terminal station for peak hour trains. The Lilydale line is single track except for the section Croydon-Mooroolbark (3.5 kilometres). The Belgrave line is also single track except for double track between Bayswater and Ferntree Gully (5 kilometres). There are crossing loops at Upper Ferntree Gully and Upwey.

The railway continuing beyond Lilydale to Healesville (25 kilometres) has an infrequent diesel rail car service which connects with the electric suburban service at Lilydale. The railway beyond Belgrave is the narrow gauge (0.76 metre) ‘Puffing Billy Tourist Line.

The railways beyond Ringwood were originally built in the 1880’s as low capacity branch lines. They were electrified in the 1920’s. The recent growth of the Melbourne urban area into the area served by the lines has increased the demand on the rail service. The improvements are designed to upgrade the railway lines to meet projected demand.

The proposed improvements are as follows:

(i) Ringwood Station: Third Platform. The improvement is the provision of a third platform. The estimated cost is $0.7m, which includes associated resignalling.

(ii) Ringwood-Bayswater: Duplication of 5 kilometres. This would complete the duplication between Ringwood and Ferntree Gully. The estimated cost is $1.3m.

(iii) Ringwood-Croydon: Duplication of 5 kilometres. This would complete the duplication between Ringwood and Mooroolbark. The estimated cost is $l.1m.

(iv) Signalling Croydon-Lilydale and Bayswater-Ferntree Gully. The existing signalling on the two existing double track sections is Double Line Block Telegraph System. The single track section between Mooroolbark and Lilydale uses the electric staff system. It is proposed to replace these systems with power signalling at an estimated cost of $1.3m.

The third platform at Ringwood, the track duplications, and the signal improvements are proposed for commencement in 1973 and completion during 1975. Additionally, it is proposed to build a third track from Box Hill to Ringwood between 1975 and 1978 at an estimated cost of $7.2m.

The first change to occur was the closure of the line to Healesville in 1980.

As for duplication, it had to wait – Ringwood to Bayswater completed in 1982, followed by Ringwood to Croydon in 1984.

The third platform at Ringwood – that didn’t happen until 1999. And a third track from Box Hill to Ringwood – the Middleborough Road Project of 2007 left space for it, but subsequent upgrades have kicked the idea off into the never-never.

Huntingdale-Ferntree Gully Railway

The government wanted funding to reserve land for a railway to Rowville.

The Melbourne Metropolitan Transportation Plan provides for the eventual construction of a railway line between Huntingdale and Ferntree Gully. As residential development is now proceeding along the alignment of the proposed route, the Victorian Government desires to make the land acquisitions necessary for an eventual construction of the railway.

The most recent feasibility study was completed in 2012-14 but we are still no closer to building it.

Frankston-Lyndhurst Railway

Another proposed cross-country railway line was one from Dandenong to Frankston.

The Melbourne Metropolitan Transportation Plan provides for the eventual construction of a railway between Frankston and Lyndhurst to improve public transport services between Frankston and Dandenong. As residential development is now proceeding along the alignment of the proposed route, the Victorian Government desires to make the necessary land acquisitions.

But the only progress in the years since was the extension of suburban services to Cranbourne in 1995, using the existing railway from Dandenong.

Additional Melbourne Railway Stations

Melbourne has a long history of building new ‘infill’ stations on existing railways, and the 1970s was no different.

The Melbourne Metropolitan Transportation Plan proposes the construction of a number of additional railway stations.

Where these coincide with other rail improvements for a corridor the cost of providing additional stations .has been included in the corridor evaluations.

There are six additional stations which are not associated with corridor improvements of which two are planned for construction in 1973-74 at an estimated cost of $0.2m.

In 1975 two new suburban station opened – Kananook outside Frankston, and Yarraman outside Dandenong, followed in 1982 by a third – Ginifer station south of St Albans.

Melbourne Station Rebuilding

By the 1970s suburban sprawl had seen what were once country railway stations absorbed into suburban Melbourne, and passenger were finding the facilities lacking.

It is proposed to reconstruct 50 Melbourne suburban railway stations. These stations are timber structures more than 60 years old, many of which were designed to handle peak traffic volumes much less than current day levels. The reconstruction would be designed to complement, where appropriate, modal interchange improvements, and alterations to platforms and facilities required for the provision of additional tracks.

So in the years that followed aging timber buildings were replaced by brown brick bunkers, a process which continued until a growing interest in heritage saw them restored instead of demolished.

Scorecard

The report listed 16 public transport projects – so how many actually happened?

• completed on time: 5
• completed, and subsequently improved further: 2
• completed, but with scope cut: 2
• delayed but eventually completed: 2
• delayed and completed after scope cut: 2
• never started: 3

And a surprising outcome – completed on time, and improved further in the years that followed: 2.

Footnote: public transport patronage in the 1970s

The 1970s was a time of falling rail patronage – cars had already taken over the streets of Melbourne.

In Melbourne the share of journeys to work taken by private vehicles climbed from 19% in 1951 to 69% in 1976. That’s more than a threefold increase in share over 25 years.

On the other hand, public transport’s share of work trips plummeted. It fell from 57% in Melbourne in 1951 to 24% by 1976; walking also halved, from 14% to 6%; and cycling was virtually wiped off the map, collapsing from 9% to 1%.

So the improvements listed above were a belated attempt by the railways to make themselves relevant to the modern world.

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Caroline Springs

We start out at Caroline Springs station, located between town and the tip.

A massive car park the only neighbour.

And the only footpath out of there filled with a fleet of rubbish trucks.

But the land in between is about to be developed.

Into a ‘fulfilment centre’ for Amazon.

Amazon Australia will open a second Melbourne fulfilment centre (FC) in Ravenhall late next year, creating around 300 jobs on completion and more than doubling Amazon’s operational footprint in Victoria.

The new facility will be located at Dexus’ Horizon 3023 estate, a 127-hectare site which adjoins Caroline Springs train station and is close to the proposed Western Intermodal Freight Terminal. Dexus has commenced works on the site, supporting more than 200 construction jobs over the development and fit-out phase. The lease for the centre was facilitated by CBRE’s Industrial & Logistics business.

The new fulfilment centre will be 37,000 square metres – almost double the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground – with capacity to house up to six million items ranging from health, household and personal care products, consumer electronics, books, clothing and pantry food and drink staples, to larger items like flat screen TVs, cartons of soft drink or nappies, and gardening equipment.

Minister for Economic Development Tim Pallas said today that attracting investment from significant global companies such as Amazon, is critical to drive our economic recovery.

“Amazon’s investment in a second fulfilment centre will bring hundreds of jobs to the western suburbs of Melbourne, providing local employment opportunities in suburban growth areas,” he said.

“We welcome this investment as a clear indicator of confidence in the state.”

AKA a big tin shed.

Tarneit

Tarneit is another railway station on the edge of Melbourne.

New housing estates sprawling across the plains.

Served by a sea of car parking.

But the Truganina Precinct Structure Plan has designated the area around the railway station as a future town centre.

But what is the first commercial development in the new town centre?

Bunnings will be the first of many retailers that will be making up ‘Tarneit Park Hub’ – the shopping precinct of our planned Town centre at Westbrook.

Bunnings Warehouse has responded to the growth of Melbourne’s western corridor, committing to a new 16,500sqm warehouse in Tarneit Park Hub.

Ranfurlie Asset Management, the retail and commercial division of the Dennis Family, is developing Tarneit Park Hub, which will total 46,000sqm when complete.

“We are excited to have secured Bunnings. It cements Tarneit Park Hub as a key retail and lifestyle asset for the region,” stated Mark Wilson, CEO of Ranfurlie Asset Management.

“Tarneit Park Hub answers the demand from the community for greater amenity, with great access, proximity to public transport and adjoining Tarneit Central it sets an excellent foundation to further enhance the precinct and build on what is already a thriving centre.” concluded Mr Wilson

Tom Perkins of Leedwell Property said that “Bunnings is a great anchor for Tarneit Park Hub. The ability to generate foot-fall seven days a week and its brand recognition in a community is unparalleled. We have recently completed leasing on a number of new developments anchored by a Bunnings and they have proven to attract quality, national retailers around them.”

Yes, another tin shed!

Imagine how bad these development would be without structure plans?

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Construction

Design work kicked off in 2017, with a mockup train built for stakeholder consultation, and put on public display in February 2018.

By July 2018 body shells manufactured in China had arrived in Melbourne for final fitout.

With the first completed HCMT train rolled out in October 2018 ready for a political photo op.

In November 2018 this train was transferred from the Downer factory at Newport to the HCMT depot at Pakenham East.

The transfer was made in the dead of night, the untested train towed by diesel locomotives and treated as an unbraked vehicle, with extra wagons added to provide braking effort, and no trains allowed to pass on the parallel tracks.

By October 2019 initial testing at Pakenham East has proven the braking performance, with set 7 allowed to be transferred as a braked vehicle while other trains were still running.

The depot soon started to fill with new trains.

Testing

November 2019 saw the first HCMT run on the Pakenham line under it’s own power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQXfT9sIv5U
Video by Railways Of Doom – I didn’t make the trip out east to see the tests

With the government deciding to cancel normal services to enable the testing program to be sped up.

Evening services on parts of the busy Pakenham line have been cancelled for much of this week, as officials race to get Melbourne’s new high capacity trains on the track.

The $2.3 billion program is running months behind schedule, with the first of the new trains only recently allowed to leave the Pakenham East depot under its own power.

The train is required to complete 10,000 kilometres of testing on the suburban network, before being accepted into the Metro fleet.

But the government’s contract with builder Evolution Rail requires the first 2,500 kilometres of tests be undertaken between the last service of the day, and the first service the following day.

That’s prompted PTV to cancel services between Dandenong and Pakenham from just after 8pm each evening this week to maximise the test window.

In January 2020 the test program expanded to the Werribee line, where high speed brake testing was carried out.

And in March 2020 a HCMT set was transferred to Upper Ferntree Gully, so that the brakes could be tested on the steep grades of the Belgrave line.

COVID-19 delays

COVID-19 hit Melbourne during 2020, everyone needing to keep their distance.

And wearing face masks.

HCMT set 3 passes through Windsor on the down, with another trip to Elsternwick

Staff working on the HCMT test program were not exempt – a maximum of two people allowed in the cab.

More testing

June 2020 was another milestone, as the HCMT fleet was cleared to run alongside normal passenger services.

Transfers between Newport and Pakenham East also being carried out by day.

But disruptions to normal services were still needed to enable additional testing – night time on the Pakenham line.

Buses replaced trains on the Pakenham line between Pakenham and Dandenong from Friday 3 July until Sunday 5 July to allow for the checks to take place.

The new trains are tested in real-world conditions, including stopping at stations, responding to signals and undergoing speed tests.

They had been running in-between passenger services where possible, but the weekend’s tests required repeated stopping and braking which is not possible during passenger services.

And from mid-afternoon on the Werribee line.

Buses will replace trains between Newport and Werribee stations from 2.45pm to the last service each day from Monday 24 August to Sunday 13 September to enable important safety and performance testing for Melbourne’s new High Capacity Metro Trains.

In September 2020 the first HCMT was tested on the Sunbury line – initially under the cover of darkness, but then between normal passenger services.

While the rest of the Melbourne was tucked away in bed, High Capacity Metro Trains were also sent to unexpected places like Kensington, to prove that the new trains were compatible with legacy infrastructure on the rest of the network.

These tests were expanded in December 2020 to daylight runs between normal services, showing that a passenger carrying HCMT misrouted from the usual Pakenham and Cranbourne lines could safley unload passengers.

Flemington Racecourse to the north.

Burnley in the east.

And Elsternwick on the Sandringham line.

And into service

Back in February 2019 the Evolution Rail consortium was promoting a “mid-2019” date for the first HCMT operational on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.

By February 2020 the date had been changed to “mid-2020” but after they failed to meet that target, the dates were dropped altogether – entry to service “following completion of comprehensive testing program”.

September 2020 saw a new entry to service date appear – the upcoming December 2020 timetable change, but thanks to delays to the Ballarat Line Upgrade project, the timetable change was bumped to January 2021.

But 2020 is full of surprises, and this was no different – on December 27 HCMT set 11 emerged from Pakenham East to beat the end of 2020 and run an inaugural passenger service, making a single trip to Flinders Street Station and return.

The day was low key, with no special ceremonies to mark the occasion – and little media attention.

Two years late, the first of Melbourne’s $2.3 billion fleet of new high capacity @metrotrains has taken its first fare paying passengers. Pictures @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/hf9yJbKBtr

— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) December 27, 2020

A gaggle of railfans who found out that the train was running forming the bulk of the passengers.

My main take away – useless doors!

Went for a ride on the new High Capacity Metro Train and my main takeaway is the doors – nobody seemed to be able to open them at stations.

— Marcus Wong (@aussiewongm) December 26, 2020

The new timetable starts on Sunday 31 January 2021. Will we have to wait until then to ride a HCMT train, or will more one-off services run – I don’t know.

A technology related footnote

Goodbye to old fashioned keys – an electronic lock gives access to the cab.

The rollout of the HCMT fleet has also seen something new added between the rails on the approach to each station – these yellow bars.

Part of the Correct Side Door Enable (CSDE) and Selective Door Operation (SDO) systems fitted to the HCMT fleet, these ‘TrackLink III’ beacons tell the onboard computer which side the platform is on, and how many doors to open.

And onboard is a new feature for Melbourne trains – fire doors.

Which will automatically close in an emergency, dividing up the seven car walkthrough train into smoke proof compartments a maximum of two carriages long.

Further reading

Max Thum also rode the first public HCMT service – here is his review of the passenger experience.

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Footnote

I’m not actually posting this on Christmas morning – I wrote it weeks ago then put it into my queue of scheduled posts.

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But it wasn’t just garden variety late running and chronically dirty buses that led to the company being dropped, but something that slipped under the radar of the Melbourne media – a lack of essential maintenance that resulted in so many buses becoming unroadworthy in September 2017 that other operators had to be called up to assist in the running on normal bus services.

It begins

The rumours of a roadworthy crisis at Transdev started swirling in the world of bus spotters (yes, it’s a thing!) but the first public sign came on 18 September 2017, when buses from Dyson Group started appearing on routes normally operated by Transdev Melbourne.

As did vehicles from Sita Buslines.

Confirmation

The first media outlet to pick up the story was the Manningham Leader on September 19 – the area is dependant on buses for public transport, so I guess that’s why they noticed.

More than 30 of Melbourne’s Transdev buses ordered off the road after failing roadworthy checks
Andrew Rogers
Manningham Leader

More than 30 Melbourne buses have been ordered off the streets after being deemed unroadworthy.

Transport Safety Victoria ordered an emergency safety inspection at bus contractor Transdev’s Doncaster and North Fitzroy depots on September 11 and 12 after routine tests by VicRoads found safety breaches with 33 buses.

In a staff bulletin seen by Leader News, Transdev managing director Warwick Horsley told employees the company would now carry out checks on its entire fleet of more than 500 buses.

“We will continue to work closely with TSV to assess the remainder of our fleet for any defects, as well as any issues with our maintenance procedures,” he said.

The company — which operates 30 per cent of Melbourne’s buses — was forced to withdraw 33 buses from service after they were found to have safety defects, but VicRoads has refused to publicly detail the findings.

Shaun Rodenburg, acting director of bus safety at TSV, said: “We are working with Transdev to make sure the immediate safety issues are effectively managed and their safety systems are sufficiently robust to ensure the ongoing safety of their bus services.”

Transport Safety Victoria has confirmed it will follow up with another safety audit once Transdev has fixed the faulty buses and has ordered a more frequent audit regimen to monitor the company’s vehicle maintenance.

Transdev is yet to respond to Leader’s questions relating to the safety defects and how routes and customers will be affected.

It took The Age a day later to pick up the story.

Melbourne’s second biggest bus operator has been ordered to take a dozen of its buses off the road due to serious defects that posed a danger to passengers.

A blitz by safety inspectors on two Transdev bus depots found 33 defective buses, with 12 in such poor condition they were ordered off the road for urgent repairs.

Victoria’s transport safety watchdog, Transport Safety Victoria, said it was the highest number of defective buses it had ever taken off the road in a blitz.

Transport Safety Victoria said it would increase its inspection regime of Transdev’s fleet of buses until it is satisfied the company’s maintenance standards are adequate.

It is currently inspecting about 40 buses a day for potential safety problems.

“We are working with Transdev to make sure the immediate safety issues are effectively managed and their safety systems are sufficiently robust to ensure the ongoing safety of their bus services,” said Shaun Rodenburg, the acting director of bus safety at Transport Safety Victoria.

Defects included engine and transmission faults, fluid and air leaks, loose fitting panels and suspension faults.

The high number of potentially dangerous faults earned a rebuke from Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan.

“This was not acceptable and we’re taking this situation very seriously, as the safety of people travelling on buses is our highest priority,” Ms Allan said.

Public Transport Victoria is reviewing the maintenance failures “so we understand the root cause of this issue and stop it from happening again”, Ms Allan said.

With Transport Safety Victoria issuing a media release on September 22.

In response to safety data analysis, Transport Safety Victoria (TSV) recently engaged with Vic Roads to run a series of safety inspections over two nights on Transdev buses.

As a result of this work:

• TSV issued 12 Prohibition Notices to Transdev, “grounding” 12 buses which presented a risk to safety;
• TSV issued one Improvement Notice to Transdev requiring it to assess its fleet for any more buses which may be unsafe and propose a remedial action plan for those buses before they be used to provide passenger services;
• TSV issued one Improvement Notice to Transdev requiring it to review its Maintenance Management System (MMS) to find how and why it failed and how to ensure the failure cannot recur; and
• TSV will conduct a targeted safety audit to test the effectiveness of Transdev’s remedial actions once they are complete. A more frequent audit regime will be applied until TSV is satisfied Transdev’s Maintenance Management System (MMS) is operating effectively.

“We are working with Transdev to make sure the immediate safety issues are effectively managed and their safety systems are sufficiently robust to ensure the ongoing safety of their bus services,” said Shaun Rodenburg, Acting Director Bus Safety at TSV.

And Public Transport Victoria adding a curt acknowledgement of the crisis on their website.

Replacement buses operating on some Transdev routes
Added: 22 September 2017

As a result of additional maintenance checks on Transdev buses, a number of their regular buses are currently out of service.

Transdev have made arrangements with other operators for replacement buses to supplement the fleet. These replacement buses may look different as they are branded by a different operator.

Customers will still need a valid myki to travel and should continue to touch on and touch off as normal on replacement buses. If a replacement bus does not have myki equipment, customers will be allowed to travel without touching on or touching off.

Real time information may not be available as some of the replacement buses are equipped with a different tracking system. Real time information on SmartBus displays, our PTV app and Next 5 on our website for these services will then display scheduled departure times.

We are working closely with Transdev to ensure that regularly scheduled services on Transdev routes are maintained and any disruptions are minimised.

The crisis grows

‘Foreign’ buses continued appearing at Transdev depots across Melbourne.

As the workshops started to fill up with unroadworthy Transdev buses.

By September 26 over a hundred Transdev buses were off the road, as Transport Safety Victoria inspectors made their way to each depot.

Now 110 @Transdev_Melb buses failed safety inspections, what does it take to actually DO something about the contract?? @JacintaAllanMP pic.twitter.com/SApbl72irg

— Transdev Watch (@TransdevWatch) September 26, 2017

Ventura, who lost a number of bus routes to Transdev back in 2013, was one of the operators called up to help.

As well as operators for further afield – like Mitchell Transit from Seymour.

CDC Ballarat.

And McHarry’s from Geelong.

But the replacement buses left a lot to be desired – plenty of older high floor vehicles were called back up into frontline service, like this one from Kastoria Bus Lines.

CDC Melbourne.

And this coach from Nuline Charter.

By October 6 Transdev managing director Warwick Horsley confirmed that 70 replacement buses were now in service.

Public transport @Transdev_Melb is significantly out of pocket after a safety audit pulled several buses from the road @laura_spurway #9News pic.twitter.com/2HbandcBhl

— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) October 6, 2017

But it seems that even the replacement buses couldn’t avoid their death touch, as this broken down bus on hire to Transdev seems to suggest.

And back to ‘normal’

By late October the use of replacements buses operating on Transdev routes had petered out, but the quality of the bus fleet still left a lot to be desired.

Grafitti covered back seats.

Broken next stop buttons.

Duct tape holding together the front fairings.

Cracked front bumpers.

But it took until August 2018 for Transport Safety Victoria to close out their side of the investigation.

Transdev improving safety systems
2 August 2018

Since the grounding of 12 buses in September 2017, Bus Safety Victoria has been working closely with Transdev to ensure the operator’s safety systems are sufficiently robust to ensure the ongoing safety of its bus services.

A targeted audit program of Transdev began earlier this year, focussing on maintenance requirements and safety culture, and audits will be conducted at all Transdev depots.

To date we are seeing that Transdev has implemented many changes to improve their safety systems and culture.

And it took until December 2018 for the full scale of the roadworthy crisis to be made public.

Transdev pulled nearly 140 buses off the road after they were found to be defective last last year, The Age has confirmed.

I guess it just goes to show how little Melbourne cares about or bus system – if 20% of our tram or train fleet was pulled out of service due to flawed maintenance, it would be front page news.

A Myki related footnote

Public Transport Victoria mentioned myki use on replacement buses in passing.

Customers will still need a valid myki to travel and should continue to touch on and touch off as normal on replacement buses. If a replacement bus does not have myki equipment, customers will be allowed to travel without touching on or touching off.

But something they didn’t mention was that none of the buses with myki readers fitted ever had them switched on – turns out the equipment onboard each bus is only configured with the routes run by a given depot, so buses from other operators were unable to ‘log in’ to the system as a Transdev route, leaving the readers as dead weight.

Further reading

The November-December 2017 edition of Australian Bus Panorama has an article by Craig Halsall covering the Transdev fleet crisis in further detail.

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My first through was City Sightseeing Melbourne – they operate a fleet of open top double deck buses around Melbourne, running a hop-on hop-off service targeted at tourists.

But when I checked the ticket prices I got second thoughts – a 24 hour pass for adults is $35, and children aged 4-14 are $15.

What about the SkyBus service to Melbourne Airport?

Another expensive adventure – $33 return for adults, but at least kids can come along free on a family ticket.

But the real cheap seats are the route 190 bus that runs between Werribee and Wyndham Vale.

It’s just a standard Myki zone 2 fare, but only one of the buses used on the route is a double decker – which makes tracking it down an adventure.

I was lucky enough to find it at Wyndham Vale station at 9am where my son and I rode it to Werribee station, after which it retired to the CDC Melbourne depot at Truganina. Apparently it emerges again in the afternoon to complete a number of school runs, then heads back to the depot again for the night.

Back in 2015 Daniel Bowen wrote more about CDC’s double deck bus.

And some other options

If you a pack of excited kids to entertain, then chartering a double decker bus is always an option.

Dee Decker Tours has a number of double deck buses for charter.

While Rockleigh Tours has two luxurious double deck coaches for hire.

And Melbourne’s double deck train

Melbourne once had a double deck train – the 4D. Introduced in 1992 as a testbed, after years out of service it was finally scrapped in 2006.

Photo by Zed Fitzhume, via Wikimedia Commons

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I found a good example of this in the Spring 1996 edition of the Hansard for the Legislative Assembly, where backbencher Robin Cooper moved a motion:

Mr Cooper – I move:

That this house, while regretting the lack of general policy commitment by the Labor Party to transport issues, congratulates the government on its transport achievements during its first term in office and applauds the commitments to further improve the transport system in Victoria during the coming four years as outlined in the public transport policy of the coalition published in March 1996.

After attacking the Labor Party on their failings on public transport while in government, Cooper then pulled out a list of of every transport improvement that the government had made over the past four years.

Mr Cooper

I now move to the period 1992 through to now to outline what has been done in public transport. And an enormous amount has been done; far more than I will have time for today, because I know the honourable member for Thomastown will also want to say something about the motion. I hope I will be able to get through the mountain of material I have in support of my motion, but if I read out all the things–

Mr Batchelor interjected.

Mr Cooper

I am not going to do that; I am going to give you something to talk about. If I went through every public transport achievement of this government from October 1992 to March 1996, I would still be talking at around 10.00 p.m. -but I am quite prepared to accept a motion for an extension of time.

Some changes were positive, no matter what side of the fence you sit on:

• February 1993 agreement was reached between the Victorian and federal governments for the standardisation of the Melbourne-Adelaide rail link at a cost of $153 million.
• Continued operation of V/Line rail services at international best practice to Albury-Wodonga, Swan Hill, Stony Point and Sale.
• 15 May 1993 one of the great successes that can be testified to by members living in outlying areas was the commencement of Melbourne’s Nightrider bus service.
• In May 1993 the notorious Southern Aurora Hotel in Dandenong was demolished in the first step of a $5 million redevelopment of the Dandenong railway station.
• Also in May 1993 it was announced that 10 improvements would be made to the Flinders Street station, with a police booth on the concourse – which is now in place – new and upgraded food, newsagency and retail outlets, and improved customer waiting facilities on platforms.
• July 1993, due to increasing patronage of the Nightrider buses – this is a quick endorsement of the service – the service was improved with the addition of an extra departure time at 4.30 a.m. from the City Square each Saturday and Sunday morning.
• July 1993 the new $6 million, 1.7 kilometre extension of the East Burwood tram route was opened.
• Again in July 1993 the weekday coach services from South Gippsland and Phillip Island began operating direct to Melbourne for the first time.
• V /Line’s new Goulburn Valley super freighter service began transporting containers to and from Melbourne docks on 2 August 1993.
• On 8 August 1993 trams were back on all Sunday services for the first time since 1961. Trams replaced buses on routes 3, 82 and 57.
• On 12 August 1993 the new $330 000 Moonee Ponds modal interchange was opened.
• On 16 August 1993 construction was commenced on the $6.3 million City Circle tram loop, which was the first tram extension in the central city for nearly 40 years.
• new, faster, larger XPT trains commenced overnight services between Melbourne and Sydney in November 1993, in cooperation with the State Rail Authority in New South Wales and in so doing reduced the travel time between the two cities by 3 hours.
• November 1993 $150,000 upgrade of the Sunbury railway station.
• December 1993 the frequency of the Nightrider bus service was doubled to a half-hourly service on New Year’s Eve. That marked the return of public transport on New Year’s Eve.
• February 1994 new Elizabeth Street tram terminus was opened.
• February 1994 public transport brochures translated into 13 different languages were released.
• April 1994 V /Line freight was to expand its operations into southern New South Wales with the reopening of the Strathmerton-Tocumwal railway line.
• May 1994 The facade of Flinders Street station was to be cleaned, repaired and painted in heritage colours by the end of 1994.
• May 1994 abolition of the fee charged by country bus operators for the carriage of prams, pushers and shopping jeeps.
• May 1994 further extension of the Nightrider bus service – this time into the new areas of Craigieburn, Melton and Bacchus Marsh.
• June 1994 the $20 million program to upgrade suburban rail commuter safety and security was announced. The main features included the establishment of 51 premium stations and the appointment of 330 customer service employees and more than 200 Transit Police to regularly patrol the Met. All stations were to be monitored by closed-circuit television.
• September 1994 there was the opening of the new $2.5 million V/Line wagon maintenance depot at Geelong.
• October 1994 $36 000 covered walkway between Belgrave’s Met station and the Puffing Billy station.
• January 1995 the Met’s first premium railway station at Mount Waverley was opened.
• March 1995 there was the announcement of a $62,000 grant to restore and repaint the facade of the historic Hawthorn tram depot.
• March 1995 A $50,000 grant to refurbish the former Seymour railway station refreshment rooms.
• March 1995 $27 million electrification of the Dandenong-Cranbourne railway line took place.
• April 1995 it was announced that a new $10.3 million tram depot would be constructed at Montague to replace the existing South Melbourne tram depot.
• April 1995 the government announced its intention to retain the Upfield railway line and to seek $23 million of federal funding for a long overdue upgrade.
• April 1995 $22 million going to upgrade 200 suburban railway stations.
• April 1995 $6 million for new railway station car parking.
• April 1995 $1.5 million for bus-rail interchanges.
• April 1995 $1.4 million for the new Melbourne University tram terminus.
• April 1995 $5 million of which was going to the standardisation of the Ararat-Maryborough and Maryborough-Dunolly railway lines.
• April 1995 $1.5 million for the purchase of Australia’s first road-transferable locomotive.
• May 1995 there was the announcement of $49 million being allocated over four years for the overhauling of the Met’s entire Comeng train fleet.
• May 1995 $36 million already being spent to upgrade the Hitachi train fleet.
• May 1995 also announced that the PTC would spend $360 000 in the 1995-96 financial year to install state-of-the-art digital clocks at 63 suburban railway stations.
• May 1995 $6.2 million is allocated to eradicate ozone-depleting gases and PCBs from the PTC’s equipment and facilities.
• May 1995 a new $4 million train-washing plant was opened in North Melbourne.
• June 1995 that year there was an announcement of the beginning of work to upgrade the Broadmeadows railway station to premium station status, with the work estimated to cost more than $400 000.
• June 1995 new $9 million railway station and South Side Central development were opened at Traralgon.
• July 1995 that year there was an announcement that the Werribee railway station was to become a $750,000 premium station and the site of a new $250,000 bus rail interchange.
• August 1995 it was announced that Victoria’s public transport patronage had increased by more than 10 million boardings, or 3.6 per cent, in 1994-95.
• September 1995 of that year it was announced that all the 53 W-class trams would have heating installed.
• October 1995 that year the Bundoora RMIT tram extension was opened.
• January 1996 we saw the opening of the upgraded Footscray bus depot.
• February 1996 there was an announcement of increased services on the Sandringham, Dandenong, Pakenham, Cranbourne, Frankston, lilydale and Belgrave lines.
• September 1996 Sprinter trains introduced to Echuca, no service before.

Others could be considered necessary examples of cost cutting.

• November 1992 : removing conductors from restaurant trams, who spent their entire journey twiddling their thumbs in the rear cab.
• September 1993 there was an extension of driver-only trams to four more routes on weekends after 8.00 p.m.

But some of the quoted ‘improvements’ are on shakier ground, depending on your opinions on outsourcing and privatisation.

• Luxury road coaches replacing rail services to Mildura, Leongatha and Dimboola.
• In May 1993 the cleaning of Transport House was contracted out to Security Cleaning Services with savings of $160 000 per annum.
• In May 1993 the Geelong and Bendigo railway station refreshment rooms were contracted out for a combined savings of nearly $200 000 per annum.
• In July 1993 V /Line’s freight trucking fleet was contracted out to TNT with savings of $650,000 over three years.
• On 22 August 1993 Hoys Roadlines commenced operating the Melbourne-Shepparton rail service, Australia’s first private rail service.
• September 1993 West Coast Rail commenced services between Melbourne and Warmambool, the second private rail service in Australia.
• October 1993 cleaning and graffiti removal for trains was contracted out to the private sector with savings of $910,000 annually.
• November 1993 the Public Transport Corporation contracted out 21 major activities at a saving of $20 million annually.
• May 1995 new competition legislation for the bus industry and the setting up of two new transport corporations, with both V/Line Freight and Metbus to be established as separate corporations with their own boards independent of the PTC.
• December 1995 there was also an announcement of the deregulation of rail freight from 1 January 1996.

Cooper did boast about increased patronage.

In 1995-96 patronage on all modes of public transport increased. Patronage increased on Met trains by 3.7 per cent. That was the highest patronage on Met trains since 1976-77. Patronage on Met trams also increased 4.9 per cent, the highest patronage since 1989. Met buses received a 3 per cent increase in patronage. V/Line had more than 7 million patrons in 1995-96, which was the highest V /Line patronage since 1954-55. The average patronage in 1994-95 increased by 4 per cent, with a further increase in 1995-96.

And increased operational efficiencies.

In July the Age published a report from the Industry Commission which commended the Public Transport Corporation because it carried 61 per cent more rail passengers per employee in the city and 30 per cent more in the country and passengers were paying 10 per cent more in real terms, which has doubled the cost recovery ratio from 35 to 71 per cent

Followed by a list of transport improvements the Liberal/National coalition would introduce during a a second term in government:

• The current Met Summer timetable which reduces train and tram service during December /January will be abolished.
• There will be only two timetables for Met train and Met tram, weekday and weekend/public holiday, thus providing customers with greater certainty and a better overall level of service.
• For the first time, City Loop rail services will run every Sunday.
• The Upfield Railway Line will be maintained and upgraded.
• The railway line at Boronia will be lowered to alleviate the problems which currently exist at the Boronia rail crossing..
• An additional 10 premium stations will be established.
• All bus operators will be required to gain accreditation which allows the government to ensure that only competent operators enter the industry and provide services to the public.
• There will be a $23.8 million upgrade of amenities at Flinders Street Station..
• A study will be commissioned to assess the costs and benefits of further standardising Victoria’s remaining broad gauge rail network.
• A ‘one-stop-shop’ for all public transport service inquiries and bookings to be known as Victrip will be set up.
• A new station will be built at North Shore in Geelong to serve passengers using the interstate standard gauge line.
• A $400 000 program will be implemented to expand the network of secure storage facilities for our cycling customers throughout the metropolitan area by constructing new storage facilities at 30 premium stations.
• Expressions of interest will be sought from the private sector for the establishment of a world-class transport museum at the Docklands.

As well as the ‘improvements’ that the Kennett Government is better remembered for.

• The Public Transport Corporation will be disbanded with Met tram and Met train established as totally separate organisations and Met Bus to be divested, with a preference for an employee/management buy-out.
• Met Train and Met Tram will contract out their infrastructure and vehicle maintenance requirements.
• V/Line freight will be separated from the PTC and established with its own Chief Executive and Board, thereby placing it in a more competitive position.
• Current V/Line coach contracts will be put up for tender upon expiry with the option for tenderers to nominate either rail or coach modes.

So what did the rest of the chamber think of this Dorothy Dixer? Fellow Liberal MP Inga Peulich couldn’t take any more.

Mrs Peulich

You must be getting tired.

Mr Cooper

No. I am prepared to go on for hours.

While Shadow Transport Minister Peter Batchelor was more blunt.

We have just heard more than 2 hours worth from the honourable member for Mornington. And what a tragic and pathetic performance it was! A former and failed shadow minister was brought into the house by the current Minister for Transport. No doubt the minister and his staff have provided him with reams of written material which he has taken the time of this house to read out in the very patronising, rabid and hysterical way that is par for the course with this member.

He spent hours a week for weeks practising his routine, trying to learn it off by heart, going over it time and again and practising the two jokes he delivered in more than 2 hours which went over like a lead balloon. It is horrible to imagine the honourable member for Mornington working himself into an absolute frenzy while practising in front of a mirror for hour after hour, going through his histrionics and practising his jokes until he couldn’t see himself.

I recall that about an hour into his speech we had the pathetic vision of one of his loyal colleagues and luncheon partners, the honourable member for Bentleigh, not being able to stomach it anymore and leaving the chamber. It was even too much for her! He failed to make any significant point in his contribution, which began with events back in 1986. From memory, that was one of the first dates he mentioned. He systematically went through and highlighted dates over that long period, quoting from written material and completely missing the point.

Peter Batchelor then pointed out that the government was taking credit for projects they didn’t fund.

A number of points need to be made in response to the honourable member for Mornington. He claimed a number of initiatives on behalf of the state government that were funded by the federal Labor government.

It is clear from his comments that he did not know that a number of initiatives claimed for the state government were clearly not initiatives of that government.

The honourable member for Mornington mentioned the upgrading of the Sunbury railway station. We know that was federally funded. He also sang the praises of the City Circle tram service. That was also federally funded.

Earlier I talked about a number of initiatives that were paid for by the federal government. Another was the electrification of the train line to Cranbourne.

And projects conceived under the previous government.

The Nightrider bus service was developed under the previous Labor administration. Steps were taken to finalise the sponsorship and the routes were selected. It was, for all intents and purposes, an initiative of the previous Labor government.

And services provided by other states.

He claimed the passenger service to Sydney as a great initiative of the government, whereas the service is actually provided by the New South Wales State Rail Authority. It is not provided by V/Line.

So did the Kennett Government do anything good for public transport in Victoria? The short answer is yes – but their single minded pursuit of privatisation has seen them consigned to the dustbin of history.

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