I pulled over to take a closer look, and found a car belong to SGS S.A. – a Swiss multinational company which provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services.

There was a piece of tripod mounted equipment labelled TIRTL on one side of the intersection.

And a second unit on the other side.

Also connected to an equipment box.

So what was it all for? The green thing labelled ‘TIRTL’ is actually a ‘The Infra-Red Traffic Logger‘ unit:

The transmitter sends two cones of infrared light across the roadway, and the receiver records vehicles as they break and remake these cones. TIRTL transmitter’s infrared cones cross each other and form two straight and two diagonal beam pathways.

When a vehicle crosses the beam pathways, TIRTL records two beam events; it records one from the vehicle breaking and one leaving the beam pathway. These two beams events are recorded for all four beam pathways. Thus, eight timestamped events are generated per axle. The velocity is derived from the timestamps of these beam events.

This velocity data is then compared with the velocity data calculated by the speed camera system itself, as part of the testing and maintenance procedures required under the Road Safety (General) Regulations 2019.

Quarterly:

– Speed accuracy and speed reliability testing
– Camera system asset inventory
– Camera system sensor evaluation

Which leads to the issuing of an annual test certificate for each camera.

Footnote: and another one

I’ve also found the speed and red light camera at the corner of Flinders Street and William Street undergoing testing.

Back in 20114 it was the speed camera which issued the most fines in Victoria, with 20,774 in one quarter. While in 2017 it claimed the dubious honour of Victoria worse location for motorists running red lights, with almost 2000 fines issued in one quarter.

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Regional Rail Link

We start the month like many others, with progress on the Regional Rail Link project through Melbourne’s west.

The old West Footscray station was still in place beneath ‘Mount Mistake‘.

But the new station to the west was well underway.

Being constructed clear of the existing tracks to avoid disruption to Sunbury line services.

Down the line at Sunshine similar thoughtful works were underway – the level crossing at Anderson Road had been relocated clear of the grade separation works.

So that the future rail bridge could be constructed clear of the tracks, and slid into place when complete.

Meanwhile on the greenfield section of the route, the new Tarneit station had everything in place except for tracks!

Ballan Road had a road bridge passing over an incomplete rail cutting.

Wyndham Vale had pedestrian bridge ready to cross a future four track, four platform station.

And Manor Junction had a massive flyover in place over the Geelong line tracks, but with nothing connecting at either end.

Other train bits

One evening I passed through Newmarket station and found it in the dark – a tree took out the mains power supply to the station.

So somewhat surprisingly, electricians were sent out to connect a generator to the switchboard.

After sitting empty for a decade, in 2013 work finally started on the office towers above the west end of Southern Cross Station.

699 Bourke Street at the north end was first to be completed in 2015, followed by 664 Collins Street at the south end in 2019.

I also paid a visit to Dandenong South, where I found something different sitting dumped beside the tracks.

Comeng carriages 305M, 1003T and 306M stored in the Membreys Transport yard, after being damaged in the November 2012 level crossing crash at Abbotts Road in Dandenong South.

Ding ding

Preparation for the introduction of the new E class trams was underway on route 96, with the inaccessible safety zones along Nicholson Street being extended so the rear doors of the longer trams would not overhang into traffic.

This interim fix remained in place until 2018, when they were finally replaced by accessible platform stops.

And the other bits

On Swanston Street in the CBD I found the Victoria Police bicycle squad on patrol.

But they didn’t seem to be making much of a difference to the dingbats driving down the bike lanes.

Out at Maribyrnong a brand new two-storey Bunnings Warehouse opened – the $45 million store being located around the corner from the old one at Highpoint, and at more than 17,000 square metres, was three times the size of the old one.

And around the corner at West Footscray another Bunnings Warehouse was being constructed – on the former Southern Can Company factory site, with the front office block retained, but the warehouse being being demolished to make way for a hardware store with basement car park.

Footnote

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

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The story starts at Flagstaff station where I was checking out progress on the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Upgrade Project, when a voice came over the PA system – “photography is prohibited in City Loop stations”.

I’d gotten the photos I needed, so I headed back up to the surface and stepped into the middle of La Trobe Street to photograph a diverted route 12a tram, when a police car pulled up beside me, and the officer inside said “you can’t stand in the middle of the tram tracks”.

At that point I tweeted:

So far this afternoon I’ve copped a “no taking photos in the station” over the PA, and a “you can’t stand on the tram tracks taking photos” from a passing cop car – so how long until I complete the trifecta?

And 40 minutes later, I won! I’d climbed on top of a crash barrier to photograph the demolition of 600 Collins Street, when the traffic controller down the street said I’d have to climb down.

And that made three.

Footnote

Of course that didn’t stop me – I headed around the corner to Collins Street and climbed onto the top of an electrical box.

So I could photograph progress on the rebuilding of the tram tracks at Spencer and Collins Street.

No rest for the wicked.

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Checking the speeds of both motor vehicle,s and a a procession of trams on route route 57 and 82.

Tram drivers have been caught speeding before – such as this 2006 article from ‘The Age’.

A Melbourne tram has been clocked speeding by police – the first time a driver has been caught by a radar gun.

A traffic policeman with the laser radar gun clocked the tram at 57kph in a 40kph zone on Malvern Road, Prahran, shortly after 7.30am, a police spokeswoman said.

The officer intercepted the tram and issued the driver with an on-the-spot fine, she said.

“It’s the first time that a member has detected a speeding tram. He said it was quite unusual,” she said.

The officer, from Stonnington traffic management unit, said the tram driver was “co-operative”, the spokeswoman said.

“There was no animosity,” she said.

The driver was fined $215 and will lose three demerit points from his normal driver’s licence.

Yarra Trams spokesman Colin Tyrus said the driver also would be counselled by the company and would be subject to an internal disciplinary process, but would not disclose the process for privacy reasons.

“There’s no exception for tram drivers to the speed limit,” Mr Tyrus said.

“This is something that Yarra Trams regularly refers to in refresher training and initial training, that drivers are required to observe the road laws of the state of Victoria, and that includes speed limits.”

As well as running red lights.

About four trams an hour are running red lights in Melbourne’s CBD, a Herald Sun investigation has revealed.

Pedestrians have had to jump out of the way as trams hurtle through intersections on a red light.

But Victoria Police statistics reveal that since September 2006 only two tram drivers have been booked for running red lights.

A spokesman for the Rail, Tram and Bus Union said: “I don’t think any driver blatantly goes through a red light.”

Yarra Trams spokesman Colin Tyrus said tram drivers were trained to do their best to be on time, but not at the expense of safety.

He said trams were 30m long and unable to accelerate through an intersection like a car.

He added that drivers could cause injuries to passengers if they hit the brakes too suddenly.

Tram drivers are required to hold a normal driver’s licence – but for tram drivers who started the job before the rule was introduced in 1984, they had to be grandfathered in.

Lenny Bates started working at the Kew depot in 1955, forsaking a promising career as a registered plumber. In the ensuing 5½ decades he was a conductor, a driver, a trainer of hundreds of other drivers, and finally a driver again.

He spent his later years on routes 109 from Box Hill to Port Melbourne and 48 from North Balwyn to Docklands, gaining recognition and affection for his colourful and detailed announcements about local landmarks along the route.

As trams evolved, Mr Bates embraced whatever training was required to master the new models. ”Lenny came to the depot when we had 1920s technology, and progressed through that into today’s high-tech trams … He came from pencil and paper up to the touch screen,” Mr Andrews says.

But he never learnt to drive a car, even after a rule was brought in that tram drivers must have a valid driver’s licence. An exception was made for him.

Footnote: how fast can trams go anyway?

The Yarra Trams “Infrastructure – Tram Track Design” standards list the maximum speed for each class of tram.

Under Appendix C “Tram Specifications”.

Z3, A1, A2, B1, B2 classes
65 km/h powers off
75 km/h forced braking
Speed at max current draw: approximately 30 km/h
Acceleration: 1.5 m/s² ± 0.05

Citadis C1 class
77-80 km/h powers off
No forced braking
Speed at max current draw: 29 km/h @ 600V, 21.8 km/h @ 450V
Acceleration: 1-30 km/h ± 1.57 m/s², 1-60 km/h ± 1.57 m/s²

Citadis C2 class
70 km/h powers off
No forced braking
Acceleration: 1.03 m/s² ± 5%

Combino D1 class
70 km/h powers off
No forced braking
Speed at max current draw: 39-55 km/h
Acceleration: ≤1.3m/s² to 39 km/h, ≤0.95m/s² avg. to 70 km/h

Combino D2 class
70 km/h powers off
No forced braking
Speed at max current draw: 30-55 km/h
Acceleration: ≤1.3m/s² to 30 km/h, ≤0.86m/s² avg. to 60 km/h

Flexity E class
Max speed: 80 km/h
60 km/h traction cut
65 km/h brakes apply
Acceleration: 1.3m/s² to 30 km/h (fully loaded)

As well as the standards to which new track is built to.

In table B16 “Minimum Design Speed”.

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The backstory

The shutdown was announced at a Victoria Police press conference on Wednesday 15 September.

Public transport in Melbourne will be suspended for six hours on Saturday as part of a large-scale police operation to stop a planned protest against the ongoing Covid lockdown in the city.

The Victoria Police commissioner, Shane Patton, said on Wednesday that public transport – including buses, trams and trains – would be suspended going into the Melbourne CBD between 8am and 2pm on Saturday in an effort to prevent “freedom” protesters gathering in the city after thousands gathered in late August.

“We have no problem with facilitating protest when there’s a place in time for that to occur. This weekend is not the place and time for that to occur,” Patton said.

“It’s really interesting that this whole cohort of people who are about freedom don’t seem to respect the freedoms of others and anyone coming in here places those freedoms at risk.”

Two thousand police officers will be on hand as part of the operation to stop the protest and bollards will be erected with traffic management points and roving patrols. Only essential workers with valid permits will be allowed into the city centre.

Public Transport Victoria began publicising the disruption that evening.

Public transport will not run through the CBD on Saturday 18 September at the direction of @VictoriaPolice.

This will impact all metropolitan and regional train services, trams and buses from 8am.

For more information, visit https://t.co/DkIl2uYJy5 pic.twitter.com/kRVHM80bLS

— PTV (@ptv_official) September 15, 2021

“Trains terminate at suburban stations” was the initial message from Metro Trains.

Metro train services will not run through the CBD on Saturday 18 September 2021 between 8am and 2pm.

City-bound train services will terminate at suburban stations.

For more details: https://t.co/QIXfjoLnf8 pic.twitter.com/9GEoYeNAIC

— Metro Trains (@metrotrains) September 16, 2021

And “no trams in the city” the message from Yarra Trams.

No trams are running in the city on Saturday from 8am – 2pm, by police request. Trains and buses are also affected. Details: https://t.co/OOUQ7TOVba pic.twitter.com/iQfX9r1HHU

— Yarra Trams (@yarratrams) September 17, 2021

But by Friday 17 the extent of the shutdown of public transport was made clear, when Public Transport Victoria published maps of the services that would be running.

At the request of Victoria Police, public transport will not run through the CBD on Saturday 18 September 2021.

This will impact all metropolitan and regional train services, trams and buses from 8am to 2pm with services expected to take some time to resume to regular timetable.

Major road closures on thoroughfares into the CBD will also be in place. Significant delays are expected on roads leading to the CBD. CBD access will only be granted at roadblocks to those travelling for essential work, healthcare or to attend a vaccination appointment.

Metropolitan train services will terminate at suburban stations, where can effectively turn around and continue to provide services away from the city.

Tram routes and bus routes that normally travel into or through the CBD will now terminate at stops, some distance outside the CBD boundary and turn around. Some tram and and bus routes will not run at all, while others will run to a reduced timetable.

No trains within 10 kilometres or so of the Melbourne CBD.

Trams terminating at the fringe of the inner city.

As were Transdev buses.

Due to a @VictoriaPolice request, routes 200, 207, 216, 220, 234, 235, 236, 250, 251, 302, 304, 905, 906 & 907 will not run through the CBD on Saturday 18 September from 8am to 2pm. See website for details: https://t.co/hzm77gJOU2 pic.twitter.com/KYu4OirvZ8

— Transdev Melbourne (@Transdev_Melb) September 17, 2021

And alternative transport for the vast swathes of Melbourne beyond the CBD, left without public transport – nothing.

The Public Transport Users Association said the Victorian government needed to do more to minimise any disruption to workers relying on public transport.

Spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the impact on commuters would be severe.

“It’s unprecedented to shut down the entire inner part of the public transport network, not just in the CBD, but also the inner suburbs,” Mr Bowen said.

“The shuttle buses they’re putting on won’t stop at intermediate points along the route to the city, so there’s going to be lots of areas in inner suburban Melbourne and around the CBD that will just have no transport options.”

The only public transport operating to the CBD was a half-hourly shuttle bus service, running express from the suburbs to a CBD drop-off point.

Those people undertaking authorised travel with permits are urged to allow plenty of extra time for their journeys. They must carry identification and proof of their reason for travel, such as an authorised worker permit, or vaccination booking confirmation.

As a last resort for authorised travellers, two shuttle buses per hour will run from the nine suburban railway station termination points (see list below) to key drop-off points in and around the CBD. Passengers will be required to complete their journey by walking to their location from the CBD drop off points.

Victoria Police officers and PSOs will be checking proof of reasons for travel prior to allowing people to board shuttle buses.

On the day

On the morning of Saturday 18 September I went for a walk down to Sunshine station, to see how things were going. On the station concourse there was no signage informing passengers of the service disruption – just two blank lines on the next train display, where citybound services would normally be listed.

A Watergardens-bound train departed the ‘wrong’ way out of platform 1, proceeding through a crossover to get back onto the left hand track.

A pair of Protective Services Officers were twiddling their thumbs down on the station platform for the next train to terminate.

Down in the station car park was a Victoria Police car.

And at the rail replacement bus stop were another six Protective Services Officers, checking the credentials of passengers intending to board the shuttle bus to the CBD.

Eventually a bus turned up.

With ‘Authorised Worker Shuttle’ and ‘Express between Flagstaff and Sunshine’ signs on the front windscreen.

A few minutes later it departed for the city, with about a dozen passengers onboard.

The shuttle buses continuing to run until 2pm, when normal services started running to the CBD again.

Public transport services have resumed running through the CBD after an earlier @VictoriaPolice request.

Services are expected to take some time to resume to regular timetable. Thank you for your patience. For more information visit https://t.co/elfmyj8EIP pic.twitter.com/QG4qYuta4f

— PTV (@ptv_official) September 18, 2021

So did it work?

It appears the shutdown of public transport didn’t make any difference to the protest – they moved their rally to outside of the CBD!

Anti-lockdown demonstrators met in Richmond at around 12:00pm on Saturday, ignoring authorities’ pleas for them to stay home.

Police surrounded the protesters on Bridge Road, where multiple people were arrested.

The several-hundred-strong crowd then moved down Burnley Street, with police appearing to use capsicum spray on some members.

Authorities said 235 people were arrested in the protests, 193 for breaching CHO directions and several others for a range of offences including assault police, riotous behaviour, weapon and drug offences.

Footnote: how were the termination points chosen?

Trams and trains aren’t like a car – you can’t just pull up anywhere, do a u-turn, and head back the way you came – you need to change tracks.

In the case of trams, there are crossovers all over Melbourne, giving trams the flexibility to terminate and return at places that aren’t the usual end of the line.

But for trains it is trickier – as well as crossovers, trains also require a signalling configuration that permits a train to proceed along the ‘wrong’ track towards the crossover, and a safe location for the train driver to change ends from the front to rear cab.

This is why the Glen Waverley line had to terminate at Darling instead of Burnley, Craigieburn trains could not terminate at Kensington, Sunbury trains could not terminate at West Footscray, and Werribee trains could not terminate at Footscray.

Sources

Public Transport Victoria disruption notification:

• No public transport into the CBD between 8am and 2pm on Saturday 18 September
• Metropolitan and regional train service termination map
• Tram service termination map

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In the city

Trams on Swanston Street still stopped in the middle of the road, leaving anyone with limited mobility out in the cold.

The current platform stops were completed between May 2011 and July 2012.

At Richmond station, additional next train displayed were installed at the city end, each hiding beneath their own private section of roof.

Passengers had to wait until 2015 to gain their own shelters, installed at a cost of $7.28 million.

And at Southern Cross Station work on the new platform 15 and 16 was still crawling along.

They eventually opened in December 2013.

While over at the entrance to the country platforms, Myki readers had been installed.

Myki eventually replaced paper V/Line tickets in February 2014.

As part of the rollout the ‘Myki Discovery Centre‘ at Southern Cross was refitted as a customer service centre.

But it is worth remembering that Metcard wasn’t perfect – the gates needed regular clearing to ensure they read magnetic stripe tickets reliably.

Out in nowhere land

Out the back of Docklands, I explored the disused railway sidings that once served the port.

Including an abandoned passenger carriage.

Wegmann carriage OWA91 was originally built for the Commonwealth Railways in 1952, passing through a number of owners before arriving in Melbourne in 2006. There it remained until September 2017, when it was destroyed by fire in arson attack.

But beside the Maribyrnong River at Footscray something new was taking shape – the Heavenly Queen Temple.

The main hall opened to the public in 2015, with further halls still under construction today.

Changed scenes in Footscray

At Footscray station, the new footbridge was finally completed.

Nearby I found an old Darrell Lea sign hand painted on the shops over the railway line at Nicholson Street.

And at West Footscray station I found a V/Line train headed for the city, crawling along behind a stopping all stations suburban train.

None of which exist today, Regional Rail Link having completely transformed the area.

To make room for the extra V/Line tracks, the footbridge at Footscray station was partially demolished in 2013, the shops on the Nicholson Street bridge were removed, and a massive new station at West Footscray was built on a new site.

Thankfully for Deer Park the $5 million upgrade to the station platform and car park didn’t go to waste.

New timetables introduced following the completion of Regional Rail Link saw the station get three to four trains an hour, instead of the train every two hours it used to see.

And the police state

In the streets of Footscray I found a Victoria Police CCTV van.

It entered service in 2008, until an officer tried to drive it under a low bridge, destroying the cameras on the roof!

Footnote

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

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The other week on Reddit a poster had this to say about their run-in with a PSO at their local station:

My finance was leaving Ashburton Railway Station yesterday evening and saw a PSO walking around the parking area’s noting down registration numbers of all of the cars parked there for the day. She was a little off-put by this so approached the officer and asked if she had anything to be concerned about.

The PSO replied that they take down all of the registration numbers and then go inside and run them through their computer. Any car that comes up with suspended registration/license will have a patrol car waiting for them to drive off when they get in their car.

Relying on random internet scuttlebutt is a good way to make yourself look stupid, so I went kept an eye out next time I caught a train after 6 PM.

You’d think Sunshine is a place where Protective Services Officers should be keeping an eye out for delinquents, yet both the station platform and concourse were empty.

But when I looked out over the car park, I saw the two PSOs wandering past the rows of cars, scribbling down something in their notebook.

I paid a visit to Footscray station at the tail end of evening peak, and saw the same thing taking place.

When then Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu made the promise to introduce Protective Services Officers, he had the following to say:

”We’ll turn stations from places of fear into places of safety,” Mr Baillieu said.

”We want anyone – a young girl, an elderly woman – travelling home on the train at night to do so with confidence and not with fear.”

In reality Baillieu’s promise was targeted at namby-pamby Liberal voters who are afraid of youths and anyone who isn’t white, but it does raise the question – how the hell is hunting down deadbeats with unpaid fines making the rail network safer for passengers?

On a serious note

So far I’ve only spotted PSOs jotting down the details of parked cars at the start of their shifts – possibly it is their first task of the night after clocking on, before heading to the station proper when darkness falls.

As for the dragnet being thrown over railway stations, in April 2013 The Age ran a piece on PSOs ‘asking too many questions’ – over the course of a year they took down the names and date of birth of 29,000 people, resulting in the arrest of over 500 people for outstanding warrants.

In the end, we are on a slippery slope towards a police state – someone with unpaid fines might be the same kind of person responsible for actual criminal activity, but in order to take them off the streets, is it worth losing our freedom to use the rail network without being needlessly questioned by the authorities?

Footnote

I’ve pushed this post out earlier than planned, after The Age published a piece on the topic on February 17, in which they speak to spokespeople from Victoria Police and Liberty Victoria:

“As part of their daily duties, ​Protectives Services Officers regularly check car parks,” police spokesman Inspector Darren Cooper said.

“PSOs will be checking for stolen vehicles, outstanding warrants, outstanding whereabouts, unlicensed and unregistered drivers,” he said.

“The car park is part of a normal, designated patrol area for PSOs, and by doing these checks, it allows them to further ensure safe travel for those using the public transport system, as well as aiding in Victoria Police’s commitment to road safety.”

Liberty Victoria spokesman George Georgiou said the policy represented a significant overreach of police powers, and was an unnecessary intrusion into the privacy of Melbourne’s commuters.

“Whilst we understand that there is be a need for police to deal with persons avoiding their responsibilities to pay fines, register their cars and the like, we see this move to use PSOs in the manner described in the article as overstepping the legitimate functions of PSOs and unnecessarily encroaching upon the right to privacy and freedom of movement of all Victorian commuters,” he said.

My concerns exactly.

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A look inside

This presentation from the ‘Department of Transport Planning and Local Infrastructure’ (DTPLI) given an inventory of what is inside the average Protective Services Officer office.

First off they have a desk and a phone for completing paperwork.

And a kitchenette.

So PSOs posted to the middle of nowhere can have a warm cup of tea on a cold Melbourne night?

Then to the side, an internal door leading to what is officially known as the ‘handover room’.

In reality the ‘handover room’ is a holding cell where Protective Services Officers lock up the people they arrest, until a sworn Victoria Police officer is able to attend. They are easy to spot from the outside – the same style of ‘NO ENTRY’ sign appears on each one.

Now I’ve just got to travel around Melbourne and collect them all!

They can try and hide them by painting them different colours.

By cladding them in weatherboards and adding a gabled roof to the top, when a railway station is heritage listed.

Retrofitting them into existing heritage structures.

Or inside 1980s brown brick abominations.

But if you know what to look for, they stand out like dogs balls.

Construction cost

Originally $17 million was allocated in May 2012 to fund the construction of facilities for Protective Services Officers at 66 railway stations around the network, at an average of $268,000 per station.

The 2013 budget allocated an extra $67 million in funding to build another 149 structures, with the average cost rising to $455,000 per station.

$2.5 million has also been allocated each year in cleaning expenses – around $12,000 per pod per year, and the toilets aren’t even open for the public!

And graffiti removal

Turns out putting a symbol of ‘The Man’ at every railway station attracts vandals – according to The Age around 20 of them are graffitied every month.

On the nickname

I’m a fan of the ‘Baillieu Box’ nickname – it commemorates Ted Baillieu, the former Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu who decided that putting two ‘almost’ police officers on every railway station after 6 PM would win votes for the Liberal Party.

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With 207 stations to be guarded between 6pm and last train each night, a total of 940 officers have to be recruited and trained to meet the target date of November 2014 – so how is the program actually tracking?

Background

The idea of Protective Services Officers at railway stations was first proposed by then-opposition leader Ted Baillieu in November 2009, as part of a pledge made in the leadup to the 2010 Victorian State Election.

Originally costed at $200 million over four years, by 2011 the cost of the program had increased to $212 million, as well as an additional $85 million to provide upgraded facilities at each railway station to house the deployed PSOs – $18 million in the 2012/13 State Budget, and $67.8 million for 149 station refits in the 2013/14 State Budget.

Another money pit for the program is advertising – in January 2013 a three month long marketing campaign costing $2.7 million was launched to help recruit additional PSOs, which followed $2.67 million spent on advertising in 2012, as well as $1 million in fees paid to recruiters.

The advertising

So what did over $5 million worth of marketing get us?

Television commercials that make catching a train look more dangerous than it actually is:

Advertisements in the newspaper:

Billboards beside freeways:

Posters onboard trains:

And trams:

And even recruitment booths outside railway stations during the evening peak:

How is the rollout tracking?

Melbourne’s first group of Protective Services Officers were deployed on February 22, 2012 to Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations, with other stations on the network following.

I’ve been tracking the rollout across Melbourne with a spreadsheet – the government usually issues a media release each time PSOs are deployed to a new station, mentioning the current number of officers across the network, as well as the number of stations covered.

The result is this graph showing the number of Melbourne suburban railway stations that have PSOs deployed to them. Note the 207 stations to be covered by the target date of November 2014:

A second graph shows the current number of PSOs deployed across the network – again note the target of 940 officers and the upcoming November 2014 deadline.

Looks like Denis Napthine’s Liberal Government are going to have throw some big money at the program if they want to meet their November 2014 targets!

Raw data

Here is the raw data in Google Spreadsheet format – inside you will find the date that PSOs were deployed to each station, the number of active PSOs across the network on that date, and the original source of the data.

More sources

• Baillieu pledges police at every station: November 9, 2009
• Just a shot in the dark, but train travel can’t be that dangerous: September 27, 2011
• More than $85 million to be spent for toilets and workspaces for protective services officers: May 12, 2013
• $2.7m pledge to recruit more PSOs: January 20, 2013
• $2.7m police ad blitz to recruit protective services officers: January 09, 2013

February 2016 update

On 24 February 2016 the Victorian Auditor-General’s released their report Public Safety on Victoria’s Train System – with Appendix A featuring a list of PSO deployment dates – the first 177 stations up until June 2015.

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I was walking past the Swanston and Collins Street tram stop one lunchtime, when I saw a divvy van on the wrong side of the road with their window wound down, talking to the driver of a clapped out Mitsubishi Lancer.

They told them to drive down Swanston Street until they could find a clear place to pull over.

And then they did the usual drivers licence and vehicle registration checks.

A one off event, or is a police blitz on idiot motorists queuing through intersections next?

Footnote

After seeing the police pull over the motorist on Swanston Street, the universe corrected itself by the time I had walked up to Bourke Street. This nuffy drove south through the bike lane…

Then did a u-turn, and came back for more!

Getting part way into the bike lane, pedestrians crossing the road did a double take.

An office worker on their lunch break gave the confused driver directions to get out of there.

Reversing at the corner of Bourke and Swanston Street, to leave the bike lane.

And finally driving out of Swanston Street via the only piece of public road.

All cleaned up in time for another pointless ‘jaywalking’ blitz.

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