The story starts

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

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

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

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

Look at who else got a mention.

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

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

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

On the ground at Deer Park

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

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

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

So why can’t they be longer?

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

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

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

But what about the city end?

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

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

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

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

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

Footnote: the other Deer Park platform problem

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

OPERATING RESTRICTION – DEER PARK STATION
SPRINTER RAILCARS

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

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

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

You can read about that saga here.

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In the beginning

The story starts in 1993 when V/Line bought 22 new single carriage diesel railcars for use on commuter services – their 130 km/h top speed saw them named ‘Sprinter’ trains.

Weston Langford photo

Able to run solo and in multiple with their classmates, the Sprinter trains saw use all over the V/Line network until the first 160 km/h capable VLocity trains entered service in 2005.

But in later years they were moved onto peak hour commuter runs, as well as Seymour services, where their lower top speed wasn’t a concern.

Enter Deer Park station

Until 2010 Deer Park station was a gravel covered platform on the edge of Melbourne that only saw a train every two hours.

But the opening of Regional Rail Link in 2015 saw a massive increase in trains serving the station – among them the Sprinter trains.

And then in 2022 it was announced that the level crossing at Mount Derrimut Road would be removed, with a new elevated station to be provided at Deer Park.

The incomplete station opened to passengers in April 2023.

But there was one minor difference to the old station that made all the difference – the platform.

Apparently V/Line has changed their standard platform height in order to reduce the step up into trains – with the new standard being around 100mm higher, as seen on this platform extension constructed at Sunshine station.

But the Sprinter trains have a design feature that the VLocity train lack – outward swinging plug doors that extend below the floor height of the train.

And so V/Line had to issue a notice.

OPERATING RESTRICTION – DEER PARK STATION
SPRINTER RAILCARS

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

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

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

Sprinter trains being free to travel through the station, but not stop there.

And a solution?

In January 2024 something new emerged from the workshops – a Sprinter railcar with modified doors.

V/Line sent it out to Deer Park late one night with a group of engineers onboard, ready to run a measuring tape over the open doors.

And testing out the wheelchair ramp.

There looked to be plenty of space between the platform and the modified doors.

Especially when compared to the plug doors on the unmodified set that came along for the ride.

But there was a sticking point – would the modified doors let in more exterior noise? Well, the microphone setup in the saloon can measure that!

So problem solved? I suppose it is a case of wait and see.

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Taking a look around

The new station has two side platforms, flanking a pair of tracks.

The station itself is located on a reinforced earth embankment.

With a pedestrian underpass running through the middle.

Shelter for passengers follows the current woeful standards – a little over 60% on the citybound platform.

And stuff all on the outbound platform 2.

The approach at the city end is a now standard U-trough viaduct.

Made up of two parallel single track viaducts.

But the crossing of Mt Derrimut Road itself is a pair of single track steel spans.

Each track has a walkway on either side.

An emergency detraining walkway along the inner flange, and a maintenance walkway along the outer edge.

The walls of the U-trough combined with noise walls hide trains from down below.

And the unfinished bits

The decision was made to open the new station at Deer Park immediately after work had been completed to connect the new elevated track into the existing rail corridor, so that station building was nowhere near complete.

Passengers required to follow a convoluted route through the construction site to access trains.

The permanent ramp is currently the only way to access platform 1.

The lift incomplete, as with the rest of the station buildings.

And the set of stairs had random bits of paving removed – a victim of poor installation?

While passengers accessing platform 2 had a long walk through the construction site.

Facing multiple blind corners.

Passing under the tracks.

And then up a flight of temporary steps built of scaffolding.

Until they finally emerge on platform 2.

There is a lift shaft in place at platform 2, but it was nowhere near completed.

The reason – it was located on the alignment used by trains serving the old ground level station.

Hence couldn’t be constructed until the old station was closed.

The ‘Accessible shuttle’

With no lift or ramp allowing access to platform 2, V/Line was forced to provide an accessible shuttle to allow passengers from Deer Park to access train services.

Dysons were providing low floor buses to run the service.

With a wheelchair accessible maxi taxi also on standby.

But these shuttles has been implemented in one of the most bizarre ways possible – by backtracking halfway across the western suburbs!

If travelling on a Geelong Line train, passengers are advised to get off at Tarneit, then travel back to Deer Park on either the next train or an accessible shuttle bus.

If travelling on a Ballarat Line train, passengers are advised to get off at Caroline Springs, then travel back to Deer Park on either the next train or an accessible shuttle bus.

The weekday 4:17pm, 4:39pm, 4:58pm, 5:18pm, 5:38pm and 5:58pm Southern Cross to Ballarat trains do not stop at Caroline Springs so passengers should exit the train at Rockbank then travel back to Deer Park on an accessible shuttle bus.

The weekday 6:18pm Southern Cross to Ballarat train does not stop at either Caroline Springs or Rockbank. The next stop after Deer Park is Melton. Passengers on this service should exit the train at Melton, then travel back to Deer Park on an accessible shuttle bus.

A far more logical solution would have been to have passengers leave the train at Sunshine station, and travel via Forrest Street and Tilburn Road to Deer Park – a 6 kilometre, 10 minute drive, compared to the twice as long trip to Tarneit.

The only possible reason I can find for V/Line’s bizarre choice of alternate transport – ticketing laws are actually written in such a way that exiting at V/Line train at Sunshine is illegal.

With Authorised Officers even staking out Sunshine platform 4 to catch passengers trying to do just that.

No lighting

For some reason permanent lighting had yet to be installed across much of the station.

Temporary lighting having been installed across the platform and ramp at platform 1.

But for some reason the less finished platform 2 had permanent light fixtures installed.

The new station also had security staff keeping watch over both platforms at night, so possibly the installation of CCTV systems had also been cut in the rush to get the station opened.

No Myki equipment

Myki equipment was another victim of the hurried construction timeline.

‘Free travel from Deer Park station until 7 May 2023’ flyers being handed out by staff to intending passengers, permitting them to travel from the station while there was nowhere to touch on or topup Myki cards.

The Bunnings Warehouse special

For some reason the new Deer Park station is covered with these cheap looking steel bench seats.

I found them on the ramp to platform 1.

Midway along the convoluted walkway through the construction zone.

I also found a big pile of them sitting in the middle of the old station site.

Turns out they are Marquee brand ‘Steel Park Benches’ that are sold by Bunnings Warehouse!

Surely sourcing some proper bench seats should have been part of the project plan?

One highlight – bike parking

Surprisingly the new Parkiteer cage at Deer Park was open for use – just without a locking door to secure bikes inside.

But unfortunately it’s hidden down a walkway that weaves through the construction site.

So I also found bikes locked up the first piece of fence the owner could find.

And finally – platform screwups

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

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

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

What makes this omission even worse is that V/Line just completed a week long shutdown of the Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo lines to extend the 190 metre platforms at Sunshine to 225 metres long.

And adding to the comedy of errors – some V/Line trains aren’t allowed to stop at the new station!

Upon advice of V/Line Network Engineering, Sprinter railcars will NOT be permitted to stop at Deer Park station. Any Sprinter railcars will be required to run express through Deer Park station.

The operating restriction will apply until further advised due to clearance issues between the Sprinter railcar and the new platform when the doors are in the open position.

The reason – Sprinter railcars have outward plug doors that are lower than the floor level of the train, increasing the risk of getting stuck on a higher than normal platform.

What a comedy of errors!

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V/Line to Deer Park

Welcome to Deer Park station, located 17 kilometres west from Southern Cross Station.

With nothing of note other than car parks and suburban houses.

In peak many trains run express through the station.

And the trains that do stop are already full of passengers from Geelong and Ballarat.

And Ardeer

Even more forgettable is Ardeer station.

Only 15 kilometres from Southern Cross.

Yet still had a gravel platform as late as 2014.

In 2015 Regional Rail Link transformed the level of service to both stations – going from a train every two hours to a train around every 20 minutes, split between the Ballarat and Geelong lines.

But from 31 January 2021 the service levels have doubled again – off peak, Deer Park now sees six trains per hour, with every second train stopping at Ardeer as well.

Meanwhile riding Metro Trains Melbourne to Sunshine

Sunshine station was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project in 2014, and is located 12 kilometres from Southern Cross.

With four platforms, served by V/Line and Metro trains.

It is also a major transport hub for connecting buses.

With the area around the station a service and shopping hub for the surrounding suburbs.

But how many trains stop there off peak? Half that of Deer Park – just three trains an hour!

So how to fix it?

Off peak trains run every 10 minutes between the City and Ringwood, Dandenong and Frankston despite little promotion, with plans for a wider rollout promised in 2014 but never went anywhere.

But what about the Metro Tunnel, which will allow ‘More Trains More Often’ between Sunbury and the city once it is completed in 2025?

Hahaha!

The original Metro Tunnel business plan from 2016 delivered nothing to the Sunbury line, with millions spent on an extra platform at West Footscray so that trains from the city would not have to continue west to Sunshine and Sunbury!

The only bright spot on the horizon – the upcoming Melbourne Airport Rail Link will run via Sunshine, which will hopefully double the number of trains serving this growing suburban hub.

Footnote: V/Line trains and suburban passengers

For many years V/Line trains stopping at suburban stations have been advertised as ‘Not taking suburban passengers’.

And for a while enforcing it was pretty simple – V/Line had their own system of paper tickets, so conductors could check to see where someone boarded.

But the 2014 introduction of Myki to V/Line removed this distinction, so a new rule was added to the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual.

V/Line pick-up and set-down restrictions

For the purposes of the Conditions under this heading, in following three paragraphs, ‘metropolitan railway station’ means a railway station shown on the Melbourne Train Network Map in Figure A of Schedule 2 to these Conditions, other than Ardeer, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Rockbank, Melton, Sunbury and Pakenham railway stations.

A customer may only board a V/Line train at a metropolitan railway station if the V/Line train service ends at a railway station that is not a metropolitan railway station.

A customer may only alight from a V/Line train at a metropolitan railway station if the V/Line train service ends at a railway station that is a metropolitan railway station or with the permission of an authorised person.

If a customer boards, or alights from, a V/Line train at a metropolitan railway station in contravention of either of the two immediately preceding paragraphs, any ticket held by the customer is not, or ceases to be, valid for the customer’s journey that consists of, or includes, the customer’s travel in that V/Line train or for any entry to a compulsory ticket area associated with that journey.

Basically the new rule renders your valid ticket invalid for travel if you use on a V/Line train at a station with set-down and pick-up restrictions – allowing them to fine you for fare evasion.

Footnote: level crossings at Deer Park

During the construction of Regional Rail Link, residents of Ardeer were worried that level crossings would spend more time closed than open.

And they were surprisingly accurate – the gates down for up to 40 minutes at a time!

At least that problem is about to be solved – the level crossings at Mt Derrimut Road and Robinsons Road in Deer Park, and Fitzgerald Road in Ardeer are about to be grade separated.

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Melbourne’s first route 420 bus route ran from St Albans to East St Albans, and was operated by the Footscray – Yarraville Bus Company, part of the Sitch Group. It commenced operation in January 1957 as route 139A, gaining the route 420 number in 1971 as part of the wholesale renumbering of bus routes in Melbourne.

1978 Melbourne Public Transport Map

But by 1992 it had gone up in smoke, apparently replaced by nearby route 419 in 1984.

1992 Melbourne Public Transport Map

But in 2014 a new bus network was launched in Brimbank.

In July 2014, Public Transport Victoria (PTV) introduced a new bus network in the Brimbank area of Melbourne’s western suburbs. The network featured more direct and frequent services, better connections with trains, buses finishing later at night, Sunday services on all routes and better connections to key local destinations. This paper analyses the early patronage performance of the new network, and examines the contribution made by its service design features.

With plenty of new route numbers.

Which gave the 420 route number a second wind.

The flagship of changes in Brimbank is the introduction of the new route 420 service linking Sunshine and Watergardens via Glengala Road in Sunshine West, Station Road in Deer Park and Kings Road in Delahey, providing direct access to local trip generators, including Brimbank Central.

Running between Sunshine station.

And Watergardens station.

Operated by Sita Buslines, the service initially operated every 20 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, with Sunday services every 40 minutes, but later improved to 20 minute frequencies seven days a week. Running times were adjusted in 2015 after some buses were arriving up to 15 minutes early.

And more 420s

There are multiple buses in Australia with the fleet number #420 – Transdev Melbourne being one of them.

But at Sita Buslines, operator of route 420, the highest numbered bus is #361.

And another one

Murrumbeena station has a ‘D420’ sign at the city end of the platform.

It’s the identification plate for signal D420 – located 14.3 kilometres from Flinders Street on the line to Dandenong.

Footnote

Melbourne has a “Christmas For Potheads” every April 20, but nowhere near the route 420 bus.

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Roadtrip!

I started my journey in the south-west down at Camperdown, where I caught up with this short train made up of just two empty flat wagons.

The train was on the way back to Melbourne, having been abandoned in Warrnambool after the end of El Zorro’s ill fated attempt at running the Warrnambool freight service.

I then headed east, pausing at the dive that was Westall station. With only two platforms, the only access was via a pedestrian crossing at the down end, and the timber station buildings were missing thanks to an arson attack.

Today the station is a grand monolith, completed in 2011 at a cost of $151 million – with a third platform for terminating trains, and an overhead footbridge providing access over the tracks.

I also paused at a red brick traction substation and overhead wires on the main Gippsland line at Bunyip.

Constructed in the 1950s as part of the electrification of the main Gippsland railway line, as part of the first main line electrification project in Australia. Electrification was cut back to Warragul in 1987, to Bunyip in 1998, before ceasing entirely beyond Pakenham in 2001.

The wires and substation were removed in 2004, except for the substation and a short section of overhead at Bunyip, which are covered by a heritage listing.

I then headed for the South Gippsland Railway, where heritage trains once operated along the former Leongatha railway.

I rode the train to the end of the line at Nyora.

Then back to the other end at Leongatha.

The railway disbanded in 2016, due to a lack of volunteer labour.

I also headed into the Latrobe Valley on the search for freight trains.

My first find at the Australian Paper mill in Morwell, where containers were being loaded for the trip to the Port of Melbourne.

It still runs today, taking hundreds of trucks off the Monash Freeway each day.

I also headed further east to Bairnsdale, where I found a train being loaded with logs.

Then followed it back to Melbourne, where I caught it at Stratford, crossing the timber bridge over the Avon River.

The train transported cut logs to the Midway woodchip mill at Geelong, where they would be sent to the paper mills of Japan. The native forests of Gippsland are still being logged today, but the train no longer runs – the timber is transported by road instead.

As for the timber bridge over the Avon River, it is still there today, but the state government is funding a $95 million replacement, which will allow the 10 km/h speed limit to be raised.

A ‘powerful’ diversion

While in the Latrobe Valley I also toured Victoria’s aging fleet of brown coal fired power stations.

I started at the PowerWorks visitors centre in Morwell, where a retired coal dredger is preserved.

As well as a narrow gauge electric locomotive once used in the Yallourn open cut mine.

Then I went past Energy Brix briquette plant next door.

Which closed in 2014.

Then across to the Hazelwood power station.

Back then the ‘West Field’ expansion of the open cut brown coal mine was underway, with a number of roads being closed to make room for the future hole.

But that effort didn’t really pay off – the aging dinosaur of a power station closed in 2017.

Still hanging on is the Yallourn W power station, completed in 1973-1982.

And the Loy Yang power station and and open cut mine.

In addition to the slightly cleaner gas turbine plant at Jeeralang.

And an interesting piece of technology – the Loy Yang Static Inverter Plant, the Victorian end of the Basslink high voltage DC undersea transmission line that connects Tasmania to the national electricity grid.

Headed north

I then headed back on the trail of trains, heading over to Seymour where work had started on the gauge conversion of the railway north to Albury.

I also followed a special train operated by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre to Tocumwal.

With Santa saving from the rear platform.

Captured a V/Line train passing the since removed mechanical signals at Kilmore East.

Passed the crummy facilities that passed for a station at Donnybrook.

And saw gravel being loaded into a train, ready to be transported by rail to concrete plants across Melbourne, instead of a fleet of trucks.

I then headed west, to photograph a V/Line train at Ballan station.

It won’t look like the above very longer – a second platform and overhead footbridge is now under construction.

I also stopped in at Deer Park.

Work on the Deer Park Bypass was underway, making it quicker for people in Melbourne’s west to drive towards the city, as well as for trucks transporting interstate freight.

But no investment was coming for Deer Park station. Once part of the main route between Melbourne and Adelaide, bidirectional signalling was provided so that faster moving passenger trains could overtake the far heavier and slower freight trains.

But only a gravel platform was provided for passengers, visited by a V/Line train every two hours, if that.

It took until 2015 for the poor level of service to be fixed, following the completion of Regional Rail Link.

But unfortunately the cost cutting to the project saw the bidirectional signalling removed, resulting in major delays to V/Line services every time a train breaks down in the section.

Two steps forward, another back?

Another place on the fringe of Melbourne’s urban sprawl is Diggers Rest, which back then was only served by V/Line services.

As was Sunbury, which saw a number of V/Line shortworkings terminate there in order to pump up the frequency to something worth using.

The $270 million electrification of the Sunbury line was completed in 2012, seeing suburban trains extended to the town, but but many of the locals weren’t happy – they preferred waiting around on a cold platform then ride a comfortable V/Line train.

And back to Geelong

Finally, we end close to home at Geelong.

I visited the remains of the Fyansford cement works.

The silos were still in place.

As were the railway sidings once used to despatch the finished product.

But the cement kilns at the base of the hill were long gone.

Today the silos are still there, but the tracks were removed in 2011, and the rest of the site redeveloped as houses.

I found a VLocity train bound for Marshall station, heading through an unprotected level crossing.

Rather than upgrade the crossing, in 2008 it was closed to vehicle traffic.

At North Shore I captured The Overland westbound for Adelaide.

The newly refurbished train had entered service in mid-2008 in an attempt to reinvigorate the dying service, but it doesn’t do much good – it was almost cancelled in 2015 following an impasse over funding, with it now set to end in 2018 after SA government declined to extended the arrangement further.

The rollout of ‘Parkiteer’ bike cages at railway stations had started, with South Geelong receiving one.

Platform extension works were also underway.

In September 2008 then Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, announced that longer trains would be deployed to the Geelong line, requiring platform extension works.

These trains continued to run until June 2015, when Geelong trains commenced using the new Regional Rail Link tracks and the trains were cut back to just six cars in length.

And finally after years of trying, I was finally in the right place at the right time and captured the daily V/Line overtaking move outside Geelong.

Until 2015 on the Geelong line, two V/Line services would depart Geelong each morning a few minutes apart. The first train would stop all stations, while the second train would run express to Melbourne, overtaking the slower train.

Finding this overtaking point was more art than science – even a 30 second delay to either train could move it a kilometre or so down the line, so all I could do was pick a spot lineside, and hope that I wouldn’t have to come back another day to try again.

Footnote

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

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Newspaper reports

The first reports on level crossing delays came only a few weeks after Regional Rail Link opened.

Rail Express
Police ‘absolutely sick’ of risky drivers at level crossings
Oliver Probert
July 9, 2015

Victorian transit police have issued a plea to motorists to improve their behaviour around rail crossings after a spate of near misses in the past two weeks.

Police have reminded motorists that a new timetable – delivered following the opening of the Regional Rail Link on June 21 – means more V/Line trains are going through level crossings at Deer Park and Sunshine West.

Some motorists have been “dicing with death” by ignoring warning signals and even driving around boom gates, the state’s police force said on Thursday.

Victorian Police Transit Safety Division Inspector Karl Curran said he wanted to get a clear message to drivers who ignore level crossing warning signals.

“If driver behaviour continues this way there is going to be a fatality,” Curran said. “We are absolutely sick of drivers taking potentially deadly risks around railway tracks and level crossings as trains approach at up to 160 km/h.”

By August a local resident flagged the issue with Member for Kororoit Marlene Kariouz, who then raised it with the Minister for Public Transport.

Brimbank & North West Star Weekly
RRL opening causes Deer Park crossing gridlock
Ben Cameron
August 17, 2015

Ballarat train timetables will be reviewed after a Brimbank politician raised commuter frustration in parliament last week.

Member for Kororoit Marlene Kariouz had called on the Minister for Public Transport to sort out severe traffic congestion at a Deer Park railway crossing on August 6.

Traffic at Station Road has increased by 34 per cent over the past decade, according to Brimbank council’s transport priorities report.

“Since the completion and opening of the Regional Rail Link, the boom gates at the Deer Park railway crossing are down for lengthy periods, causing a backlog of traffic and driver frustration, and other safety issues,” Ms Kariouz said.

“I have had a number of emails from constituents regarding the long waits they are experiencing since the opening of the regional rail link.

“I note the minister has asked Public Transport Victoria and V/Line to review the timetable for the Ballarat line after the opening of the Regional Rail Link.

“As part of this I ask the minister to investigate what options are available to address traffic congestion at the Deer Park railway crossing in Station Road, Deer Park, caused by the railway gates being down for long periods of time.”

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the scheduling of services through Deer Park is being considered as part of a review by Public Transport Victoria and V/Line of the Ballarat line timetable.

But no reason has been given as to why the delays are occurring, except that a timetable change is coming for the Ballarat line, and nothing is actually broken.

Brimbank & North West Star Weekly
Deer Park crossing delays prompt deadly risks
Ben Cameron
November 24, 2015

Drivers and pedestrians are illegally crossing railway tracks near Deer Park train station because boom gates are down for up to 40 minutes.

In a letter to Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn, Deer Park resident Daniel Attard said there was an “escalating safety issue” at the Mount Derrimut Road crossing.

Sunshine police’s Acting Inspector Brenda Bagally confirmed safety at the level crossing was an “ongoing issue”.

“The gates are down not just from getting stuck but from more trains coming through,” she said.

Police transit safety division inspector Karl Curran told Star Weekly in July that the Regional Rail Link and new V/Line timetables increased the number of trains going through level crossings at Deer Park and Sunshine West.

New timetables for the Ballarat line are due in late January but are not a direct response to Deer Park safety concerns, the state government has said.

Mr Attard stated the delays were leading to dangerous behaviour from train commuters, pedestrians and cyclists, who are crossing the tracks.

“I’ve witnessed on countless occasions pedestrians, rail commuters and cyclists climbing over or walking around the safety barriers while the crossing alarm is sounding and the boom gates are down,” he wrote.

“Several times I have witnessed motorcyclists riding around the boom gates and passengers in vehicles attempting to raise the smaller boom gate by hand, allowing vehicles through.”

He wrote, “there had been and still are frequent and significant malfunctions” with the boom gates.

“[Recently] the boom gates were down for a continual period of approximately 25 minutes.

Often, during the morning and afternoon peak periods, the boom gates are down for significant lengths of time, in regular cases between 25 and 40 minutes.

“This includes periods of up to 10 or 12 minutes when no train is either arriving or departing the platforms at Deer Park station.”

A spokesman for the minister said the government would ensure V/Line inspected and monitored the level crossing.

The real answer

The reason for the worsening level crossing delays at Deer Park is simple – since the opening of Regional Rail Link, every train to and from Geelong now uses the tracks through the station, resulting in the boom gates being down for longer than when just Ballarat trains used the line.

However, the gates staying down despite trains not passing through the crossing isn’t a physical fault – it’s fault with V/Line’s operational procedures, tied up with the way that level crossings operate.

How do level crossings even work?

The point of a level crossing is simple – prevent motorists and pedestrians from being on the tracks at the same time as a train. They achieve this by detecting the presence of trains before they reach the crossing, so that the mandatory warning time of 25 seconds is given to road users.

For a simple level crossing detecting a train isn’t too difficult – work out how long the fastest train takes to reach the crossing, install a sensor at that location, trigger the warning right away, and then reopen the crossing to road traffic as soon as the train is clear. However complexity soon arises once you head out into the real world.

The first hurdle is the ‘another train coming’ scenario on double track railways – where a train in one direction clears a level crossing, only for another to approach from the other direction soon after. Since you can’t open and close a level crossing instantly, the gates sometimes need to be kept down even when the tracks looks clear – the ‘Victorian Rail Industry Operators Group Standards’ describes the rationale:

The provision of holding for boom barriers ensures that if a motorist has just begun to move after the first train has passed, he will not be surprised by the level crossing protection restarting, causing him to react inappropriately and possibly stopping on the crossing.

Further complexity occurs when you start to mix trains that travel at different speeds – obviously a train travelling at 160 km/h towards a level crossing will get there much faster than a train doing half that speed, which also means the warning time calculated for a ‘fast’ train will result in the boom gates staying down longer when a ‘slow’ train approaches.

Thankfully technology has a solution that allows for varying warning times – instead of just detecting the presence of trains at a given trigger location, a ‘level crossing predictor’ uses a motion detection system to determine how fast a train is travelling towards it, which allows a consistent warning time to be given to road users, no matter the speed of the train.

However at Mount Derrimut Road, the main cause of delays is a third factor – the mix of express and stopping trains using Regional Rail Link. Express trains go flying through Deer Park on their way to the city, but stopping trains slow *down* on their approach, stop at the platform for passengers to board, then eventually accelerate back to normal speed. So how is the level crossing supposed to give a constant warning time, when the two times are so different?

Again, this is already a solved problem, and it doesn’t even need any fancy technology – for decades level crossings in suburban Melbourne have been using ‘express/stopping selection’ to minimise the delays to motorists when trains stop at stations.

The ‘Victorian Rail Industry Operators Group Standards’ has this to say about the practice:

Express/stopping selection is provided when a platform is on the approach side of a level crossing fitted with boom barrier protection and is in close proximity to the crossing.

Stopping trains utilising the express train approach would cause extended closure times of the crossing. A stopping approach is provided in this circumstance to reduce the closure time for stopping trains.

Correct operation of express/stopping approaches requires selection and identification of each train as either an express or stopping train at the station under consideration.

There are currently two methods of achieving this:

• Manual selection by a signaller at that location or at a preceding location. The signaller is required to select the train as either a stopping train or an express train via push-buttons before the departure signal will clear.
• Automatic selection via a timing track at a preceding station. The train will be identified as an express or stopping train based on its operation at the selection station.

The signals and level crossing approaches are then set based on the identification (or selection) of the train.

If the train is selected as an express, full line-speed control and holding approaches are selected and the signals are cleared.

If the train is selected as a stopper, stopping control and holding approaches are selected and the signal protecting the level crossing is held at stop. The signals leading to the signal at stop display the appropriate aspect sequence.

In many cases the selection, whether manual or automatic, applies to a number of stations and crossings on the line ahead.

In this case the selection information proceeds to the rear of the previous train and follows that train to establish the required conditions for the following train. The circuitry used to achieve this is referred to as the progression system.

For those who aren’t signalling nerds, the above means “express trains get a clear run through the level crossing, while stopping trains have to stop in the platform, wait for the level crossing to activate, and then proceed”.

And back to Deer Park

So what is going on at Mount Derrimut Road? The top speed of V/Line trains is between 115 km/h and 160 km/h so that doesn’t really explain the massive delays – and the ‘another train coming’ scenario isn’t unique to Deer Park either.

However when I paid a visit to Deer Park for myself, express/stopping selection was the obvious issue – the level crossing activating early, no matter if the train is passing through at 160 km/h, or coming to a halt to pick up waiting passengers.

I’ve since been told that all level crossings along the Regional Rail Link route already have express/stopping selection equipment fitted, but V/Line flags every train as an ‘express’ service in the signalling system – an operational convenience that makes life hell for anyone trying to cross the tracks.

While motorists in Deer Park won’t be happy that they have been unnecessarily delayed since June 2015, at least it means the fix for the problem is simple – no new timetables are needed, and no repairs to level crossings are required – V/Line just needs to use their signalling system as it was designed, and the infrastructure they already have in place will minimise delays.

Footnote

The opening of Regional Rail Link has seen a previous theme at V/Line become even more apparent – their difficulty to adjusting to the fact they are now responsible for operating a commuter rail service to Melbourne’s ever growing regional satellites.

When you only run three trains a day through a town, level crossing delays don’t really matter. But when you are running four trains a hour to Geelong and another two to Bacchus Marsh, Deer Park is no longer just a ‘country’ station, and small delays add up.

And another problem

Regional Rail Link trains also suffer from delays at the flat junction west of Deer Park – I’d write about it, but Daniel Bowen covered the topic a month ago.

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