Trains

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

And the rebuilt station was starting to take shape.

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

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

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

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

New trams

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

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

Supplementing the bright yellow ‘Bumblebee’ trams.

Melbourne Cup

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

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

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

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

Slow progress

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

The yet to be commissioned stops confusing passengers.

A disappearing act

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

And now you don’t.

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

Traffic light priority for Melbourne trams is still a dream!

And another something different

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

Followed by two weeks in Hong Kong.

Along with a short transit through Changi Airport in Singapore.

And a Myki related footnote

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

Footnote

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

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On the train

Trains start at Flinders Street Station.

First stop Southern Cross.

Then North Melbourne.

Then takes the high level tracks towards the Craigieburn line.

Passing over Moonee Ponds Creek.

Trains to the Showgrounds and Flemington Racecourse run express through Kensington and Newmarket stations.

Where they branch off from the Craigieburn line.

Heading past the Showgrounds.

Until they reach Flemington Racecourse.

Where you can make your way to the track.

Past a massive bank of Myki readers.

Because everything seems to go wrong

A whole lot of drunks onboard a train are a recipe for disaster.

Photo by Bahnfrend, via Wikimedia Commons

So Victoria Police and Authorised Officers keep an eye on the situation.

Armed with a supply of vomit bags.

As a high profile event it’s also a magnet for protests. On Melbourne Cup Day 2017 refugee activists abandoned a car on the tracks in order to stop trains.

ABC News photo

So in the years that followed Metro Trains staff and a backhoe loader keep an eye on the Ascot Vale Road level crossing.

Equipment failures can also cause problems, such as Oaks Day 2008 when equipment failures shut down trains, stranding thousands of passengers.

The Age photo

So to avoid a occurrence, signalling and track gangs are now on standby, ready to respond.

But the weather is always a hazard, with trains stopped in 2018 thanks to flash flooding.

Metro Trains Melbourne photo

Which required an expensive fix – digging up the tracks to install an upgraded drainage system.

And what about the rest of the year?

The railway to the racecourse doesn’t sit empty all year – trains also serve minor race meets at Flemington.

Running from platform 8 at Southern Cross Station.

And empty trains also stable along the line outside of peak times.

A second life during major works

Flemington Racecourse has also used as a interchange location for rail replacement buses during major works, such as the Regional Rail Link project back in 2011.

Temporary steps linking the platform and bus interchange.

Where a fleet of buses was waiting.

And unexpected visitors

Finally, the Flemington Racecourse line is a popular destination for railfan tours, such as this 1999 outing with the restored Tait set.

Weston Langford photo

In 2009 steam locomotive R707 paid a visit on a 707 Operations mystery tour of suburbia.

I visited Flemington in 2012 aboard railcar RM58 on a tour run by DERMPAV.

And Steamrail Victoria visited in 2013 with steam locomotive K153.

But that isn’t the only unusual visitors to the line – diesel locomotives have used the line to assist during trackwork.

And finally in 2020 I found a High Capacity Metro Train waiting at Flemington Racecourse – completing testing before their entry to service.

Footnote: some history

The Flemington Racecourse line was opened by the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company in February 1861, as a branch from their railway to Essendon.

The company failed three years later, with the railway laying idle until 1867 when it was taken over by the Victorian Railways and reopened.

The line was electrified in 1918 for testing of Melbourne’s brand new electric trains, with the first train running in October 1918.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P0001 H 2547

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