Comments on: Metro Tunnel and rebuilding South Kensington station

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 00:46:33 +0000

In reply to Polly.

That was a useless network map – it suggested there was a line from Sunbury to Upfield!

https://danielbowen.com/2014/04/16/new-train-map-coming/

By: Polly

Polly — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 20:54:16 +0000

The mapping and labelling of South Kensington used to baffle me. When I first moved to Melbourne in the late noughties, I needed to get from Parliament to South Kensington. The map suggests the-then Watergardens line for such a purpose.
First train: “Limited express, not stopping South K”. Fair enough; I know enough about the system to understand how limited expresses work; this one was probably also skipping Middle, West and Tottenham. I’ll just get the next one.
Second train: “Not stopping South K.” Annoying.
Third train: “Not stopping South K.” Very annoying.
Eventually I twigged that something was up, so caught a train to Norf Melbourne and transferred to a Werribee service there, however, the map made it seem that Parliament to South K was possible on a weekday when it simply wasn’t. The new map, thankfully, removes the confusion, but it took many, many years.

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 09:45:39 +0000

In reply to Jesse. On the other hand the people at the Metro Academy and ARTC aren't the ones holding the purse strings for railway station upgrades.

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 09:44:57 +0000

In reply to Tramologist.

Back in 2019 Metro tried to divert an up Sunbury service into South Kensington to pick up passengers stranded due to a power failure on the Werribee lines, only for the train to fall victim to the same fault, and block the previously unaffected Sunbury line in the process!

https://railgallery.wongm.com/sunbury-line-south-kensington/

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 09:42:54 +0000

In reply to Andrew.

With railway tracks on both sides, there isn’t an easy way to expand the platforms, especially on the narrow citybound one – even demolishing the existing station and slewing the Werribee lines around an island platform isn’t going to create that much extra space.

By: Harry Goldun

Harry Goldun — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 11:06:59 +0000

In reply to Marcus Wong. Yes they did, I used to travel on the line back in the 70's and the train did stop there on certain services to and from St.Albans. Even recall the original timber station building prior to quadruplication.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 10:05:12 +0000

In reply to Marcus Wong. My recollection is when l worked at Flinders St Stn on the platform's. This is when trains went to St Albans or Sunshine, is that they stopped all stations except 'White City' (now gone). This is around 40+ years ago.

By: Rod

Rod — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 07:07:39 +0000

Poor old South Kensington is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or rather, a bunch of railway tracks for which widening to have a more accommodating set of platforms would be a major undertaking. If improvements drew patrons from Kensington it will also exacerbate the problem of AM peak hour trains being too full to take on passengers, which was a problem when i used that station until 2012. I don’t know if that is no longer an issue – we’ll see when we’re all told to work from the office….

By: Jesse

Jesse — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 05:02:03 +0000

It is further ironic that the Metro Academy and ARTC are in an industrial park adjacent to South Kensington, which means that a significant number of railway staff have to experience the poor quality amenities provided by the station.

By: Tramologist

Tramologist — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 00:42:52 +0000

However, Sunbury trains do occasionally serve South Kensington when the neighbouring Werribee / Williamstown line has occupations / disruptions, by being routed via a crossover so the train can use the platform.