On the train

Yes, still on the Regional Rail Link topic – Ballarat and Bendigo trains now had their own tracks through Footscray to Sunshine, along with their own next train displays located away from the ones showing suburban trains.

But for now Geelong line services were still running along the Werribee line. Here we see a N class locomotive hauled train passing through Williams Landing.

A VLocity train passing through Laverton station.

And another passing through the platforms at South Kensington.

Which then took the crossover at the city end of the station to access the new V/Line tracks towards Southern Cross.

Freight trains

A decade ago Pacific National still had the contract to transport grain by rail to the flour mill at Kensington. Southern Shorthaul Railroad won the contract in November 2017.

Meanwhile down at North Geelong Yard Pacific National was busy scrapping surplus wagons – the bulk of which once transport freight that has been lost to road.

Down around Geelong

The North Geelong B signal box was still hanging around a decade after it had been decommissioned in 2005, and surprisingly it hung around almost a decade longer – eventually being demolished in May 2022.

While down in Grovedale money was getting spent on Baanip Boulevard, with a new bridge being built over the railway to link the Geelong Ring Road to the Surf Coast Highway.

And down at North Shore even the dive of a station was getting some attention – new asphalt!

Ding ding on the trams

Remember the ‘Melbourne Star’ observation wheel? This tram was advertising it, before the operator went broke in 2021.

But a tourist icon that people actually patronised was the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant – it ran until 2018 when their restaurant trams were kicked off the Yarra Trams network due to safety concerns.

Another safety concern that is having to dodge cars to climb onboard tram at South Yarra station. The platform stop there wasn’t opened until 2021.

Another crappy tram stop was the one at La Trobe and Swanston Street – on this December afternoon it was overwhelmed by a crowd of RMIT graduates spilling out onto the road. Platform stops were not provided along La Trobe Street until July 2024.

And continuing on that theme, now we’re at Collins and Queen Street – closed in 2015 following completion of a new platform stop at Collins and William Street.

Another stop to close being the one for southbound route 96 passengers at the corner of Spencer and Flinders Street.

Works about to start on new platform stops at Batman Park a short distance to the south.

A few buses

A decade ago route 400 between Sunshine and Laverton was operated by plain white liveried buses – an artifact of the shared operation of the route between Westrans and Sita. Today the operations are now CDC Melbourne and Transit Systems, and the white buses are gone – they’re mostly PTV orange, with the exception of a few buses still in the old poo brown Sita corporate livery.

Another oddball bus was the British-built Optare Solos used on the SkyBus hotel shuttle service around the Melbourne CBD. Later branded as ‘SkyBus Link’, the service was discontinued in 2020 thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, and never restored.

And the last bus is a Designline ‘bubble’ bus running on route 903 along Bell Street in Coburg.

Stuck in traffic waiting at the level crossing with the Upfield line – which was removed in June 2020.

Ticketing bits

Down in Geelong it was once possible to buy a ‘Short Term Ticket‘ from bus drivers rather than use a Myki card – an option removed in April 2013.

While in the lead up to the November 2014 election both parties promised to cap Melbourne suburban travel to zone 1 prices, and introduce the ‘Free Tram Zone’ in the CBD.

Both starting from 1 January 2015.

But don’t think they’re giving you something for nothing – PTV was simultaneously running yet another fare evasion campaign.

As well as promoting free travel on Christmas Day.

Car parking

What’s a worse use of prime CBD land than a ground level car park? This is the ‘Golden Square’ car park at 217 Lonsdale Street, which is still a car park today.

And this is the ‘Safe City Car Park’ at 132 Little Bourke Street in Chinatown – which has since been turned into a pop up event space.

And finally – a power station

Here we are at the main gate to Anglesea Power Station.

Located in the middle of the Anglesea Heathlands.

Next to a brown coal mine.

Opened back in 1969 to power Alcoa’s Point Henry smelter outside of Geelong, the smelter was closed down in July 2014 but the power station remained open pending a new owner, before it too was shut down in August 2015.

Footnote

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

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A trip to Sydney

I decided to make the trip up to Sydney this month, catching the XPT north from Melbourne.

And being greeted by a light rail vehicle tram as soon as I arrived at Central Station.

I saw a double decker train the next day.

And presumably took some other photos up there, but they weren’t of trains – as I still haven’t uploaded them to my Flickr account.

Then then flew back home to Melbourne – to be greeted by a Myki visitors pack advertisement inside the Qantas terminal.

Along with a SkyBus one.

A decade on and the Myki machines at Melbourne Airport are just as hard to find, and SkyBus is still the only public transport route that runs from the airport to the CBD.

Melbourne Central

I also went on a tour of the Melbourne Central Tower this month, where we got to look out over the roof of Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, towards Myer House and Emporium.

But unfortunately we only got to look down on the glass cone, not look inside like some previous tours did.

Technology

It seems like an everyday scene now, but a decade ago seeing an entire tram full of passengers absorbed in their smartphones was still novel.

But Telstra was still behind the times – rollout out their ‘Telstra Air’ wifi hotspots to payphones, despite almost everyone having stacks of mobile data to use on their phone.

The Wi-Fi network is still in place today, but free since 2023.

Trams

‘Safety’ zone trams stops were still common place in the Melbourne CBD a decade ago – this one was on Collins Street at William Street.

This particular tram stop was replaced by a platform stop in June 2015, with the last safety zones in the CBD upgraded in July 2024. As for the rest of the tram network – the December 2022 deadline to make all tram stops accessible has been and gone, with hundreds still non compliant.

Meanwhile Yarra Trams was coming up with crackpot schemes like a coffee stall taking up precious space for passengers at the Flinders and Swanston Street stop.

Luckily that idea got kicked out very quickly.

A handful of 1970s-era Z1 class trams were also still kicking around the network, with their crappy little sliding windows and only two doors per side – despite having supposed to have been retired a decade earlier in favour of the incoming low floor C and D class trams, but kept on due to increasing patronage.

This particular tram – Z3.86 – was eventually retired in August 2015, following the delivery of the new E class trams.

A different flavour of stupidity are people who drive down Swanston Street – this driver managed to break down in the middle of the tram stop, and drum up help from passersby to get clear of the tracks.

While this confused country bumpkin headed up Swanston Street in their LandCruiser got pulled up by an unmarked police car, and got sent on their way.

And a decade on – nothing much has really changed.

V/Line trains

Here we see an original liveried VLocity train departing Richmond station for the city.

These days the entire VLocity fleet is in the PTV purple livery, the open air ramps at Richmond station are now roofed over, and Eureka Tower has been usurped by Australia 108 as the tallest building in Australia.

Down in Geelong I photographed a 6-car V/Line train approaching the brand new terminus station of Waurn Ponds.

Opened in October 2014, Waurn Ponds gained a second platform in 2022, and the 8 kilometers of track between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds has just been duplicated.

And a V/Line train in are more shocking condition was VLocity set VL12.

Involved in a collision on the Werribee line in August 2014 where a V/Line train passed a signal at stop and crashed into the rear of a Metro train, it had to be dragged to the workshops at Bendigo to be repaired.

The collision resulted in Metro trains rewriting the rules around passing a signal at stop, while VLocity VL12 reentered service in March 2015 as the only 2-car VLocity set to ever wear the PTV livery.

A load of rubbish

After the removal of rubbish bins from Melbourne stations due to the “increased terror alert level”, they all got dumped in a pile at Flinders Street Station.

And the average passenger responded as you might expect – like a filthy pig just leaving their rubbish on the ground.

The bins were eventually returned in March 2015, with the exception of the private management at Southern Cross Station, who still refuse to place any rubbish bins on their platforms.

A different kind of rubbish

It was the leadup to the 2014 State Election, and the Napthine Government was ramped up their ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfundedthe Melbourne Rail Link project.

Conceived as an alternative to the Metro Tunnel, the Melbourne Rail Link tunnel would have run between South Yarra and Southern Cross, serving new stations at Domain and Fishermans Bend – instead of Arden and Parkville, who would be stuck using buses and trams.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start, and a rail link to Fishermans Bend is as far away as ever.

And another piece of pork barrelling I photographed was this Denis Napthine’s $115 million dollar train on the Frankston line – or what the government called the ‘Bayside Rail Project’.

Announced in May 2013, the Bayside Rail Project was promoted as bringing the newest trains in Melbourne – the X’Trapolis – to the Frankston line.

However these trains accelerate faster than anything else in the Melbourne fleet, putting them at risk of beating the boom barriers at level crossings, but because of the upcoming election, it was decided in October 2014, to just run a single X’Trapolis train on the line each morning, but with a speed restrictor on the throttle and two drivers in the cab.

Following changes to level crossing timings on the line in August 2016, the restriction on X’Trapolis trains was removed, allowing any X’Trapolis set to run revenue services to Frankston, and more amazingly a decade later, the bulk of the level crossings on the Frankston line don’t even exist anymore.

And a third kind of rubbish

For decades this ancient advertisement for Medibank Private faced passengers at Melbourne Central platform 1.

But 2014 saw this billboard finally removed from the platform wall, replaced by the ‘Xtrack TV’ digital screens with their insipid loop of advertisements – with audio soundtrack.

And Medibank Private – it’s still just as useless as the rest of the Australian private health insurance system.

Footnote

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

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Trains

I’ve been posting about progress on Regional Rail Link for a few years now, and finally it’s the big day – VLocity VL09 was the first “proper” test train to run along the new tracks from Deer Park towards West Werribee.

However it wasn’t the actual first train to use the line – a few months earlier a super heavy “consolidation train” spent a few days driving back and forth along the line, simulating the load of multiple passenger trains in order to bed down the brand new track.

Also this month the brand new station at Waurn Ponds in Geelong’s southern suburbs opened.

But it was a bare bones operation, with just a single platform, and a short siding down the line to allow terminating trains to shunt clear of services continuing to Warrnambool.

Nearby Baanip Boulevard was also under construction – a link between the recently completed Geelong Ring Road and the Surfcoast Highway.

Since then Waurn Ponds gained a second platform in 2022, the short holding siding has been replaced by a six road train stabling yard past the cement works, and 8 kilometers of track between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds has been duplicated.

Terrorism scaremongering

A decade ago the government decided to ratchet up the National Terrorism Threat Level from medium to high, and in return the City Loop railway stations were blanketed in ‘If you see something, say something’ scaremongering.

We also lost our rubbish bins at railway stations, and the recent installed lockers at Flinders Street Station were shut down.

The bins eventually returned but now see through, with the exception of Southern Cross Station, which still lacks them.

And things that are gone

A decade ago the LED matrix next train displays were still a common sight outside of the CBD.

Since 2018 the majority of them have been replaced by modern LCD screens.

Next up, we have an Alstom Comeng arrives into an almost new West Footscray platform 1 with an up Sunbury service.

Now numbered platform 2, a third turnback platform has since been constructed as part of the Metro Tunnel project.

And finally, the view onboard an EDI Comeng train.

The windbreakers and 15 seats around the doors of each carriage were removed in 2015, to make more room for standing passengers.

Trams

I headed out to Victoria Gardens in Richmond to check out the new route 12 terminus – opened in July 2014 after route 112 from West Preston to St Kilda was split into route 11 from West Preston to Victoria Harbour, and route 12 from St Kilda to Victoria Gardens.

Also ongoing was the rebuilding of recently completed tram stops in the Melbourne CBD so their platform heights met new standards.

And in Ascot Vale I revisited a tram stop that landed me in the newspaper for tracking the ongoing procession of motorists who crashed into it.

Buses

A decade ago Sita was still running clapped out high floor buses on services around Sunshine, complete with paper destination signs as they didn’t want spend the money updating the old fashioned destination blind.

While a much more salubrious bus service was the privately operated ‘SuitJet’ express bus to the Melbourne CBD.

Launched in August 2014 with services from Point Cook, Eltham, Doreen, Mernda and Templestowe, there were few takers for the $30 return fare, and the service shut down a few weeks later.

And something else

Something that always intrigued me was the handful of houses left standing in the middle of the Victoria University car park in Footscray.

I eventually got around to writing about them in 2018, only for the State Government to announce in 2019 that the new Footscray Hospital would be built on the site. Today the houses are gone, replaced by a 10-storey glass and concrete tower.

Footnote

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

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Regional Rail Link

Yep, I’m at it again, following the progress on the Regional Rail Link project.

At Footscray the widened railway cutting through Fordham Reserve had been partially reinstated.

Right up to abandoned Franco Cozzo showroom.

The backdrop is now filled with new apartment blocks, and the Franco Cozzo site has been turned into the Moon Dog brewery.

While down the line, trees marked the fenced off site of what used to be David Matthews Park.

That park has since been sold off for development.

Out in Albion brand new steel noise walls line the rail corridor parallel to Forrest Street.

A decade later they’re now hidden behind a row of gum trees.

A short distance away at Ardeer station a gravel platform welcomed passengers – along with a two hour wait for the next train, a mere 15 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD.

Thankfully the platforms have since been resurfaced with asphalt, and trains now stop every 20 minutes.

And finally – work had finally started at the future site of Caroline Springs station.

The station was eventually opened to passengers in January 2017.

Terrorism fears

In September 2014 Public Transport Victoria yanked the rubbish bins from Melbourne railway stations as a response to the “increased terror alert level”.

With the response from slovenly passengers being to just throw their rubbish on the ground instead.

The bins eventually returned in March 2015 as transparent plastic bags that resembled a scrotum, with the exception of Southern Cross Station – where they have never returned.

Penalty Fares scaremongering from PTV

August 2014 was the introduction of a new on-the-spot ‘Penalty Fares’ regime.

It allowed passengers caught travelling without a without a valid ticket to pay an on-the-spot penalty fare of $75 by credit card, instead of being issued with a $223 infringement notice that arrived in the mail a few weeks later.

As you might expect, fare evaders worked out it was cheaper to just pay the $75 penalty if you did get caught, and so the scheme was terminated in January 2017.

More Melbourne Airport Rail Link propaganda

With the lead up to the 2014 State Election, the Napthine Government ramped up their ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfunded ‘Melbourne Rail Link‘ project.

Covering Southern Cross Station with ‘From plane to train in 25 minutes’ propaganda.

On the big screen at Flinders Street Station.

Plastering propaganda stickers on the back of train seats.

On signs at railway stations.

And on billboards, like this one beside Ballarat Road in Albion.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, and work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start.

Level crossings that are gone

Level crossing removals in Melbourne were few and far between, so I didn’t think much about it when I photographed an X’Trapolis train departing Bayswater station on the Belgrave line.

Or this Comeng train departing Essendon station on the Craigieburn line.

But in 2017 the level crossings at Mountain Highway and Scoresby Road at Bayswater were replaced with rail under road bridges, and in 2018 the Buckley Street level crossing in Essendon was replaced by a road under rail bridge.

Before the West Gate ‘Tunnel’

Another project that didn’t exist a decade ago was the West Gate ‘Tunnel’.

Dynon Road through West Melbourne used to be two lanes in each direction.

With an empty paddock beside the railway bridge.

And you could see the sky above Footscray Road.

But now all three sites are covered by a tangle of freeway overpasses forming what is supposedly a ‘tunnel’, unsolicited proposal conceived by Transurban as a way to increase profits to their shareholders.

V/Line around the place

Just another view of Southern Cross Station, with work on the 699 Bourke Street development underway.

Since then the original purple and green VLocity livery is no more, and only a single Sprinter railcar is left in the red and yellow ‘cheeseburger’ livery.

Locomotive hauled carriages were also still being shunted out on peak hour runs.

The last of the H sets was withdrawn in February 2024, with the N sets soon to follow.

The one thing I did expect to see go was A66 leading a Shepparton service through Moonee Ponds.

The fleet of A class locomotives are now with railway heritage groups, and the Shepparton service has been exclusively VLocity trains since 2022.

Ding ding on the trams

The brand new E class trams entered service in November 2013, and were now starting to dominate route 96 services.

The older D2 class trams being demoted to route 19 services, including one plastered in ‘E class trams on route 96’ advertising.

The tram allocations are the same today, despite the low floor trams lacking any platform stops on Sydney Road.

Melbourne’s prototype high floor light rail vehicles from 1985 were also still in service.

Both were withdrawn a few years later, and eventually scrapped.

Speaking of platform stops, the only recently constructed tram stops in the Bourke Street Mall were closed, so they could rebuilt to a revised platform height.

The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant was still trundling around the streets of Melbourne.

The service last ran in October 2018, when Yarra Trams banned the fleet of the network citing safety concerns.

Another W class tram had been turned into the ‘Tram Bar‘ at the Arts Centre.

Opened in 2011, the tram came and went with the seasons, until permanently closed in January 2015.

And finally, what was then an unremarkable photo of trams at Domain Interchange on St Kilda Road.

Rebuilt in 2013 at great expense to modern accessible standards, in 2018 the interchange was closed to make way for the construction of Anzac station, with route 58 trams being diverted onto a new alignment via Toorak Road, pending the completion of a replacement tram stop in December 2022.

And forgotten bus companies

I didn’t realise it at the time, but a decade ago I photographed a long list of bus companies that no longer exist.

Sita Bus Lines used to use plain white buses on the route 400 service to Melbourne’s prisons.

They were bought by Transit Systems in 2019, but their clapped out poo brown and orange buses can still be seen the western suburbs.

East West Bus Company once ran bus sources in the northern suburbs, as a joint venture between Dysons Group and Reservoir Bus Company.

The joint venture was taken over by Dysons in February 2014, with the East West brand phased out in 2019.

Tullamarine Bus Lines once ran bus routes around Moonee Ponds and Airport West.

They were acquired by ComfortDelGro Corporation in 2018, and merged into the operations of CDC Melbourne.

Moonee Valley Coaches was another bus operator in the inner north.

They were acquired by Dyson Group in 2024.

Kastoria Bus Lines is another smaller operator in the north-western suburbs.

They lost out in the recent Metropolitan Zero Emission Bus Franchise process, and will be taken over by CDC Melbourne from 2025.

I also found a Melbourne Visitor Shuttle bus on St Kilda Road.

Funded by the City of Melbourne, the service was discontinued in 2017 after competition from the Free Tram Zone.

And City Sightseeing Melbourne once ran a hop-on hop-off tourist service with open-top double decker buses.

They suspended operations in March 2020 thanks to Covid-19, and are yet to restart operations.

And a final word

Remember Melbourne Bike Share, with bikes that needed to be pedaled, and docks to return them to?

The service was withdrawn in 2019.

And what about yellow taxis?

A common sight since introduced by Jeff Kennett in the 1990s, the requirement was dropped in 2013 as part of the legalisation of Uber and other so called “ridewhare” services.

Footnote

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

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Regional Rail Link

Yes, more Regional Rail Link this month! First off, a V/Line train headed over the newly upgraded North Melbourne flyover bound for Southern Cross, avoiding the suburban trains down below.

The sharp curves catching V/Line unaware a few years later, when almost the entire VLocity train fleet was withdrawn from service due to wheel wear issues.

At Footscray the upgraded station was open to passengers, with the forecourt to Irving Street nicely landscaped.

And restoration work underway on the heritage listed station buildings.

There were also works happening in the background – a new traction power substation was under construction, so that extra suburban services could use the track capacity freed up by giving V/Line trains their own route into the city.

But despite the infrastructure upgrades, little use was made of the extra capacity – by 2018 only half of the extra capacity was being used.

And still on the trains

I photographed a slice of the past out at Beaconsfield, where the 1950s-era overhead wiring and traction power tie station was still in place. It’s all since been replaced by a modern power supply as part of the work to support the rollout of High Capacity Metro Trains to the Pakenham line.

At Flagstaff station I found a set of defective myki gates under repair – presumably from being smashed open by a fare evader.

While over at Southern Cross were Authorised Officers in their new military-style vests, looking out for the next person trying the same trick.

On the trams

A decade ago City Circle trams were still in the maroon and gold livery, and the ‘shard’ at Federation Square had yet to be demolished for the Metro Tunnel entrance.

The original Z1 class trams were also still running down Swanston Street, with only two doors per side and dinky little sliding windows.

East Preston Depot was still open to serve the high floor B2 class trams used on route 11 and 86 – all since replaced by the low floor E class trams based out of ‘New’ Preston Depot.

While testing of the new E class trams was still continuing – I found one at the route 57 terminus in West Maribyrnong on a late night test run.

Meanwhile on Collins Street, things were going backwards – passengers having to step up to trams from street level.

The platform stops closed so they could be dug up and raised to current standards, despite only being a decade old.

Buses

Transdev had taken over from National Bus, but the transition into the new PTV colour scheme was going in fits and starts.

While route 286 through the back streets of Blackburn was removed, but then a few months later, reintroduced as route 271.

Another changed bus stop can be found at Melbourne Airport – the route 901 service to Broadmeadows and eventually Frankston once stopped outside Qantas terminal T1.

But these days it’s hidden at the far end of the ‘Ground Transport Hub’, a long walk from terminal 4.

And something different

My next stop at Melbourne Airport a decade ago was Brisbane.

Catching a train from Brisbane Airport into the city.

To Roma Street – the Brisbane Transit Centre since demolished for the Cross River Rail project.

While I was in town, I photographed some of their first generation EMU trains.

The Merivale Bridge.

And buses on the network of Brisbane City Council operated busways.

Which include underground bus stations.

Passengers boarding buses from air conditioned platforms.

But the reason for my visit was a trip on The Sunlander.

A locomotive hauled sleeping train that ran from Brisbane to Cairns until December 2014.

When I woke up the next day, we were well into cane country.

But the trip north is a long one – not arriving into Cairns until that evening.

While in Cairns I rode the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway up to Kuranda, and with some lucky timing spotted a Kuranda-bound train stopped at Barron Falls.

After lunch, it was time to head to Kuranda station, where I found a signal box still in service.

And caught the Kuranda Scenic Railway back down the range to Cairns.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time for the four day journey on the Savannahlander, but I did see it arrive back into Cairns.

But it was time to fly home via Sydney – my plane passing over the Hawkesbury River railway bridge on our descent.

The Inner West Light Rail

And a Pacific National container train shunting the freight yard at Cooks River.

Time to change planes, and soon enough I was back in Melbourne – greeted at the airport luggage claim by propaganda for the Napthine Government’s East West Link, CityLink Tulla Widening, and an unfunded Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

A decade on we’ve gotten the west half of the East West Link, the Tullamarine Freeway has been widening, and airport rail – still talking.

Footnote

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

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Regional Rail Link

The Regional Rail Link project was now approaching the finishing line, with a ‘consolidation train’ running back and forth over the newly laid tracks to bed them down before the commencement of revenue services.

The new platforms dedicated to V/Line services at Footscray were also open.

As restoration works continued on the station buildings.

The new platforms were also ready for 9-car long trains, the first of which didn’t run until 2022.

The new dual gauge tracks across the North Melbourne flyover also opened for trains, but not successfully – the Sydney-bound XPT derailed on the first attempt to leave Melbourne!

The cause of the derailment – the new tracks were incompatible with the wheel flange profile used on New South Wales trains.

And elsewhere on the rail network

The original blue/green and purple VLocity train liveries still dominated the view at Southern Cross Station.

Work had started on the 664 Collins Street development atop the south end of Southern Cross Station.

The escalators at North Melbourne station where entering a steep decline into unreliability.

Myki gates at stations were also failing regularly.

And Metro Trains – they were using the next train displays at Richmond station to promote the Channel 7 TV show ‘House Rules’.

Views that are gone

This view of a V/Line diesel headed over to the South Dynon locomotive depot was an unremarkable sight at the time, but today is hidden beneath the tangle of flyovers for the West Gate Tunnel at Dynon Road.

As were these trains at the Wagon Storage Yard at North Melbourne – now taken over by the Wurundjeri Way extension.

At Footscray station there was only a single small apartment tower to be seen – not the dozens found there today.

And you’d be hard pressed to guess that this scene is now the site of the Metro Tunnel portal at South Yarra – this private garage and car park was cantilevered over the railway cutting on Arthur Street.

And these trees cover Siding Reserve, which has been completely rebuilt to make way for the new railway tracks passing beneath.

Trams

A decade ago route 78 passengers were still having to put up with clunky old W class trams trundling down Chapel Street.

As did route 30 passengers on La Trobe Streets – the old clunkers finally being sent off into retirement in December 2014.

Meanwhile on William Street was a sign of the future – a brand new E class trams headed through on test. However it took until December 2021 for these trams to carry passengers on route 58.

Buses

The transition from National Bus to Transdev Melbourne started back in August 2013, but buses in the old liveries could still be seen on Hoddle Street.

And the Melbourne Visitor Shuttle bus was still kicking around, before it was discontinued in 2017.

Some loose ends

The big stadium in Docklands was still called ‘Etihad Stadium’.

Beside the Monash Freeway at Church Street in Cremorne, I found this small part under construction, on what was once a freeway off-ramp.

And a random photo I took of the Geelong skyline – the Kardinia Park light towers in place, but not the massive new grandstands.

And the view of Saint Mary of the Angels Basilica still dominated the skyline, with the office and apartment towers still to come.

And an Melbourne Airport Rail note

At Footscray station I found a giant banner linked to the Napthine Government’s ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfunded ‘Melbourne Rail Link‘ project.

With a promise of trains running every 10 minutes to Melbourne Airport.

Conceived as an alternative to the Metro Tunnel, the Melbourne Rail Link tunnel would have run between South Yarra and Southern Cross, serving new stations at Domain and Fishermans Bend – instead of Arden and Parkville, who would be stuck using buses and trams.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start, and a rail link to Fishermans Bend is as far away as ever.

Footnote

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

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Regional Rail Link

These has been an ongoing theme for many months now, but ten years ago Regional Rail Link was nearing the finishing line – the finishing touches were being applied to the new platforms at Footscray.

And the site offices were being cleared away.

The road under rail grade separation on the Sunbury line at Anderson Road was open to traffic.

Noise walls were going up beside the existing railway line around Ardeer.

And the new railway through Wyndham Vale.

Wyndham Vale station looked ready for trains.

But the street entrance was boarded up – the first train was still a year away.

V/Line trains still sharing the suburban tracks into North Melbourne station.

But Ballarat trains were snaking across the new tracks to use the new country platforms at Sunshine station.

Flinders Street Station

Metro Trains Melbourne was more interested in making money at Flinders Street Station than running trains.

Leasing the site of the long abandoned platform 11 for the construction of a bar.

With views of the Yarra River.

The station also gained a massive video wall on the concourse, screening an endless loop of advertisements.

They didn’t stop until 25 November 2022, where an activist covered it with paint, shutting it down until June 2023 when a replacement screen was installed.

Southern Cross Station

V/Line’s fleet of A class diesel locomotives were still in frontline service a decade ago.

While the western end of Southern Cross Station was a much brighter place.

But not for long – work on the 699 Bourke Street development atop the station was underway.

The work supposedly the reason for the failed lighting above the platforms, which has never been fixed.

New signalling

The Kensington Racecourse Essendon Signaling Project (KRESP) was wrapped up on the Craigieburn line.

The old signalling equipment placed trackside waiting collection.

The project enabled the retirement of the 1885 signal box at Flemington Racecourse, 1918 signal frame at Kensington, and 1969 signal panel at Essendon.

Trams

The last of the Z1 class trams were still in revenue service, but apprantly not too reliable – this one was being followed by mechanics onboard tram recovery truck ‘R10’.

And motorists were having trouble figuring out the bike lanes on Swanston Street – like this wanker driving a BMW through the tram stop at A’beckett Street.

While at the nearby State Library tram stop was the aftermath of an even less competent driver.

And new liveries

June 2014 was the first V/Line train painted into the new PTV ‘shard’ livery – VLocity railcar 3VL40.

The shiny new colors a contrast to the faded livery the rest of the VLocity fleet was then wearing.

The move to PTV colors had also started on Melbourne’s bus fleet, with Westrans moving away from their corporate livery, before their eventual rebranding as part of CDC Melbourne.

Footnote

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

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Regional Rail Link

The Regional Rail Link project has been an ongoing theme in this series, and this month we see progress on the rebuidling Footscray platforms 3 and 4 for V/Line trains.

With V/Line services still sharing the tracks with suburban trains, such as this since-retired P class hauled push-pull train.

And this also retired A class locomotive-hauled train.

The tracks towards Sunshine were already in place, but still being finished off.

As was the junction for Bendigo trains at Sunshine.

The trees found at what was once David Matthews Park were still in place, but they’ve since been cut down – the land sold off for townhouses.

Southern Cross Station

At the entrance to the station the Water Tower Clock was ready to be unveiled.

A big red curtain erected over the top.

Ready for the unveiling held on 14 May 2014.

Meanwhile at the other end of the station, work was still underway on the 699 Bourke Street development.

While trains continued to use platforms 13 through 16 down below.

Note the lights on the ceiling were still operational – they failed a few months later and have never been fixed.

Myki receipts

Remember when unwanted Myki receipts used to cover railway stations and tram stops all over Melbourne?

That problem wasn’t fixed until June 2019!

The crumbling station building at Newmarket

In 2013 I noticed that the foundations of the station building at Newmarket was falling apart, with Metro deciding to demolish the station.

But after a public outcry they backpedaled, adding a web of steelwork beneath the building, and replacing the cantilevered verandah with a freestanding steel structure, which is still in place today.

Ding ding on the trams

Remember the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant?

It last ran in October 2018.

I also found a faded ‘Bumblebee’ tram headed down Bourke Street.

They’re still used on route 96 today, but have since received a refreshed PTV livery.

Over on Collins Street, the recently installed plastic kerbs along the tracks didn’t do much to stop taxi drivers making u-turns in front of trams and getting t-boned.

A problem not solved until 2022, when much higher concrete barriers were installed.

Rickety old W class trams were also still being used on route 30 across the top of the CBD.

They were finally demoted to the City Circle from December 2014, and replaced by modern E class trams in November 2020.

Meanwhile at Footscray, things look the same as today.

The high-floor Z3 class trams having received a stop-gap refurbishment in 2021 so they can stay in service until the arrival of the ‘Next Generation’ G class trams.

And outside Yarra Trams head office on William Street, the RTBU Tram and Bus Division was holding a rally in the lead up to their 2015 Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.

Tram and Bus Division secretary Phil Altieri addresses the rally.

Along with Labor MP and then-Shadow Minister for Road Safety Luke Donnellan.

A bus

Around Footscray the Westrans brand was still in use.

One of a number of bus operators owned by Kefford Corporation , in October 2014 it was rebranded as CDC Melbourne, and the buses progressively repainted into PTV livery.

To spend a penny

I was at Parliament Station and photographed the public toilets located beneath Gordon Reserve.

Opened c1924, they’re still in use today, unlike many other underground toilets in Melbourne.

And around the corner at Nicholson and Albert Street I snapped a cast iron public urinal.

One of eight surviving urinals around Melbourne which are heritage listed.

And the rest

The former MMBW House at 120 Spencer Street was a 25 story dull grey office tower completed in 1979 as the head office of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, which got an early-2000s facelift with the addition of a bright red band across the top.

But in 2014 it scored a millennial greige makeover.

The anodised aluminum cladding being painted over in a dull generic grey.

And since then it’s gone even more millennial – site of a WeWork coworking space.

Footnote

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

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Regional Rail Link

As with previous months, I was following progress on the Regional Rail Link project which was constructing new tracks from Southern Cross through to Wyndham Vale.

At Footscray station the new V/Line platforms were taking shape.

As well as the new tracks through Middle Footscray, passing through compulsorily acquired houses and a piece of parkland.

At Sunshine the junction between the Ballarat/Geelong and Bendigo lines wasn’t quite finished.

And at Anderson Road on the Sunbury line the level crossing was still in place.

Excavation underway to take the road beneath the new bridge spans.

At Deer Park the junction for the new route through Tarneit and Wyndham Vale to Geelong was in place.

But the track beyond was still to be laid.

However the car park and station buildings were complete at Tarneit.

And track laying was underway from the Geelong end.

Farewell to the Hitachi trains

Steamrail Victoria ran a farewell tour for the ‘Hitachi’ trains in April 2014.

Heading around the City Loop a few times, with the windows down of course!

And to newer parts of the suburban network, such as South Morang.

More trains

Steamrail Victoria also took their then-125 year old steam locomotive Y112 out for the trip around the suburbs.

While V/Line was still using diesel locomotives and carriages from the 1950s in frontline service.

Out at Craigieburn I photographed the oddball ‘flipdot’ LED next train displays.

And atop Southern Cross Station work was underway on the 699 Bourke Street development.

While down below, the lighting for platforms 13 and 14 still worked – it failed in early 2015 and is still yet to be repaired.

Ding ding on the trams

A decade ago the maroon liveried City Circle trams were still looking around the CBD – they’ve since been upgraded to ‘W8’ standard.

Route 86 was stuck with the rickety D2 class ‘Combino’ low floor trams.

And on Swanston Street the 1970s-era ‘Z1’ class with no air conditioning and useless windows were still in service.

April 2014 also saw a number of tram stops on La Trobe Street closed to passengers, as they were too short for the new ‘E’ class trams to stop at them.

But upgrades were underway as well – such as a complete rebuild of the tram junction at Victoria and Nicholson Street in Carlton.

Clueless drivers

What’s worse than one idiot driving through the Bourke Street Mall? A gang of idiots following them.

At least this nuffy got pulled over by the cops.

And government propaganda

The State Government’s “Moving Victoria” propaganda campaign was in full swing ready for the 2014 State Election, promoting ‘Major road upgrades’.

‘New trains, trams and buses’.

And ‘East West Link‘.

The latter project being cancelled after the election, only to float back up like a turd every four years.

Footnote

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

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A few things new on the trams

A decade ago route 57 was my local tram route, and one night I heard something different clattering down the road – a brand new E class tram on test.

So I got in the car and chased it down the line, snaking around the reserved track of Maribyrnong until it reached the route 82 terminus at Footscray.

A decade ago I was also still commuting to the CBD for work, when I found some brand new yellow plastic kerbing in place along the Collins Street tram tracks.

Intended to make life difficult for motorists driving over the tram tracks, they didn’t seem to deter the nuffies who drive taxis in Melbourne.

Continuing to block the tram tracks and make u-turns as they please.

A problem not addressed until 2020 when the yellow plastic strips were replaced with hard concrete ones – and reducing vehicle-to-tram collisions by around 30 per cent.

And on the trains

A decade ago a new style of door handle was first trialled on the aging Comeng trains.

Eventually rolled out to the entire fleet, but in 2024 an even more secure emergency door release system on the cusp of being rolled out – just in time for the Comeng trains to be retired!

More clueless drivers

Occasionally trams need to turn back before their usual terminus, with one of these crossovers being the Maribyrnong River crossover on Maribyrnong Road, Ascot Vale.

Unfortunately this motorist didn’t realise the tram in front wanted to come back the other way – perhaps forgivable, given it’s an infrequent occurrence.

Meanwhile this driver of a Queensland registered car didn’t know what to do on Swanston Street when the road ran out, so decided to drive along the bike lane instead.

But this taxi driver should’ve known better – the tram driver going DING DING DING but the driver still decided to sneak down the tram tracks.

And this even stupider driver deciding to driving advice from a taxi driver, and follow them.

Another ‘professional’ driver was behind the wheel of this delivery van, who also decided to drive down the Swanston Street tram stop.

But unlike all the other clueless drivers this month, they didn’t get away with it – Victoria Police officers pulled them over afterwards.

Over to Moonee Ponds

Here we see the old Moonee Ponds Junction tram stop, with route 82 passengers forced to cross multiple roads to reach the narrow ‘safety zone’ tram stop on the other side of the intersection.

The tram stop was eventually rebuilt in 2016, with route 59 and 82 trams sharing a new accessible platform stop, next to the bus interchange.

Also nearby I found a route bus operated by Moonee Valley Coaches.

They continued operating two bus routes from Moonee Ponds towards Brunswick until March 2024, when the routes were sold to much larger bus operator Dyson Group.

And Southern Cross Station

March 2014 saw some more retail outlets being added to Southern Cross Station – this time on the Bourke Street Bridge.

But the congestion on the streets around the station – zero attention being paid there!

Just Grand Prix merchandise stalls to make matters worse!

But this hoarding on the Collins Street concourse had something different hiding behind it.

A big hole with a massive cage of reinforcing bar at the bottom.

So what was it?

I didn’t find out until a few months later.

Footnote

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

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