Melbourne Archives - Waking up in Geelong https://wongm.com/tag/melbourne/ Marcus Wong. Gunzel. Engineering geek. History nerd. Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:29:56 +0000 en-AU hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 23299142 Photos from ten years ago: December 2014 https://wongm.com/2024/12/photos-from-ten-years-ago-december-2014/ https://wongm.com/2024/12/photos-from-ten-years-ago-december-2014/#comments Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:33:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=22739 D2.5014 stops for passengers at Batman Park on a southbound route 96 service

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It’s the last day of the year so what better time than another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is December 2014.

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.

 V/Line only PIDS added to the concourse at Footscray station

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.

N462 leads a down Geelong service through Williams Landing

A VLocity train passing through Laverton station.

VLocity 3VL50 leads a down Geelong service past an up Siemens train at Laverton station

And another passing through the platforms at South Kensington.

VLocity 3VL40 leads an up Geelong service along the suburban tracks 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.

Up Geelong service on the suburban lines at South Kensington crosses onto the RRL 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.

XR551 and X41 bring the loaded Kensington grain service into the goods siding at Melbourne Yard

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.

Scrapping of surplus Pacific National wagons at North Geelong Yard

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.

A decade of decay since decommissioning

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.

Bridge piers in place for Baanip Boulevard crossing over the railway

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

Platforms 1 and 2 freshly resurfaced

Ding ding on the trams

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

B2.2100 advertising 'Melbourne Star' has now caught up on the timetable, and is ready to depart Camberwell Junction with a route 75 service towards the city

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.

SW6.935 and SW6.964 lead the lunch run at the corner of Spencer and Collins Street

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.

D1.3518 picks up outbound route 8 passengers at South Yarra station

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.

SW6.881 arrives to hoards of RMIT graduates at the corner of La Trobe and Swanston Street

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.

C.3003 heads west on route 109 at Collins and Queen Street

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

'Stop closing' notice 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.

D2.5014 stops for passengers at Batman Park on a southbound route 96 service

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.

Plain white liveried Sita bus #130 rego BS00BO waits for route 400 passengers at Sunshine station

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.

SkyBus hotel shuttle #36 rego 7109AO - this weird looking thing is a British-built Optare Solo

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

Transdev bus #637 rego 7260AO heads west on a route 903 service along Bell Street in Coburg

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

Shattered bits of orange, red and clear plastic mark multiple crashes at the Bell Street level crossing in Coburg

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.

'myki is the only way to travel' sticker on the side of a McHarry's bus

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.

PTV flyers onboard a tram promoting the 'Free Tram Zone'

Both starting from 1 January 2015.

'Free Tram Zone from 1 January 2015' and 'This stop is outside the Free Tram Zone' notice outside Parliament Station

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

Transdev / PTV branded fare evasion advertisement on the rear of a bus

As well as promoting free travel on Christmas Day.

PTV advertisement for free travel on Christmas Day at Melbourne Central station

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.

'Golden Square' car park at 217 Lonsdale Street

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.

'Safe City Car Park' at 132 Little Bourke Street

And finally – a power station

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

Main gate to the Anglesea Power Station

Located in the middle of the Anglesea Heathlands.

Looking down on the Anglesea Power Station from the lookout atop the adjacent coal mine

Next to a brown coal mine.

Dump truck returns for yet another load of overburden out of the open cut coal mine at the Anglesea Power Station

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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Cooked next train displays at Southern Cross Station https://wongm.com/2024/12/cooked-next-train-displays-at-southern-cross-station/ https://wongm.com/2024/12/cooked-next-train-displays-at-southern-cross-station/#comments Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=22722 It’s a hot summer day and you just want to get home, so you walk into Southern Cross Station to catch a train – only to be greeted by a failing wall of next train displays. Yep, it’s cooked Three out of the seven displays are barely visible – leaving the next seven V/Line departures […]

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It’s a hot summer day and you just want to get home, so you walk into Southern Cross Station to catch a train – only to be greeted by a failing wall of next train displays.

'Gladiator II' advertising covers Southern Cross Station

Yep, it’s cooked

Three out of the seven displays are barely visible – leaving the next seven V/Line departures MIA, along with the entire list of V/Line arrivals, and all services on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston lines.

Three out of seven next train displays out of service due to overheating at Southern Cross Station

But luckily you turn around and find a second set of screens – only to discover half these ones are also broken – you can now see the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston lines; and the V/Line arrivals are nice and bright; but the Lilydale, Belgrave and Glen Waverley line are gone.

Three out of seven next train displays out of service due to overheating at Southern Cross Station

And the next seven V/Line departures – if you squint hard, you might just be able to read them on the faded screen.

Three out of seven next train displays out of service due to overheating at Southern Cross Station

And don’t hope on walking over to the platforms either – the screen at the top of platform 11 and 12 was also hardly visible.

Train display at Southern Cross Station platform 11 and 12 hardly visible thanks to the screen overheating

As was the one above platform 15 and 16.

Train display at Southern Cross Station platform 15 and 16 hardly visible thanks to the screen overheating

But why?

The reason for the screens not working? The screens aren’t broken outright, as they work most of the time.

Half of the suburban next train displays have come back, but the other half are still dead at the main entrance to Southern Cross Station

The clue being in tiny text in the corner of the screen – ‘TEMPERATURE WARNING!!’. I photographed the failing screens on December 5th, when the top temperature was 33.2 °C, and that was enough for the the screens to be unable to cope.

'TEMPERATURE WARNING!!' message on the PIDS at Southern Cross Station

I found a similar warning on one of the platform screens on February 4th – when the top temperature was 37.5 °C.

'TEMPERATURE WARNING!!' message on the PIDS at Southern Cross Station

So in theory a simple fix – but the management at Southern Cross Station can’t even change a light bulb.

And they aren’t that old

You might point the finger at the screens being old, but that isn’t exactly true – for years Southern Cross Station used a ‘temporary’ array of CRT television screens to display the next suburban train departures.

Next train display at Southern Cross with 'Keilor Plains' as the terminus of the Sydenham line

The permanent LCD screens not being switched on for suburban trains until March 2009.

Suburban train displays finally working after three years

Allowing the ‘temporary’ screens to be covered up.

'Temporary' suburban CRT next train displays finally covered up, over 3 years since the supposed 'completion' of the station. How long until they actually go?

Until they were finally removed in April 2010.

Finally removing the 'temporary' CRT next train displays, after how many years?

And the LCD screens didn’t last long anyway – they were removed in November 2012 for “maintenance”.

LED screens outside the Bourke Street entrance to Southern Cross Station out of service for maintenance

Out of service from November 12 to December 23 – that’s 41 days to change eight screens!

Out of service from November 12 to December 23 - that's 41 bloody days to change eight screens!

Footnote: another other things cooking in the heat

Melbourne’s Comeng suburban trains from the 1980s also once had a reputation for failing in the heat.

Alstom Comeng 640M arrives at Camberwell on the up

The air conditioning failing once the temperature reached 35 degrees.

Air conditioning unit on a Comeng - note the cutout for the guards periscope

So after a spate of failures during the summer of 2008-09, the decision was made to upgrade the air conditioning units fitted to said trains.

Different style ground plane antenna on the roof of Comeng 301M

And lo and behold – they’re just as reliable as newer trains in hot weather.

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Bolt down bike hoops are useless https://wongm.com/2024/12/bolt-down-bike-hoops-are-useless/ https://wongm.com/2024/12/bolt-down-bike-hoops-are-useless/#comments Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=22703 When you go to lock up your bike, one thing to keep an eye out for is bolt down bike hoops. As all a bike thief needs is a shifter to unbolt it from the ground. And ride away with the bike that was locked to it. It’s the reason why they say put your […]

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When you go to lock up your bike, one thing to keep an eye out for is bolt down bike hoops.

Mismatched bike hoops at Sunshine station after someone unbolted them to steal the bikes locked onto them

As all a bike thief needs is a shifter to unbolt it from the ground.

Bike hoop dumped at Sunshine station after someone unbolted it to steal the bike locked onto it

And ride away with the bike that was locked to it.

Exposed bolts mark where someone unbolted a bike hoop at Sunshine station to steal the bike locked onto it

It’s the reason why they say put your bike lock through the rear wheel *and* the frame.

A U-lock can go around the rear rim and tire, somewhere inside the rear triangle of the frame without looping it around the seat tube: the wheel cannot be pulled through the rear triangle. A lock which passes around a rim makes the bicycle unrideable even if the object it is locked to can be broken or disassembled.

Because cutting up a bike defeats the point of trying to steal it.

Some people will object that felons might cut the rear rim and tire to remove a lock. This just doesn’t happen in the real world. It is possible to cut the rim with a hacksaw, working from the outside to the inside, but first, the tire must be removed or cut through. It would be a lot of work to steal a frame without a usable rear wheel, the most expensive part of a bike after the frame.

What makes these particular bike hoops egregious was that they installed as part of the Regional Rail Link project a decade ago along with the concrete path, so it isn’t even “boring holes was too hard” – they could’ve embedded the bike hoops into the concrete when pouring it.

Room for the future RRL tracks to pass beneath the new overhead concourse

And retrofitting concreted in bike hoops isn’t that hard – you just need a core drill.

Drilling holes in bluestone pavers to install new bike racks

There is your hole.

Drilling holes in bluestone pavers to install new bike racks

Pop out the paving.

Drilling holes in bluestone pavers to install new bike racks

And you’re all done.

A year after the City of Melbourne said they would move them, the bike hoops at William and Bourke Street are now parallel to the kerb, instead of blocking the footpath

And it’s not the first time

Did you notice anything odd about the row of bike hoops in my lead photo?

Mismatched replacement bike hoop at Sunshine station

Yes, they’re all brushed metal except for one with a galvanised finish – presumably a replacement after another bike thief unbolted the previous hoop.

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Then and now along the West Gate Freeway https://wongm.com/2024/12/then-and-now-building-west-gate-bridge-melbourne/ https://wongm.com/2024/12/then-and-now-building-west-gate-bridge-melbourne/#comments Mon, 09 Dec 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=20695 Today we’re taking a ‘then and now’ tour over the West Gate Bridge. PROV image via West Gate Tunnel Project Approaching the Lower Yarra Freeway We start on the Prices Highway way back in 1969, one mile away from the junction with what was then called the ‘Lower Yarra Freeway’. VicRoads photo, via West Gate […]

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Today we’re taking a ‘then and now’ tour over the West Gate Bridge.


PROV image via West Gate Tunnel Project

Approaching the Lower Yarra Freeway

We start on the Prices Highway way back in 1969, one mile away from the junction with what was then called the ‘Lower Yarra Freeway’.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

And the view today – the ‘Lower Yarra Freeway’ is now called the West Gate Freeway, the Princes Highway via Footscray is now the secondary route, the two lanes have doubled to four, and the Western Ring Road has been added to the junction.

And the changes can also be seen at the freeway junction itself.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

Dohertys Road over the freeway having been duplicated in 2021, with more lanes underneath to come as part of the West Gate Tunnel Project.


Google Street View

On to Williamstown Road

We now move onto this 1970 view from the West Gate Freeway at Williamstown Road – an ‘End Freeway’ sign attached to the footbridge – the West Gate Bridge having collapsed during construction on 15 October 1970, with the death of 35 workers.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

And the view today with a completed bridge, and changes thanks to the West Gate Tunnel Project – tall concrete noise walls, the Woduyullul Parring footbridge completed in 2020 to replace the previous open air footbridge; and small footprint steel monopole towers that replaced the traditional lattice towers supporting the 220 kV transmission lines.


Google Street View

Onto the bridge

No traffic in this view of the West Gate Bridge before it was officially opened.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

But the main difference today – the suicide barriers hurried erected in 2010 after years of the government refusing to do so.


Google Street View

Check out the view!

And here is the view from the top, looking over to the Melbourne CBD.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

With 40 years of development filling out the skyline.


Google Street View

And down below

Headed through Port Melbourne

We start off at Graham Street interchange in Port Melbourne, with this 1983 view looking west towards the West Gate Bridge.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

And the view today – the trees are taller and the ‘UFO’ lights are gone, and more importantly, Graham Street doesn’t traverse the bridge anymore. Instead the bridge forms the connection between the Bolte Bridge and the West Gate Freeway, with the Graham Street severed in 1997 so that construction of the CityLink project could proceed.


Google Street View

And over South Melbourne

Now we are in 1987, and it is opening day of the first stage of the elevated West Gate Freeway extension through South Melbourne to St Kilda Road.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

While the view today shows the connection through to CityLink completed in 2000, and additional lanes added in 2011 as part of the Monash–CityLink–West Gate Upgrade project.


Google Street View

Footnote: a bonus bridge

And here’s a 1971 photo of workers having a smoko beneath the Grieve Parade overpass.


VicRoads photo, via West Gate Tunnel Project

In 1991 the original bridge was widened as part of the duplication of Grieve Parade – the original two lane span being joined by another four lane bridge to the west side.


Google Street View

But the heavier trucks of today were too much for the original bridge to handle, and so in January 2021 the spans were demolished as part of the West Gate Tunnel project.


Google Street View

The eastern half rebuilt with stronger concrete super-T beams, and the earthen embankments cut back to fit more traffic lanes beneath.


Google Street View

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The saga of lifts at Watergardens station https://wongm.com/2024/12/watergardens-station-lift-upgrades/ https://wongm.com/2024/12/watergardens-station-lift-upgrades/#comments Mon, 02 Dec 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=20153 For something that was built from scratch 20 years ago, the accessibility issues at Watergardens railway station on the Sunbury line stand out – this is the story of the lifts that didn’t work, and the effort that went into fixing them. In the beginning For years Sydenham station was a wayside stop on the […]

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For something that was built from scratch 20 years ago, the accessibility issues at Watergardens railway station on the Sunbury line stand out – this is the story of the lifts that didn’t work, and the effort that went into fixing them.

Big crowd waiting for a citybound train at Watergardens station

In the beginning

For years Sydenham station was a wayside stop on the empty plains north-west of Melbourne enroute to Bendigo.


SLV photo H1077

But the suburbs of Melbourne eventually grew north to Sydenham, and so in 2000 the decision was made to extend suburban trains from St Albans five kilometres north to a new station called ‘Watergardens’.


Weston Langford photo

Which opened in 2002.

Plaque marking the opening of Watergardens station and the electrified Sydenham line

The new terminus was well provisioned for a terminus station – three platforms, with centre turnback for terminating trains.

Centre island platform at Watergardens station

Sidings at the down end for stabling trains to form peak services.

Siemens train shunts out to the yard at Watergardens

Three lifts – one of the street on both sides, and a third to the central island platform.

Eastern entrance to Watergardens station

With stairs in parallel.

Steps between platform and concourse at Watergardens station

However the footbridge across the tracks is narrow compared to what stations have today.

Footbridge across the tracks at Watergardens station

And the lifts were undersized compared to current standards – of 12 person capacity rather than 18.

But the lifts don’t work

As Watergardens station aged, the lifts weren’t exactly the most reliable – from 2016:

A malfunctioning lift at Watergardens train station that reportedly breaks down nearly every second week, on average, is likely to be replaced.

Western Metropolitan MLC Bernie Finn told state parliament recently the Watergardens lift had broken down 43 times over the past two years, and sometimes took a week to fix.

“For people to have to wait for up to a week for a broken down lift to be fixed seems to me to be quite insane. That is just ridiculous,” he said. “It is a major concern, particularly for people with disabilities and for elderly people.”

Public Transport Victoria and Metro Trains have been forced to provide maxi taxis for special needs commuters, who could not access the train to get to doctors’ appointments.

Mr Finn has also called for a second ramp to be built to service both sides of the station.

“I find it just astonishing that we have a lift there that has broken down so often. There is only one ramp for people to use, and it is on the opposite side of the platform,” he said.

“I just do not understand how the PTV could allow such a situation to exist.”

A PTV spokesman said it would continue to provide “alternative transport arrangements” for passengers when lifts are out of order.

“PTV is committed to finding a permanent solution for passengers – which at this stage could involve replacing the lifts,” he said.

Lift failures rendering stations inaccessible being the reason why the trio of stairs, lifts and long zig-zagging ramps with a DDA compliant 1 in 14 gradient has became the standard at new and upgraded railway stations in Melbourne from 2013.

Looking up the long ramp back to the concourse

But in the case of Watergardens station it was too late for that, so the only option was to upgrade the control and power supply systems for the existing lifts to improve their reliability – requiring one outage from 1 to 5 May 2017, and a second from 18 September to 3 November 2017.

And spending the big money

But even upgraded lifts can still fail, so in 2016 PTV commissioned Jacobs Group to study possible options to bring Watergardens station up to current standards, and provide a redundant method of access if the existing single lift to a platform failed.

They looked at going under, over and through the tracks. As you might expect, building a new level crossing got knocked on the head pretty quickly, and going under option was less than salubrious, so also got knocked out.

This left three options to upgrade the existing overpass – duplicating the three existing lifts, providing a ramp beside each lift, or a hybrid option with a additional lift to the island platform and two ramps to the street entrances.

Fitting in the new ramps on the street site was easy.


Artist’s impression, Jacobs 2016

But the island platform was more constrained, with a DDA compliant ramp taking up much the space at the Melbourne end.


Artist’s impression, Jacobs 2016

The Jacobs report also looked at the costs of the three options:

3.2 Constructability and Whole of Life Costings
An estimate of the turn out and life cycle cost for the 3 options – out to 30 years – is attached as Appendix D.
In precis, the full lifts option is the cheapest in the short term, the full ramps the most expensive:
Option 1 – All Lifts $5,276,700.00 – immediate Capital Construction Cost.
Option 2 – 2 ramps + 1 lift $5,595,000.00 – immediate Capital Construction Cost.
Option 3 – All ramps $6,568,200.00 – immediate Capital Construction Cost.

When factoring in the costs to service and maintain each option for 30 years (non-discounted cashflow) the costs become:

Option 1 – All Lifts $9,868,230.00 – adding $4,591,530.00 (non-discounted $s) in costs over 30 yrs.
Option 2 – 2 ramps + 1 lift $7,661,793.00 – adding $2,066,793.00 (non-discounted $s) in costs over 30 yrs.
Option 3 – All ramps $7,632,994.00 – adding $1,064,794.00 (non-discounted $s) in costs over 30 yrs.

For the first 10 years Option 1 has the lowest WOL cost.
Between year 10 to year 29 Option 2 has the lowest WOL cost.
After 30 years Option 3 has the lowest WOL cost.

Surprisingly the lift option was cheaper to build initially, through obviously the ramps became cheaper once ongoing maintenance costs were included.

Decision time

The 2018-19 State Budget committed $8.9 million to upgrade Watergardens station, with community consultation taking place in July 2018.

'We're building new lifts at Watergardens station' poster on the concourse

But there was a problem – the preferred option was installing additional lifts, but the PTV Network Technical Standards at the time required lift, stairs and a ramp for a vertical change of 5.6 metres – and so a waiver was required to provided a second lift, as well as to infringe on the minimum platform width where the new lift would land on the island platform.

However a waiver was granted, and work started on the project in early 2021.

The new lifts being located in plain grey towers, beside the existing brick ones.

Three new lifts in place at Watergardens station, providing redundant access to all areas

An additional lift added at the end of the western entry.

Second lift added at the western entry to Watergardens station

And to the eastern entry.

Second lift added at the eastern entry to Watergardens station

While the additional lift to the island platform was snuck in beneath the existing concourse.

Siemens 807M arrives into Watergardens on the up

The stairs to the platform rebuilt.

New stairs to Watergardens platform 2 and 3, relocated to make way for the second lift

To pass around the new lift shaft.

Second lift added at Watergardens platform 2 and 3

Which looks like it was always there.

Contactless lift at Watergardens platform 2 and 3

PTV having this to say about the upgrade.

We have opened three new lifts at Watergardens Station to help people move around the station precinct and catch the train more easily.

This is part of the Public Transport Accessibility Improvements Program, which sees several metropolitan train stations upgraded to comply with current access guidelines for people with disabilities.

The new lifts feature:

  • more space to increase lift capacity and allow for social distancing
  • improved lighting
  • a back up power supply, making them more reliable and avoiding breakdowns
  • improved security with new CCTV coverage and windows
  • more open design than the existing lifts with partially transparent lift walls.

Other completed works at Watergardens Station:

  • We have increased the number of wheelchair accessible parking spaces in the Sydenham Road car park from five to nine.
  • A back up power generator has been constructed to help power the lifts and station in the event of a blackout.
  • Six extra CCTV cameras have been installed to cover blind spots around the stairs.
  • Toilet refurbishments have been completed on the central platform and concourse to improve passenger amenities.
  • New tactile ground surface indicators have been installed on all three platforms to improve accessibility.

A lot of work for a railway station only 20 years old!

Footnote: ramps vs lifts

Back in 2016 the Level Crossing Removal Authority also had to fight to avoid building massive ramps as part of the Mernda rail extension, but since then it seems to be a non-event – most new stations built since then feature dual redundant lifts to each platform, rather than ramp and a lift.

Pair of operational lifts at Pakenham platform 1

Footnote: platform extensions

The 2016 Options Report by Jacobs touched on the need for platform extensions at Watergardens station for the upcoming fleet of High Capacity Metro Trains, and flagged at changes at the city end would be the logical option.

1.5 Provision for other works – Future 10-car HCMT

Possible options should consider other works that may occur at or around the station in the future. The most important of these – in fact, the only one known to Jacobs – is the platform extensions for the new 10-car High capacity Metro trains (HCMT).

Currently the 3 platforms are 160 m long. The island platform is approximately.8.9 m wide at the down end; tapering on the Platform 3 side to c.7 m at the up end. All platforms will require an extension of 70m to bring them 230 m and, depending upon where this extension occurs, Platform 3 may need straightening.

Informal advice from PTV indicates that it is likely that it would be simpler and less costly to extend the platforms toward the city.

Jacobs’ own study of aerial photographs indicates that the gates to the stabling yards down from the station are c. 200 m from the NW end of the platform and that there are at least 7 sets of points in this area. The corridor to the SE is significantly less congested with 5 sets of points within c.250 m of the station after which it appears to be completely unencumbered until it reaches the next station at Keilor Plains.

For these reasons it seems most likely that the platform extensions would occur to the SE (up end); widening Platform 3 to remove the existing taper to provide an island of consistent width for its full length. Although the platform extension has no immediate bearing on the provision of secondary (or contingency) means of access to and from the station, as the widening would create additional space on the platform that would ease a pinch point in one of the options (see below), an up end extension to the platforms has been presumed in the development of the options..

And then look at what happened in 2022 – the entire lead into the yard at the down end of Watergardens was rebuilt.

Platform extensions at the down end of Watergardens station awaiting a concrete pour

Platform 1 extended by 15 for a 7-car HCMT.

Platform extension at the down end of Watergardens platform 1

And platform 2 and 3 extended by an even shorter 12 metres.

Platform extension at the down end of Watergardens platform 2 and 3

They also completed a major track slew at the down end of the yard at Watergardens, taking the sidings from 329 metres (two 6-car trains) long to 560 metres (three 7-car trains) long.

Siemens 839M and 765M stabled at the down end of Watergardens siding A

Footnote: the gory technical details

First – the options study by Jacobs.

Watergardens Accessibility Study
Options Study
December 2016

Watergardens station was designed and constructed between c. 2000 – 2002. The station was officially opened in January 2002.

The design provided for a single lift and stair access only to and from the island platform and the adjacent streets on either side of the station. However, the lifts have proved to be unreliable and, for those unable to use the stairs, access and egress to and from or across the station from either side has been made difficult.

With this in mind, PTV commissioned Jacobs to carry out an Options Study to draw out such options as might exist to provide a secondary means of access from one side of the station to the other and to the station’s central island platform for those unable to use a flight of stairs

The station contains 3 platforms – Platform 1 to the NE on the shopping centre side of the line and platforms 2 and 3 forming an island platform. Access to Platform 1 is made by one of two sets of stairs – one of 12, the other 13 risers – or one of two ramps – rising from the kerbside footpath. From the level of Platform 1 access is provided to the concourse level (c. 5600 mm above Platform level) by means of a lift or stair of 33 risers (two flights – of 17 and 16 risers).

From the SW side of the line, access to the station is made at concourse level. This is some 7000 mm above the pavement level, with access provided by means of lift or stairs. This stair consists of two flights – of 20 and 21 risers – 41 risers in all.

From the concourse access is provided to the island platform by lift and stair of two flights.

Looking at going under, over and through the tracks.

2. Options
Based upon the limitations noted above, there are three basic approaches – to cross the rail line / gain access to the platforms:
– At grade
– Under the permanent way
– Over the permanent way

As you might expect, building a new level crossing got knocked on the head pretty quickly.

2.1 Options – At-grade

Whilst recognising that both pedestrian and vehicular at-grade crossings both are, as a matter of PTV guidelines, no longer considered suitable, for completeness the possibility of at-grade options has been considered.

An at-grade point of egress has been provided at the down (NE) end of the island platform. This was previously used to provide emergency egress for the mobility impaired from the platform to the kerb-side on Sydenham Road, but the practice has since been discontinued. Presently, in the event of a lift failure, mobility impaired patrons are re-entrained and taken to the nearest accessible station from whence they are returned to Watergardens by taxi.

The ramp is still used by the Train drivers to access the stabling yard down line from the station.

In discussion with PTV and MTM at an initial Stakeholder consultation, it was agreed, for the above reasons and more, that an at-grade option is not feasible and was not pursued as a viable design option.

The going under option was less than salubrious, so also got knocked out.

2.2 Options – Under the permanent way

One underpass option was considered.

This is based upon using ramps of a maximum length of 6000 mm at an inclination of not more than 1:14 (one metre rise over 14 metres of length). Landings of not less than 1200 mm length are provided between each section of ramp. Larger landings are provided at changes in direction.

The scheme provides a straight ramp (of 10 x 6000 mm sections) descending from ground level adjacent the existing lift and stairs on the SW side of the station to a horizontal underpass lying c. 5600 mm below the level of the platform.

This ramp runs through the area currently used as a retention basis for storm water runoff from the adjacent carpark.

From the bottom end of this ramp, the underpass runs under Sydenham Road and the up end of the platform to emerge on the NE side of the lines with a switchback ramp (of 8 x 6000 mm sections) in an open area between the Telstra communication tower and existing station ramps. This delivers users c.60 m to the south of the existing station entry. The underpass is c. 50 m long.

A third ramp (of 13 x 6000 mm sections) runs from the mid-point of the underpass to deliver patrons to the far SE (up) end of the island platform.

The overall length of ramps and underpass is c. 190 m. There is a further c. 95 m of ramp from the underpass to the island platform.

In discussion with PTV and MTM at the initial Stakeholder consultation, it was agreed by all that due to the excessive ramp length required, particularly for the elderly and people with a disability, site drainage issues, issues surrounding potential local contaminated soil and the potential public safety risks associated with a long, unsupervised tunnel that this option was unfeasible and not to be pursued further.

Leaving options to upgrade the existing overpass.

2.3 Options – Over the permanent way

Three approaches suggest themselves to provide access over the permanent way:
• An all lift option – duplicating the three existing lifts
• An all ramp option and
• Hybrids of the above – the main version involving two external ramps with a lift to access the island platform

2.3.2 Three Additional Lifts

Duplicating the existing lifts is the most obvious approach to providing redundancy / contingency access to and across the station. There is some flexibility with the placement of these lifts but in each case, one position generally seems to recommend itself over the alternatives.

At the station entrances, new lifts can be located adjacent each of the existing entrance lifts. Subject to the final geometry of the lifts to be used, there appears to be sufficient space at both ends of the existing concourse to land a second lift.

Access to the island platform is more constrained. There does not appear to be anywhere adjacent the existing lift or on the existing concourse where a new lift could be placed without significant and deleterious effect upon the existing flow and function of the concourse.

The only suitable place is on the platform – on the up side from the stairs. To accommodate this, the existing concourse – complete with its glazed screen is to be extended. The concourse would extend to fill in the spaces on either side of the existing stairs and thence extend as a “U” to the new lift.

The new lift placement would require the relocation of the existing platform canopy and its associated furniture.

2.3.3 Additional Ramps and Central Platform Lift

After an all Lifts option, the next option is to replace lifts with ramps where these might be done easily i.e. outside the limits of the station but to keep a lift to the island platform.

The option is based upon providing two 1 in 14, 1.8m wide ramps – one on either side of the station – linking these into the existing stairs. This was a part of the original design – allowing the stairs and ramps to sit side by side – sharing the same landings at ground / platform and concourse levels.

As in the all Lift Option, the lift option requires an extension of the concourse and reconfiguration of the canopies.

On the NE (shopping centre) side, the ramp consists of 13 x 6 m sections for an over-all rise of c.5600 mm from platform level to the concourse. The rise from the street to the platform is provided by existing ramps. On the SW side, the ramp rises c. 7 m – 17 x 6 m sections – and is over 125 m in length.

2.3.4 Additional Three Ramps

The third option is that of 3 ramps consisting of a ramp at either station entrance (as per Option 2) and a third ramp on the island platform.

To install the required ramp on this platform at least one switch back is required. (The platform is not quite long enough to accommodate a single length ramp – being short by perhaps 3 m plus ramp run-off.) The difficulty that emerges is to maintain a 1.8m clear width between handrails on the ramp (and a zone on either side for screening on it) and maintain clearances at platform level to the coping.

In the layout as proposed, as the platform tapers a pinch point is reached where the width to the coping must be reduced to c. 3.1m. This “pinch” decreases as the ramp drops to platform level – opening out to c. 3.6 m at platform level.

The report also covered the suitability of lifts in general.

The current 12 person public lifts are smaller than is required by the current standard and are subject to vandalism.

Lift reliability is currently a problem because they operate publicly for 24 hours and are the only method of DDA entrance to and egress from the platform.

The additional lifts proposed in Option 1 & 2 will be larger 18 person lifts (3.5 x 3.5m footprint) and compliant with current design standards.

Discussion took place during the initial stakeholder meeting about whether new lifts should be introduced considering the maintenance issues associated with the existing 24 hour public use. The example of Coolaroo Station was given as a successful case where the introduction of duel public lifts works successfully. In addition, it was suggested that the majority of vandalism occurred within working hours as opposed to at night.

The current lift renewal programme was also discussed. It was noted that it could be 18 months before the existing lifts will be replaced and that some action will be required to improve reliability in the interim.

It was also noted that during the replacement of the existing lifts a means of temporary alternative access and egress will need to be provided. No solution to this was suggested, but Jacobs notes that it may be preferable to defer the upgrade of the existing lifts until after the installation of the alternative means of access considered in this study.

During the stakeholder meeting it was noted that by introducing ramps; the lifts may be turned off after hours, reducing maintenance and safety concerns, noting also that ramps are easier to install and of low maintenance comparatively to lifts. Ramps are likely to be less expensive over the long term however this is sensitive to maintenance costs.

Discussions took place around what would happen if no ramp upgrades occurred and lifts were closed at night. It was decided that removing an amenity that was previously provided would cause complaints and is not a suitable option.

Turning Lifts off after hours was generally accepted as an option that could be explored further.

And the costs of the three options:

3.2 Constructability and Whole of Life Costings
An estimate of the turn out and life cycle cost for the 3 options – out to 30 years – is attached as Appendix D.
In precis, the full lifts option is the cheapest in the short term, the full ramps the most expensive:
Option 1 – All Lifts $5,276,700.00 – immediate Capital Construction Cost.
Option 2 – 2 ramps + 1 lift $5,595,000.00 – immediate Capital Construction Cost.
Option 3 – All ramps $6,568,200.00 – immediate Capital Construction Cost.

When factoring in the costs to service and maintain each option for 30 years (non-discounted cashflow) the costs become:

Option 1 – All Lifts $9,868,230.00 – adding $4,591,530.00 (non-discounted $s) in costs over 30 yrs.
Option 2 – 2 ramps + 1 lift $7,661,793.00 – adding $2,066,793.00 (non-discounted $s) in costs over 30 yrs.
Option 3 – All ramps $7,632,994.00 – adding $1,064,794.00 (non-discounted $s) in costs over 30 yrs.

For the first 10 years Option 1 has the lowest WOL cost.
Between year 10 to year 29 Option 2 has the lowest WOL cost.
After 30 years Option 3 has the lowest WOL cost.

Next – the PTV Network Technical Standard Waiver.

PTV-NTS-002-W004 – Watergardens Dual Lift to Island Platform

Currently the central island platform (Platforms 2 and 3), Watergardens Station has DDA-compliant vertical transport with lifts and stairs, but the lifts have no operational redundancy. In the case of a lift failing, passengers with a DDA-accessible requirement would need to travel to the next accessible station and be provided with a taxi to return to Watergardens.

Up until 2017, lifts at Watergardens have not been reliable with many people having to travel to other stations to maintain access. In 2017 lifts at Watergardens were upgraded to increase their reliability lack of redundancy remained an issue.

Recently the State budget provided $8.9 million funding to provide for 3 lifts and increased concourse area at Watergardens Station. Design options for Watergardens were canvassed in a report by Jacobs on behalf of PTV: Watergardens Accessibility Study – Options Study – 02 December 2016.

Compared with the current arrangements, accessing the island platform (Platforms 2 and 3) requires a vertical change of about 5.6 metres above the platform. Normally this would trigger the need for a lift, stairs and a ramp (as opposed to two lifts).

However, providing a switchback ramp here with appropriate concourse modification, has been assessed as being a higher risk than providing a second lift with concourse modification. Providing a continuous grade (non-switchback) ramp would require platform extension, which would trigger expensive track work and will not be considered.

A Waiver is required to be provided to allow two lifts to be used in lieu of a lift, stairs and a ramp. Compliance with minimum platform width standard (MTM Structure and Facilities Standard (MCST 020 100-01)) cannot be achieved with either ramp or lift solutions. Ramp non-compliance would occur over a much longer length of the platform than a lift. This clearance will be subject to a Safety In Design Review once design has been completed. The lift non-compliance will need to be assessed further during detailed design and a potential subsequent MTM standards waver, separate to this application will need to follow process.

And the project requirements document.

Client Requirements Document
Watergardens Station Accessibility Upgrade
December 2018

As a part of the Public Transport Accessibility Improvements Program, several stations within the Metropolitan train network have been stated to receive upgrades in order to achieve compliance with current access guidelines for people with disabilities. Watergardens Station is identified as being in critical need of accessibility improvements. The reasons for this are summarised below:

• The current station has been prone to frequent lift failures causing reduced access to Patrons/Passengers and increased travel times. This has been attributed to unreliable lifts, lack of backup power systems and vandalism.
• With the concourse between the car park and shopping centre serving as a 24×7, primary access path for station patrons and general public alike, reliability issues with the lifts and vandalism lead to accessibility issues.
• The current issue is exacerbated as the lifts in the station are not complaint with DSAPT standards which raises major concerns with regards to safely accessing and moving casualties from the station.

There are some unpleasant customer experience complaints (from Jan 2017 to Oct 2018) against Watergardens Station regards to the DSAPT non-compliance station amenities. These complaints were lodged through MTM customer feedback system.

The main complaint topic is expressing the unpleasant reliability of the existing station lifts and inconvenience to enter and exit platforms when the lift/lifts are out of service. The other streams, one is about no level access or poor direct assistance for mobility impediment passenger boarding, and the other one is about inefficient/misleading notification to passenger with impediment.

If the concourse is inaccessible, the closest access path to cross the tracks is located about 750 meters on the Down side of the station and the other access is located about 1.5km from the station on the Up side of the station. There is no backup power supply for the existing three lifts.

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Photos from ten years ago: November 2014 https://wongm.com/2024/11/photos-from-ten-years-ago-november-2014/ https://wongm.com/2024/11/photos-from-ten-years-ago-november-2014/#comments Mon, 25 Nov 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=22583 Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is November 2014. 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. […]

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Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is November 2014.

A trip to Sydney

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

XPT led by XP2010 on arrival at Sydney Terminal

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

Urbos 3 LRV 2115 awaiting departure time from Central Station

I saw a double decker train the next day.

Millennium set M22 arrives into Marrickville

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.

Myki visitors pack advertisement inside Qantas Terminal 1 at Melbourne Airport

Along with a SkyBus one.

SkyBus advertisement inside Qantas Terminal 1 at Melbourne Airport

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.

Looking over to Myer House and Emporium from Melbourne Central

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

Looking over to the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre from inside Melbourne Central Tower

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.

Tram full of passengers absorbed in their smartphones

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.

Installing a Telstra Air wifi hotspot at an existing payphone

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.

Passengers spill out of a 'safety' zone 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.

Coffee stall taking up precious platform stop space at Flinders and Swanston Street

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.

Z1.86 northbound on route 5 at Swanston and Flinders Street

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.

Passersby push a broken down car out of the tram stop on Swanston Street

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.

A confused motorist at the corner of Swanston and Bourke Street gets pulled up by an unmarked police car

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.

Tail end of VLocity VL11 and classmate at Richmond Junction, waiting for a signal towards Southern Cross

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.

VLocity 3VL51 and classmate arrive into Waurn Ponds station on the down

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.

VLocity carriage 1112 has much more damage to the cab, with the pilot having been cut off

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.

B75 and T386 transfer damaged VLocity set VL12 to Bendigo at Sunshine

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.

Now redundant rubbish bins stored in the 'Milk Dock' at Flinders Street

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

Rubbish litters the platforms now that the bins have been taken away

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.

'Moving Victoria' propaganda stickers on the back of train seats, spruiking the 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’.

X'Trapolis 176M heads to Frankston on the day before the 2014 State Election

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.

Ancient advertisement for 'Medibank Private' still in place 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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Freeway spaghetti bowl at Keilor Park https://wongm.com/2024/11/m80-western-ring-road-calder-freeway-interchange/ https://wongm.com/2024/11/m80-western-ring-road-calder-freeway-interchange/#comments Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:33:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=15964 If there is a most underrated freeway interchange in Melbourne, it would have to be that between the M80 Western Ring Road and the Calder Freeway at Keilor Park. Taking a tour From the air there is a tangle of freeway lanes, ramps and frontage roads. The interchange having a total of sixteen bridges. Including: […]

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If there is a most underrated freeway interchange in Melbourne, it would have to be that between the M80 Western Ring Road and the Calder Freeway at Keilor Park.

Northbound on the Western Ring Road at the Calder Freeway

Taking a tour

From the air there is a tangle of freeway lanes, ramps and frontage roads.

Freeway interchange between the Western Ring Road and the Calder Freeway

The interchange having a total of sixteen bridges.

Including:

  • two taking the Calder Freeway over the M80 Ring Road,
  • five taking the Calder Freeway over freeway ramps,
  • two taking freeway ramps over the M80 Ring Road,
  • five bridges over railway tracks,
  • one taking Fullarton Road over the interchange,
  • and finally, a pedestrian footbridge at Collinson Street.

And increasing the complexity of the interchange are two other features – the Fullarton Road ‘frontage road’ skirts the northern edge, and Calder Freeway westbound exit for Keilor Park Drive is via a collector/distributor lane arrangement with the M80 Ring Road ramps.

But the despite the number of bridges, only four out of the possible eight freeway-to-freeway movements are possible:

  • M80 Ring Road southbound > Calder Freeway westbound,
  • Calder Freeway westbound > M80 Ring Road southbound,
  • M80 Ring Road northbound > Calder Freeway eastbound, and
  • Calder Freeway eastbound > M80 Ring Road northbound.

The other four movements being catered for by other routes:

  • M80 Ring Road southbound > Calder Freeway eastbound via Tullamarine Freeway from the M80 Ring Road interchange,
  • Calder Freeway westbound > M80 Ring Road northbound via Tullamarine Freeway from the Calder Freeway interchange,
  • M80 Ring Road northbound > Calder Freeway westbound via Keilor Park Drive, and
  • Calder Freeway eastbound > M80 Ring Road southbound via Keilor Park Drive.

And local traffic – for the Calder Freeway they have to use the Woorite Place, Fullarton Road or McNamara Avenue exits; for the M80 Ring Road they need to use Keilor Park Drive or Airport Drive.

So how did this mess of roads come to be?

A history of the Calder Freeway, Keilor Park Drive, and the M80 Western Ring Road

We start back in 1971, when Keilor Park was a recently developed suburb, there was no such thing as Keilor Park Drive, and the Calder Highway was just a normal road. The only sign of what was to come – two faint purple lines marking future freeways.


Melway edition 5, 1971

By 1975 the first stage of the Calder Freeway had been completed from Niddrie, terminating at Keilor East – and the first sign of Keilor Park Drive.


Melway edition 8, 1975

By 1976 the Calder Highway had been deviated towards the Keilor Cemetery, ready for a freeway extension.


Melway edition 9, 1976

Keilor Park Drive was completed by 1978, and the planned ring road alignment had been extended south of the Calder Freeway.


Melway edition 11, 1978

By 1979 work on the Calder Freeway extension west to Keilor was underway.


Melway edition 12, 1979

Completed by 1982.


Melway edition 14, 1982

There things stayed still, until 1989 saw the planned alignment for the Western Ring Road tweaked.


Melway edition 19, 1989

The debate over the interchange

Early planning for the Western Ring Road was undecided about the provision of an interchange with the Calder Freeway, due to the impacts on the surrounding area.

The planning scheme reservation across the Calder Freeway is about 30 metres wide and is inadequate to accommodate the WRR. No allowance was made in previous planning for the additional land that would be required for an interchange between the WRR and the Calder Freeway . As a result, development has been allowed to proceed right up to the reservation boundary. South of the Calder Freeway is the East Keilor industrial area, consisting of small industrial premises, while to the north is the residential area of Keilor Park.

Four interchange options were subject to detailed investigation.

  • a ‘no-interchange’ option requlrlng turning traffic between the Calder and the WRR to use nearby local access interchanges and local roads . This would include grade separation of the two routes and acquisition of 15 business premises at a cost of $14m. It would cause significant increases in through traffic on local roads;
  • build an interchange, with a range of alternatives examined including a diamond interchange (with signals on the WRR), a bridged rotary and a number of freeway to freeway variations. The cost would range from $27m for a diamond to $52 for freeway to freeway. Up to 75 business premises and 30 houses would be required.

The recommended solution was a two-level interchange with turning roadways in two quadrants, with a September 1989 information bulletin stating.

There has been a lot of community discussion about whether or not an interchange should be built to connect the WRR with the Calder Freeway.

If an interchange were not built, there would be big increases in traffic on local arterial roads, such as Milleara Road and Keilor Park Drive. An interchange is therefore favoured despite its estimated cost of up to $50m and the effect on a number of houses and businesses.

Following recent discussions with local residents, further ideas have been examined. These would not separate through traffic from local traffic, and would still impact on a similar number of properties.

It is therefore proposed to reserve enough land for an interchange at the location originally shown (immediately west of the SEC power lines).

This would require a section of Fullarton Road to be moved. Space would be provided for landscaping and noise barriers to protect houses in Keilor Park.

These changes being included in the Western Road Road Environmental Effects Statement advertised in December 1989.

Featuring a long list of land use changes in Keilor Park and East Keilor.

Including:

14)

The Proposed Secondary Road link to Cecelia Drive is to be deleted. It previously provided a local connection between Buckley Street and the Calder Freeway which is now to be via the Dodds Road interchange and the new connection through former Commonwealth land to Milleara Road (see item 16 below). The reservation is to be rezoned to appropriate abutting zoning (Residential C and Proposed Public Open Space reservation).

15)

An area of land to the north of the previous Cecelia Drive route, which is zoned for Reserved Light Industrial, will be impossible to develop for industrial purposes because of access difficulties. It is proposed to be rezoned to Proposed Public Open Space as an extension of the Maribymong Valley Park. The area will be capable of providing for pedestrian/cycle access into the park from the new Dodds Road connection. It is owned by the MMBW.

16)

A large area of land reserved for Commonwealth purposes in Milleara Road has been sold and is being subdivided for housing. The site is to be rezoned to Reserved Living, in accordance with the proposed use. Incorporated within the zone will be a Secondary Road reservation which provides for the connection between Dodds Road interchange and Milleara Road, on the alignment included within the approved plan of subdivision.

17)

As part of the necessary connections between the existing road network and the Ring Road, the Roads Corporation are intending to construct a connection between the Dodds Road interchange and Keilor Park Drive. This route will utilise the existing reservation and Cemetery road to the southern boundary of the cemetery, then deviate westwards to join Keilor Park Drive. A portion of Brimbank Park, reserved for Proposed Public Open Space, is to be amended to Proposed Secondary Road and an excised remnant amended to Proposed Cemetery to allow for future expansion of the adjoining Keilor Cemetery. The deviation shall involve the least acquisition necessary to achieve a satisfactory road alignment.

18)

Land north-east of the proposed Dodds road interchange has recently been subdivided for industrial purposes. The zoning is to be rationalised to provide a Reserved Light Industrial Zone along the railway opposite future housing (Item 16). A proposed reservation for re-instating access to the Slater Parade Industrial Area is also provided (Proposed Public Purposes 20).

19)

The area between the new Dodds Road/Keilor Park Drive link and the Ring Road is currently zoned for a variety of industrial and other uses. It is intended to rationalise the zoning for this area.
The existing Reserved Light Industrial and Reserved General Industrial Zones will be amended to a Restricted Light Industrial zone which will allow greater control over buildings and works.

20)

Land severed from Brimbank Park by Cemetery Road deviation and public open space reservation due east of the Keilor Cemetery is proposed to be included in a Proposed Cemetery Reservation. This will provide for a much needed extension of the cemetery. Open space lost in the extension will be replaced in the area south of Dodds Road interchange (see Item 15).

21)

Access is to be restored to the properties west of the Ring Road in the Prendergast Avenue area. The new road (shown as Proposed Public Purposes 20) will provide subdivisional opportunities which can be taken up by the owner by agreement with the Council and the Roads Corporation.

22)

The Roads Corporation proposes to construct a freeway-to-freeway interchange between the Ring Road and the Calder Freeway. The construction may take place in stages, to match traffic growth and may initially include some at grade intersections with traffic signals. These would later be replaced by free flow ramps. The Proposed Main Road reservation included in this amendment provides for the total land requirements for the final interchange. This also provides for a deviation of Fullarton Road around the interchange to maintain access between Keilor Park and Airport West.

23)

The present planning scheme shows the Calder Freeway between Woorite Place and the Maribyrnong River as a mixture of Main Road, Proposed Main Road and Road Widening reservations. The boundaries of these reservations have been changed to match the layout of the freeway.

Time to build

Plans for the Western Ring Road had been made real by 1991, when a whole slew of new proposed roads added to the Melway – including the Western Ring Road, an interchange with the Calder Freeway, and a southward extension of Keilor Park Drive to Milleara Road.


Melway edition 21, 1991

Work started on the 2.6 km long extension of Keilor Park Drive to Milleara Road in 1993, opening to traffic on 11 April 1994 at a cost of $20 million. A further $5 million was spent on the duplication of Keilor Park Drive and Sharps Road, in preparation for the traffic that the next stage of the Western Ring Road would bring – but the Calder Freeway interchange was still ‘proposed’.


Melway edition 23, 1995

But the interchange was approved soon after – detailed design work commenced in 1992 with construction planned to start in 1996, with completed by 1998. However additional funding from the Federal Government saw the project sped up – construction commenced in May 1994 under two contracts, with a 90 week deadline:

  • Stage 1: $30 million contract with Fletcher Construction Australia and Sinclair Knight Merz for the construction of four road bridges, three bridges over rail lines and the extension the existing pedestrian footbridge.
  • Stage 2: $14.6 million contract with Transfield Constructions and Roche Bros to widen the Calder Freeway from Keilor Park Drive to McNamara Avenue, build six road bridges, and widen two bridges over the railway.

1996 saw the interchange marked as ‘under construction’ in the Melway, and the western ramps at the Calder Freeway / Woorite Place interchange had been closed.


Melway edition 24, 1996

With the freeway network reaching the current state in 1998.


Melway edition 25, 1998

Today the only different is the number of lanes: the Western Ring Road north of the Calder Freeway interchange was widened to four lanes in 2013, the section to the south following in 2018.

And the streets wiped off the map

To make room for the freeway interchange a compulsory acquisition process was started in 1993, and by February 1995 twenty out of 30 houses in Keilor Park had been demolished, with 75 commercial and industrial properties due to follow.

By the time the area was cleared, Prendergast Avenue, Webber Parade, Tunnecliffe Avenue, Hogan Parade had all been wiped off the map, along with a portion of the ‘Milleara Estate’ by landscape architect Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra.

Footnote: ghost ramp on the Calder Freeway

The interchange of the Calder Freeway and Woorite Place was once a full diamond, but the ramps to the west were removed to eliminate weaving movements with traffic from the Western Ring Road.


Google Maps

The remains on the eastbound off ramp are still visible today as a ‘ghost ramp‘.


Google Street View

Footnote: building bridges

The paper Design and Construct Bridge Structures on the Western Ring Road — Calder Freeway Interchange by Mark Percival and Duncan Kinder details the construction of the bridges at the interchange.

Each of a unique design.

Fullarton Road Bridge
Fullarton Road formerly ran parallel to the Calder Freeway between Matthews Avenue to the east and Keilor Park Drive to the west, providing vehicular access to private housing on the northern side of the freeway. Construction of a grade separation structure over the proposed Western Ring Road was required to maintain this access. The bridge carries two lanes of traffic (one in each direction) and has a 2m wide footpath located along the northern side of the bridge.

Ramp A Bridge
This bridge was provided to allow vehicles travelling north along the Western Ring Road to exit off the Ring Road and join the Calder Freeway, leading back into Melbourne. The bridge is constructed parallel to the Fullarton Road Bridge and spans over the Western Ring Road, Ramp C and Ramp D.

Ramp C Bridge
Ramp C provides access for traffic heading south along the Western Ring Road to exit north towards Bendigo along the Calder Freeway.

Ramp D Bridge
This bridge provides access for southbound traffic from the Calder Freeway to enter the westbound carriageway of the Western Ring Road. As well as being curved in plan, it has a high skew. (21° at the west abutment, 30° at the east abutment)

Fullarton Road over Rail Bridge, Ramp A Rail Bridge and Ramp B Rail Bridge
Ramp A and Ramp B Rail Bridges were provided to allow access on or off the Western Ring Road, and Fullarton Road over Rail Bridge was required to maintain access to the existing access road. All three bridges over the Albion to Broadmeadows Rail Line provide for two lanes of traffic. The Fullarton Road over Rail Bridge also included a pedestrian footpath. Each bridge comprises three simply supported spans varying in length from 11.4m to 15.2m.

Collinson Street Footbridge
The existing Collinson Street Footbridge over the Calder Freeway required extension to provide access over both Ramp C and E. The existing circular ramp at the southern end of the bridge was demolished and the bridge extended at the south end with 4 additional spans.

The curved road bridges were concrete box girders cast in place, with the roadway beneath excavated following completion of the bridge; while the bridges over the railway were conventional super ‘T’ beams lowered into place by cranes.

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A history of smoking on Victorian trains https://wongm.com/2024/11/history-smoking-victorian-trains-railway-stations/ https://wongm.com/2024/11/history-smoking-victorian-trains-railway-stations/#comments Mon, 04 Nov 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=21652 Fortunately I’m young enough to have never suffered through the days of when people were allowed to smoke onboard trains in Victoria, but can remember when people were allowed to smoke at railway stations. So here is a quick history of when smoking bans were introduced. Back in the bad old days Going back the […]

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Fortunately I’m young enough to have never suffered through the days of when people were allowed to smoke onboard trains in Victoria, but can remember when people were allowed to smoke at railway stations. So here is a quick history of when smoking bans were introduced.

Pile of dumped cigarette butts in the Sunshine Marketplace car park

Back in the bad old days

Going back the very start of trains in Victoria, entire carriages were designated as ‘smoking’ and ‘non-smoking’.


VPRS 12800/P1, item H 4165

But with the introduction of electric suburban trains from 1919, carriages were divided up instead – three smoking and six non-smoking compartments, with a full length partition dividing the two.


Weston Langford photo

This layout was retained in Harris trains of the 1950s.

SLV image H31188 - Harris suburban train
SLV image H31188. Photographer unknown. Undated but circa 1956 to 1968.

Country trains also had separate smoking and non-smoking compartments – for example the ‘Z’ type saloon carriages divided into two sections, the first class carriages having 20 smoking and 28 non-smoking seats, while second class had 24 smoking and 40 non-smoking seats.


Rob O’Regan at www.robx1.com (002.AL633.b)

But in October 1971 thanks to the upcoming stainless steel ‘Hitachi’ trains, smoking and non-smoking accommodation on suburban trains was changed back to a whole carriage arrangement – ‘motor’ carriages being for smoking, and ‘trailer’ carriages non-smoking – which when usually marshaled in a 50/50 ratio, gave more space for smokers.


Weston Langford photo

And the start of smoking bans

15 November 1976 was a breath of fresh air for Melburnians – the state government banned smoking onboard all public transport vehicles.

7801T-30
Photo via GSWRHS Collection

In what might have been the first such ban in Australia.

Smoking will be banned on all Melbourne public transport from November 15.

The Minister for Transport, Mr Rafferty, said today that the ban would apply on all of the city’s electric trains, trams and government buses.

“I believe the great majority of the travelling, public will strongly support the decision”, he said.

The ban was designed to promote cleanliness, improve passenger comfort and reduce vandalism.

The NSW Minister for Transport, Mr Cox, said tonight that he ‘could see no point in “rushing in” with similar legislation for NSW without all points of view being considered.

Mr Cox said he was aware of “a certain resentment”. among smokers who could no longer smoke, particularly on long journeys.

The smoking ban was also welcomed by the Victorian Railways, as it made running their railway easier.

The banning of smoking on suburban trains, by Government request, as from 15 November 1976, has resulted in increased cleanliness at lower cost, greater comfort for the majority of passengers, and more flexible train operations because it is no longer necessary to consider the location of smoking compartments in the consists of trains. The ban has resulted in no detectable loss of patronage and must be regarded as a successful innovation.

December 1986 saw smoking banned from first-class V/Line carriages and onboard V/Line road coaches, then on 3 April 1989 smoking was banned from all V/Line trains.

The Victorian Government will ban smoking on all Victorian country trains from April 3.

The Transport Minister, Jim Kennan, announced the move yesterday. It follows a December 1986 decision to ban smoking in first-class sitting carriages and in V/Line road coaches.

Smoking was banned on Melbourne suburban public transport in 1978.

There had also been a progressive reduction in the capacity for smokers in economy-class carriages on V/Line’s intrastate rail services.

And now for stations

The opening of the City Loop in the 1980s appears to be another move towards smoking bans, if these Metropolitan Transit Authority-era ‘no smoking’ signs are anything to go by.

MTA-era 'no smoking' sign at Melbourne Central station

But it took until March 2006 for smoking bans to be introduced at outdoor railway stations.

No Smoking sign with the covered over 'in covered areas' section started to become uncovered

But these bans only applied to covered areas.

Smokers who light up under covered areas at Victoria’s train station platforms, tram and bus shelters will face a stiff fine from today.

Transport Minister Peter Bachelor said areas where smoking is prohibited include all spaces where the cover was specifically provided for sheltering people.

“A covered area means any part of a train platform, tram or bus shelter that has a roof overhead, regardless of its height,” Mr Batchelor said.

He said it did not include covered areas like shop awnings, verandahs or overhanging balconies where the cover is intended for use other than to shelter people waiting for public transport.

Mr Batchelor said complaints from commuters about people smoking under covered areas at train station platforms and tram and bus shelters prompted the government to change the law.

But a roof doesn’t make a difference to secondhand smoke on a station platform.

Advertising the new smoking bans at tram shelters and platforms from 1 March 2014

And so in 2014 the smoking bans were extended to the entire station platform and tram stop platform.

From Saturday 1 March 2014, all areas of train stations and raised platform tram stops will be smoke free, increasing the comfort for customers who travel on Victoria’s public transport network.

The new arrangements will extend the existing smoke free zones, which already include covered areas of train platforms and under covered tram and bus shelters.

The fine for smoking in a smoke free area on public transport is $212 for adults and $72 for children.

Signage and information at stations will help to raise public awareness of the extended smoke free areas.

The plague of vapes

Disposable vapes are a joke of a product, with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery inside that goes straight into the bin once the vape juice is used up, but for once the government is actually ahead of them from a legislative perspective – from 1 August 2017 laws were updated to ban the use of e-cigarettes in places smoking is also banned.

However updated signage didn’t start appearing at railway stations until 2022.

New and old 'no smoking' signage at Moe station

Footnote: other modes of transport

Interstate coach operators started introducing non-smoking buses from 1987.

Ansett Pioneer will ban smoking on some express coaches running daily between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane next month, after having tested the demand with three of its 11 daily each-way services between Canberra and Sydney for some time.

Deregulation under the Interstate Road Transport Act has resulted in eight non-smoking coach services a day between Canberra and Sydney, and there is also a direct non-smoking daily service between Canberra and Adelaide, with 10 coachlines taking up the trend around Australia. Greyhound, Redline, Skennars, Transborder and Central Australia Tours Association all have some fully non-smoking services, and others have services with smoking available only in allocated seats at the rear.

The new Ansett Pioneer service is being intro duced “because of public demand”, the general manager of operations, Mr David Raven, said yesterday.

It would be only on the Silver Service express, once daily between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. If demand was sufficient, more would be introduced.

The president of Action on Smoking and Health. Mr Alan Shroot, said yesterday that proprietors were recognising the demand for smoke-free travel, and several state governments had legislated to ensure smoke-free urban bus and intrastate coaches and rail lines.

With smoking bans on aircraft also rolled out during this period.

The Australian Government banned smoking on all flights within Australia by domestic airlines in December 1987 and extended these domestic bans to all services operated by international carriers between airports within Australia from October 1990.

Footnote: an interstate straggler

Trains like the Indian Pacific and The Ghan travel for days across Australia, which might be a problem for a compulsive smoker.

Almost home: NR75 leads the Adelaide-bound Ghan through Two Wells

So in 1995 Australian National installed a small smoking compartment in the luggage vans of their trains, which remained available for passengers until 2006.

Smoking will soon be a thing of the past on the Ghan’s railway journeys between Adelaide and Darwin.

An enclosed area for smokers inside the lounge car will removed by October 1.

Great Southern Railways chief executive Tony Braxton-Smith says the company is responding to tougher smoking legislation across most of the country.

He says people will not be able to smoke even once The Ghan crosses into the Northern Territory, where there are few anti-smoking laws.

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Photos from ten years ago: October 2014 https://wongm.com/2024/10/photos-from-ten-years-ago-october-2014/ https://wongm.com/2024/10/photos-from-ten-years-ago-october-2014/#comments Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=22563 Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is October 2014. 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 […]

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Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is October 2014.

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.

VLocity VL09 headed along the RRL tracks at Deer Park Junction

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.

6-car VLocity set awaiting departure time from Waurn Ponds

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.

Holding siding for Waurn Ponds station, located west of Anglesea Road

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

Looking east along Baanip Boulevard towards Ghazeepore Road and Waurn Ponds station

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.

'If you see something, say something' scaremongering blankets Flagstaff station

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

Recently installed lockers at Flinders Street Station now out of use

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.

When trains run late, the next train displays show them out of order

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.

Alstom Comeng arrives into West Footscray with an up Sunbury line 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.

Onboard an almost empty 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.

A1.248 and A1.239 shunt at the route 12 terminus at Victoria Gardens

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

Resurfacing works almost completed at the south end of the Southern Cross Station platform stop on Spencer Street

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.

Such a long time with no crashes - this time only three panels taken out

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.

Sita high floor bus #63 rego 2363AO on a route 428 service in Sunshine

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

'SuitJet' liveried Cobb and Co coach #352 rego 9054AO at William and Little Collins Street

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.

David Street used to be lined with houses, now just a car park

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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Similar but different – Melbourne’s Z and A class trams https://wongm.com/2024/10/melbourne-trams-a-class-versus-z-class/ https://wongm.com/2024/10/melbourne-trams-a-class-versus-z-class/#comments Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:30:00 +0000 https://wongm.com/?p=21826 Melbourne has a massive tram network, so also needs a massive fleet of trams to operate it – almost 500 in total, ranging in age from almost new E class low floors, to the decades old W class used on the City Circle tourist service. But there are two similar but different classes of tram […]

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Melbourne has a massive tram network, so also needs a massive fleet of trams to operate it – almost 500 in total, ranging in age from almost new E class low floors, to the decades old W class used on the City Circle tourist service. But there are two similar but different classes of tram that came about for an interesting reason – the high-floor single-unit Z and A class.

Z3.157 heads south on route 72 with A1.255 on route 3 at Swanston and Collins Street

If you look at them head on, the difference is obvious – the Z class has a pointy nose, but the A class has a flat one.

Two out-of-service trams cross paths - Z3.174 and A1.239 on Spencer Street at Batman Park

But there is also less noticeable difference – A class trams are shorter than a Z, at 15.01 metres vs 16.64 metres.

The reason – the Z class trams were built in the 1970s to be compatible with a network designed for the W class trams.


Weston Langford photo

With a pointy nose was so a longer tram could still negotiate curves built for the W class, without smacking into oncoming trams.

Z3.212 passes Z.163 at the corner of Flemington Road and Royal Park

And the flatter fronted A class trams need to be shorter lest their noses come afoul on the same curves.

A2.270 turns from Collins into Spencer Street on route 12

And the reason for the difference – a state election of all things!

John Dunn details it in his book “A History of Commonwealth Engineering – volume 4, 1977-1985″.

Since it was expected that the M&MTB would very soon need to order more new trams, the Comeng team at Dandenong began looking at a revised version of the Z3 units in the early 1980s – these being dubbed by them as Z4s.

A number of different concepts were considered, all of which were intended to be cheaper to manufacture, lower in mass, and more economical to operate. The structure was value-engineered so as reduce the number of components, the cab was intended to be a self-contained GRP module, and various other fittings and items of equipment reviewed and simplified. It was proposed to adopt the simple PCC bogie design-this being very much cheaper to manufacture compared to the Duewag units. They were also considered to be better riding. The Z4 trams had no conductor’s desks and therefore the seating capacity was potentially 66, and with a standing capacity of 84-an overall increase of 25 passengers compared to the Z3s.

By early 1982 the M&MTB was waiting on authorisation from the Victorian Government to order up to 100 new trams presumably to the Z3 design. But in April 1982 there was an election in Victoria and the Cain Labor Government came into power-the new transport minister being Steve Crabb. New tram orders were therefore put on hold.

And interference from an incoming transport minister, who wanted to put their own stamp on the next order of trams.

It was some time before the new government gave their approval for additional trams to be ordered from Comeng once the tenders were in. It came as a variation to the Z3 contract-an extension that was secured by the company in late 1982. The order was for twenty-eight single-unit trams nominated A-class, and two, prototype, two-unit articulated trams nominated B-class. However, the new A-class trams differed from the previous Z3 type in that they had no conductor’s seats, and the car ends were shorter and wider. They also had resized and relocated doors. The press reported that the A-class units were anticipated to cost approximately $430,000 ($1.3 million) each.

Which caused the engineers at Comeng a whole lot of drama trying to make work.

Comeng engineer David Foulkes recalled:

We used to joke about it, because the new Transport Minister said Melbourne had had ‘pointy’ trams for some time and he wanted ones that were clearly different-ones that were ‘ours’- this is, ‘Labor’ trams. He wanted them to have wider fronts, but did not seem to understand why they had to be narrow at the front to go around curves. If they were to be wider then they had to be shorter with less overhang. He wanted a modern tram with two large doors between the bogies,

The biggest hurdle was trying to house the same Z3 equipment on the underframe. The Z3s only had one set of double-width doors and stepwells each side between the bogies. But the new A-class had to have two sets of doors between the bogies each side their respective stepwells therefore taking up much more underframe space. Foulkes said:

The electrical blokes more or less had to shoe-horn all the existing electrical equipment on a Z3 tram onto the A-class. It was a real nightmare trying to get all the equipment boxes in on the underframe along with the cables.

The A-class trams were essentially the same as the Z3s in that they were equipped with AEG thyristor control equipment. This had independent chopper power systems for each bogie, and electro-dynamic regenerative braking down to 8 km/h. The Siemens electric control system detected and corrected wheel spin and slide, and applied automatic sanding. The Duewag-designed bogies each had a 195 kW monomotor, and Bochum resilient wheels.

The shell construction was of a welded tubular-steel space- frame with outer side and end panels of aluminium and glass-reinforced plastic (GRP). The cabs were bolt-on subassemblies to allow a more accessible unit for faster installation of equipment and wiring. The entire roof was of GRP. Unlike the Z3s the front door was only single- width. The other two doors were both double-width. All doors were of the electrically driven bi-folding type.

The tare mass was 21.54 tonnes, and there were seats for 42 and standing space for around 83. With the elimination of the seated conductor, passengers could enter or alight from any door. This effectively reduced stop dwell times, and the different arrangement was generally well received by the travelling public. The trams were fitted with power collection trolley poles similar to those on the Z3s, though these were later replaced with pantographs.

Footnote – by the numbers

The first 100 Z1 class trams entered service in 1975 – 1978, followed by 15 Z2 class trams in 1978 – 1979, and 115 Z3 class trams in 1979 – 1984.

They were followed by the first 28 A1 class trams entered service in 1984 – 1985, followed by 42 A2 class trams in 1985 – 1986.

The A class tram styling was also used for the two prototype high-floor articulated B1 class trams followed in 1984 – 1985, then 130 B2 class trams in 1988 – 1994.

And Z class trams overseas

Comeng also built a fleet of Z3 class tram derivatives in 1988 for the Kowloon Canton Railway light rail system in the New Territories in Hong Kong.

Phase 1 LRV 1044 arrives at San Hui on route 614P

These light rail vehicles are still in service today, with later vehicles built by a variety of other manufacturers to the same basic dimensions.

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