Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is March 2013.
A trip to Sydney
I spent a few days up in Sydney, and went for a ride on their double deck trains.
Stumbled upon the wooden tread escalators at Wynyard station.
And went for a last ride on the Sydney Monorail.
The Sydney Monorail closed in June 2013, while the wooden escalators were finally retired in 2017.
Southern Cross Station is a joke
I’ve written before about the joke that is Southern Cross Station – Grand Prix merchandise stalls blocking the main entrance.
The hopeless tram stop at the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets, where cars have priority.
And V/Line trains not arriving on the platform until a minute before departure time.
A decade later – nothing has changed.
Regional Rail Link
Something far more positive was work ramping up on the Regional Rail Link project.
The rail yards beside North Melbourne station were a busy worksite, as the dedicated V/Line tracks towards Southern Cross Station took shape.
Work also underway beside the Heavenly Queen Temple for a third bridge over the Maribyrnong River at Footscray.
Outside Footscray another two tracks were being threaded through what was then an industrial wasteland.
And the Hopkins Street bridge was down to just two lanes, so that the bridge could be extended over the new tracks.
Footscray station was also getting dug up.
To make way for the new suburban platforms next to Irving Street.
The old West Footscray station was still in place for now.
But work on the new station had just started.
Tottenham station still had two tracks for now.
But at Sunshine work on the new station concourse had started.
Meanwhile on the greenfields section between Deer Park and Werribee, new bridges were taking shape to carry roads over the future railway.
The station building at Wyndham Vale was emerging.
Soon to take over from the token bus service.
The railway cutting through the Manor Lakes estate had also been started.
Tonnes upon tonnes of solid basalt rock needing to be removed.
While down the line at Manor Junction, heavy duty dump trucks were helping to building the grade separated junction with the existing route towards Geelong.
The first sections of Regional Rail Link opened from October 2013, with the complete route via Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations opened in June 2015.
And some other bits
I went on a trip to the Murray River at Tocumwal with Steamrail Victoria.
Special trains still make the journey up to the Murray from time to time, despite V/Line services only running as far north as Shepparton.
Remember Melbourne Bike Share? I found staff taking bikes back to the top of the Swanston Street hill. The service closed down in November 2019.
As for cycling to the inner north-west, Flemington Road was a joke then, and still is today.
And remember Safeway?
Rebranding as Woolworths commenced in 2008, with the final store changed over in 2017.
Footnote
Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.
It was interesting watching the new West Footscray station go up, and then the new tracks going through. (And what I think was still quite radical back then – multi-week closures of the train line, when we got used to the Sunbury line being closed just about every school holidays.)
And ten years later building starts at Sunshine again!
Most interesting to see how things have changed. Another joke at Southern cross station is Collins/Spencer street. As a past commuter on the 109, getting from Southern cross to/from any stop for that tram is far more difficult than it needs to be.
At least in 2018 they upgraded pedestrian crossing at the west end of the tram stop to give pedestrians priority over cars.
Again nice work.
Thanks!