Victorian Rail & Tram Observations 2017

[mrmoopt]

What people don't remember is that unions, as with any other organisation, also needs a profit positive result each year. They do this by raising nonsensical issues dressed up as safety, and still in certain transport industries, require near 100% membership. Continued perceived intervention in workplace matters = justification of membership/fess = cycle perpetuates.

This is not just a transport union issue, but applies to other sectors as well.

Now I'm not anti-union, there is always room for representation in numbers. But to say that profits are going overseas, that's the price you pay for dragging down the PTC in the good old days.

If PTC was run with efficiency, it may have been privatised by now with govt retaining majority shareholder, and just like MTR, be floated on stock exchanges and running other people's train services overseas.

To cry foul that overseas companies deprive infrastructure investment is like a person drinking full strength coke then crying foul when having to see a doctor to treat their diabetes, and that complain the fees go to a person who wasn't trained medically in Australia, but has the required expertise to help fix your disease.

[Heihachi_73]

I had the luxury of standing around for over an hour at Blackburn station last night with about thirty (or more) other people. I guess it wasn't enough to have buses replacing trains from Blackburn all the way to Lilydale and Belgrave (yes, both, due to trackwork around Ringwood station on the up end over the bridge), so Metro decided to not bother running trains between Blackburn and Camberwell until midnight.

Additionally, I ended up catching the 10:58 901 South Morang SmartBus from Ringwood to Blackburn as there weren't any rail replacement buses at Ringwood either. The train arrived at Blackburn at midnight on the dot, although with the amount of people getting off the train it was like being in peak periods - so much for the PTV saying we don't need Night Network services during the week or more than two trains per hour for that matter.

Lastly, aside from having staff presence and working toilets, how on earth did Blackburn receive Premium Station status? It has to be one of the worst "premium" stations I have ever had to wait at, period. Whoever designed the station building was clearly under the impression that trains would be running every five minutes and no-one would ever need to wait there, given that there are hardly any seats and next to no protection from the weather. Of all the stations to be left standing after grade separation work, why did it have to be Blackburn? They didn't even bother doing sleeper replacement on any of the three tracks.

[notch]

... (snipped whinge)how on earth did Blackburn receive Premium Station status? (more whinging snipped)

The fact it's a terminating station and until January was a safeworking location has a lot to do with it.

[Heihachi_73]

Alamein and Hurstbridge are terminating stations as well, they were never given premium status. Even Croydon station leaves Blackburn in the dust, but then again, so does Chatham which hasn't seen a station master in decades. Maybe they should flatten Blackburn station and put the Chatham station building there so it will actually get some use.

And I like my legal right to whinge, if Australia didn't take everything like this up the asre it would be a much better country. Bring on the riots.

[Mitch]

Spotted today was a D1 tram running in service along Melville Road on a route 58 to Toorak, followed closely behind by an out of service Z3 unit. Unfortunately I didn't catch fleet numbers.

Are low-floors starting to make their way onto the 58 now that more and more E-class sets are entering service? The 58 is usually operated by Z3 and B2 sets.

Cheers,
Mitch

[MAN 16.242]

Spotted today was a D1 tram running in service along Melville Road on a route 58 to Toorak, followed closely behind by an out of service Z3 unit. Unfortunately I didn't catch fleet numbers.

Are low-floors starting to make their way onto the 58 now that more and more E-class sets are entering service? The 58 is usually operated by Z3 and B2 sets.

Cheers,
Mitch

Route 58 is shared with Malvern hence it gets Ds. You might be thinking of the old Route 55 which ended last month which was run by Essendon only and got only B2 and Z3s.

[notch]

Alamein and Hurstbridge are terminating stations as well, they were never given premium status. (more petulant whining snipped)

Hurstbridge is, however, staffed first to last; theoretically Upwey, Victoria Park, Westona, Diamond Creek, Aircraft, Lynbrook, Keon Park, East Camberwell and Riversdale can have trains terminate and return on the up - and the latter has timetabled trains do that -

And I like my legal right to whinge, if Australia didn't take everything like this up the asre it would be a much better country. Bring on the riots.[/quote]And I like my legal right to point out how utterly pathetic your whinge is. A station is not built for you to loiter around in 5-star luxury.
There are heaps of systemic problems in the network. The fact that a station isn't quite comfy enough for you is not one.

[notch]

Spotted today was a D1 tram running in service along Melville Road on a route 58 to Toorak, followed closely behind by an out of service Z3 unit. Unfortunately I didn't catch fleet numbers.

Are low-floors starting to make their way onto the 58 now that more and more E-class sets are entering service? The 58 is usually operated by Z3 and B2 sets.

Cheers,
Mitch

Route 58 is shared with Malvern hence it gets Ds. You might be thinking of the old Route 55 which ended last month which was run by Essendon only and got only B2 and Z3s.

Might have been related to a truck colliding severely with B2.2028 in this morning.

Link here - not going to copypasta the text like some:

http://ab.co/2qMkX4q

[MAN 16.242]

Might have been related to a truck colliding severely with B2.2028 in this morning.

Link here - not going to copypasta the text like some:

http://ab.co/2qMkX4q

Mitch post was on Sunday. So the accident has nothing do with seeing D1s on 58. As stated in my previous post Route 58 is shared with Malvern hence Mitch sighting of D1s on it which are daily occurunce since 58 started.

[Roderick Smith]

It is worth reading the IA website to see the credentials of those spouting this.
Chairman Birrell was associated with the 1990s Liberal-dogma privatisation in Victoria, which has backfired badly. It hasn't improved anything, and is simply a game of chess between franchisees and the government, with the travelling public as pawns. Any saving through privatisation has to be in the use of labor: screwing the workers (Labor view) eliminating featherbedding (Liberal view). That then goes to management staff monitoring all the paperwork and legal agreements and the constant feuding between the disintegrated components of what had once been unified. The rest of IA has no public-transport credentials. I have condensed to just the closest which they get, and eliminated most of the bean-counting aspects.

Roderick.

Infrastructure Australia Board.
* Mark Birrell, Chairman, a lawyer by training, has deep public policy and industry experience. His current roles include being Chairman of Regis Health Care Limited, the Australian Payments Council and PostSuper Pty. Ltd. He was previously Chairman of the Port of Melbourne Corporation (2011-16), founding Chairman of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (2005-13) and national leader of the infrastructure group at Minter Ellison (2002-12). Previously, Mr Birrell held Cabinet positions in Victoria as Minister for Major Projects and as Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.
He holds Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws degrees and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2014 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Monash University.
[unstated, he pushed through Victoria's disastrous privatisation].
* Julieanne Alroe was appointed to the position of CEO and Managing Director at Brisbane Airport Corporation Limited in July 2009...currently holds board positions with Tourism and Events Queensland.
...extensive experience within the aviation industry after holding a number of roles at Sydney Airport Corporation. These roles included executive management positions in the commercial, operations, corporate affairs, and planning and infrastructure departments. Previous board appointments include the position of chairman of Airports Coordination Australia Ltd and Airports Council International Safety and Technical Standing Committee.
* Gerard Blood has 27 years of experience in creating, managing and restructuring infrastructure and development projects in Australia, UK, Canada, Middle East, North Africa and Asia. PPB Advisory’s director and head of infrastructure until December 2014.
* Michael Carapiet ...the Chairman of Link Group Limited, the largest administrative services provider to Australian superannuation funds and a leading provider of international share registry and corporate services.
* Peter Corish AM... President of the National Farmers Federation from 2002 to 2006. From 2007 to 2011, he served as a member of the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council.
* Colin Duffield Professor in engineering project management and civil engineering discipline leader at the University of Melbourne’s department of infrastructure engineering.
* John Ellice-Flint a businessman and petroleum geologist.
* Dianne Leeson has extensive experience in the NSW Public Sector and urban planning.
* Nicole Lockwood...the Principal of Lockwood Advisory providing strategic advice to government and the private sector in the areas of regional development, infrastructure and stakeholder engagement...is a member of the Board of the Water Corporation, the Board of Tourism WA, Chair of the Freight and Logistics Council.
* Daniel Norton AO... has extensive industry experience at both the corporate and government levels in a wide range of sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, transport and health...has been the Chairman of Tasports.
* Gabrielle Trainor is a non-executive director and advisor...more than twenty years involved in the governance of organisations in the public and private sectors.
* Peter Watson has over 25 years of experience in the engineering, construction and services industries. He was the Chairman of Regional Rail Link Authority in Victoria, a position he assumed in August 2010 until its completion in October 2015 [a project which was conceived shoddily, and executed shoddily].
http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/about/board.aspx

May 26 2017 Privatise public transport and reap the benefits, Infrastructure Australia says.
Victoria could save about $1 billion – enough money to buy 80 new E-Class trams – by putting its struggling bus network out to competitive tender, the Turnbull government's infrastructure adviser says.
Infrastructure Australia wants state governments to hand the operation of their public transport systems over to private operators, arguing they could cut costs and improve service quality by doing so.
Infrastructure Australia says Metro Trains' franchise agreement with the Victorian government has been a success. Photo: Craig Abraham .
The federal authority argues Victoria's example of entering franchise agreements with Metro Trains and Yarra Trams is the shining light other states should follow.
The former Kennett government's decision in 1999 to replace an inefficient state-run public transport system with a leaner privately operated one put Melbourne on the path to better and more cost-effective train and tram services, Infrastructure Australia says.
The independent authority's chairman, Mark Birrell, was a senior minister in the Kennett government.
But the authority argues the job of opening up Melbourne's public transport system to competition will only be complete once it has put the city's entire bus network out to tender.
Economic modelling by consultants PwC found this would save the state $841 million to $1.08 billion between now and 2040.
Adrian Dwyer, Infrastructure Australia's Executive Director of Policy and Research, said demand for public transport in Melbourne is on course to double between 2011 and 2030, and the government had to invest wisely to handle the rapid growth.
"These savings could be reinvested back into the public transport system to deliver new trains, trams and buses, station upgrades or additional network capacity – all of which will be vital to cope with the expected increase in passenger demand," Mr Dwyer said.
The Andrews government announced in February its intention to phase out Melbourne's historical system of exclusive bus contracts, many of which have been held by the same company for decades.
Industry group the Bus Association said at the time it would fight to keep the current system in place.
Only Transdev, which operates 30 per cent of the city's bus routes, won its contract through a competitive tender process. A 2015 report by Victoria's Auditor-General found the tender process was yet to deliver value for money for the state.
Infrastructure Australia has offered its advice in a paper titled Improving Public Transport: Customer Focused Franchising, released on Friday.
Franchising is the term for when a government privatises the operation of the public transport system through a competitive bidding process, but keeps ownership of the infrastructure such as trains, trams and stations.
This is the system by which Metro and Yarra Trams have been contracted and are rewarded or penalised for hitting performance targets.
Mr Dwyer said franchising had delivered a better system for Melbourne passengers.
"Customer satisfaction with Melbourne's tram and train services is at a 15-year high," he said. "Performance targets for private operators have driven clear improvements in punctuality with, for example, on-time running for Melbourne's Metro improving by 7.1 percentage points since 2009."
Victoria's franchising system has its critics.
John Stone is senior lecturer in transport planning at the University of Melbourne and argued Infrastructure Australia had glossed over many flaws.
"The problem is that once you bring a private company in they are very skilled at finding ways of increasing revenue without improving service, for example Metro's stop-skipping in Melbourne," Dr Stone said.
He argued Metro's improved punctuality performance was illusory because it had been achieved in part by padding out the timetable on some lines, such as the Frankston line.
"Changes in punctuality have been masked by changes to the definition of what a punctual train is and slack that has been introduced to the timetable," Dr Stone said.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union is campaigning to renationalise Melbourne's rail and tram networks. Victorian branch secretary Luba Grigorovitch said franchising was popular "with governments looking to distance themselves from responsibility".
"Whether it's short-shunting trams that dump passengers to get a bonus, or massive maintenance backlogs that impact on service reliability, Victorians know the profits from franchising are built on shortcuts," Ms Grigorovitch said.
Related Content:
Services on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines have been partially suspended.
Billions go to train and tram operators with little improvement .
Melbourne's bus contracts are set to be overhauled.
The $600 million fix for Melbourne’s least popular public transport .
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/priva ... wcymv.html

[Heihachi_73]

Billions go to train and tram operators with little improvement, they say. Multi-billion dollar grade separation works and shiny new X'Trapolis trains but no timetable upgrades (at least on the Burnley group), check. One walking-pace tram square replaced, three more to go (only one of which is not on the Burnley group).

High floor trams run on route 75 100% of the time, years after most of the route (except for the section between Bridge Rd and Burwood) had been converted to low floor accessible tram stops originally intended for an extended fleet of Citadis (C1) trams which were never ordered. This we only have 36 Citadis trams and they all run on the 109 which has even less platform stops outside the city while the poor cousin the 48 is still designed for W classes so it gets A classes instead since using a W on a Melbourne tram route is unheard of. We could have had a bunch of low floor trams from Sydney for next to nothing but of course they are probably going to end up at Sydney's version of Sims Metal instead, not even reaching 20 years of use on the network. The Variotrams would have been right at home running along the 75, 86 or 109, but let's only buy brand new trams because new looks better since it looks like more money was spent on public transport!

Of course the billions go towards buying glossy lipstick when Melbourne has a giant pig called public transport. Trains and trams don't go to the airport because pigs can't fly. Buses go to the airport, but only kids, pensioners, immigrants, Sydneysiders and bus enthusiasts catch them.

[Roderick Smith]

I have reached the Sun.21.5 trigger article.
170528Su Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - trams.

Roderick.

[Heihachi_73]

The funny thing is that it is not the trams themselves that are slow (except for the W classes which have a speed restriction). Sure, they can't do 100 km/h on a freeway, but it's also illegal to do that speed on every single other right of way they have in the entire city of Melbourne. The B classes on the 75 are given hell in Zone 2, especially if they're late - they can easily go over 70 although they rarely get the ability to due to the allowed track speed, track condition (some parts I don't even think qualify for Third World status, it's a wonder they are even considered usable e.g. under the Burwood rail bridge), sharp corners, having to stop frequently for passengers (due to having too many tram stops close together, especially in the inner suburbs like Hawthorn and Richmond) or traffic lights, and general road speed limits (most roads shared with trams are 30/40/50/60 zones). The exact same electrical equipment us used in the much lighter Z3 and A classes, providing even faster acceleration. I can just see Peter of Ashburton driving his Toorak Tractor around suburbia like a Patton tank too, having never ridden on public transport since he was at school. If you want trams out of your way, get off the tram tracks. Or move to Alice Springs if you don't want trams.

[Roderick Smith]

Roderick.

Melbourne Express: Wednesday, June 7, 2017.
This is a bit like a book club but on the move - ninja style.
The Rosie Project author Graeme Simsion joined an enthralled group of book lovers for a chat about his work last night for a moving talk feast on a tram.
Last night passengers got on tram route 3/3a tram to Melbourne University, scheduled to depart from stop 64 at 7.56pm - the corner of Darling Road and Waverley Road, Malvern East to the rest of us - for a moving book club event. Although, truth be known, it was late - 8.06pm.
Simsion shared his exclusive short story Intervention on the No. 3 Tram with the Books on the Rail group. He answered questions about his literary highlights and his new book The Best of Adam Sharp.
The Books on the Rail group are expecting to hold other events soon.
Graeme Simsion, on route 3/3A last night for a ninja style book event with Books on the Rail. Photo: supplied.
The tram passengers at the Graeme Simsion, ninja style book event with Books on the Rail. Photo: supplied.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbo ... wkej2.html

[Roderick Smith]

I tweeted that the rules should specify nothing on windows. B2.2013 in 2016 was the only one which looked like 'art' (the colours); the rest may as well have been graffiti.

Mon.8.5.17 Metro Twitter
Artists! Want to design an art tram for Melbourne Festival 2017? Entries close in 2 weeks!

Roderick

[Roderick Smith]

170508M Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - tram stop ads.
Roderick.

[maxy54]

B2.2013 in 2016 was the only one which looked like ‘art' (the colours); the rest may as well have been graffiti.

You’re kidding aren’t you, 2013 was by far among the worst art trams of last year, a close second to 2123. Both of those pieces looked like something an 8 year old would design, no sense of art whatsoever

[notch]

I look forward to seeing maxy54 and Roderick Smith's winning entries in 2018, seeing as both clearly know better.

[Roderick Smith]

The organisation had a room in the basement of the 1962 Melbourne Spencer St. It now has a room between the main concourse and the bus bays.

1610 RACV 'Royalauto' - Travellers Aid 100 years.
170509Tu Metro Twitter - Travellers Aid, windows smothered.

Roderick.

[system improver]

101. They do an excellent job, especially for the disabled. The facilities at SC are the best I have seen in the world where they have such a service, and most don't.

[Roderick Smith]

170512F Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - Cars vs trams.
Roderick.

[Heihachi_73]

Burnley group trains were using platform 6 at Flinders Street instead of the usual 2/3 last night due to trackwork.

[Roderick Smith]

I enclose a photo of the display in a Konya (Turkey) tram. The bar has obscured one of the items.

Roderick

Melbourne’s old trams to be fitted with upgraded information system.
Herald Sun June 18, 2017.
MELBOURNE’S old trams are set to undergo a hi-tech overhaul.
After a successful trial, Yarra Trams is fitting all 69 A-Class trams, introduced in the mid 1980s, with a system that tells passengers the next stop, the destination of the tram, nearby landmarks, and connections with other public transport options.
Work to introduce an upgraded information system on the low-floor C-Class trams, introduced in 2001/02, will start next month.
New information systems will be installed in Melbourne’s old trams. Picture: Susan Windmiller When work is complete, it will mean around 75 per cent of Melbourne’s trams will be equipped with real-time audio and visual information to help passengers find their way on the world’s largest tram network.
Yarra Trams’ pas­senger and network innovation director, Emilie van de Graaff, said passenger feedback on a similar system installed on B-Class trams last year indicated that it made passengers feel safer and improved their overall journey.
“Real-time information helps passengers to make informed choices and ensures a positive experience when travelling,” she said.
“We’re proud to partner with PTV to makes the tram network more inclusive.”
The tramTRACKER system already shows commuters real-time information.
Public Transport Victoria’s Executive Director Customer Service, Fiona Coull, said small improvements could have a big effect on the day-to-day lives of passengers and on making the network more accessible.
“Automated passenger information helps to keep passengers informed during their journey and makes using the network simpler and more accessible,” she said.
“For people with vision or hearing challenges, it can mean the difference between taking public transport or not.”
GPS is used to determine the tram’s location and automatically trigger the announcement and visual displays.
The system is pre-programmed with tram routes and stop locations, and regular diversion routes are also pre-programmed in case of road traffic incidents.
Tram passengers already receive real-time information through screens and remote public address speakers at major stops, solar-powered mini displays at kerbside stops, tramTRACKER screens at train stations, and social media operated from Yarra Trams’ operations centre.
Automated passenger information is already installed on 52 E-Class trams, 59 D-Class trams, and 130 B-Class trams.
Installation on A-Class trams is now underway and is expected to be complete by next month.
CITY TRAIN USE SET TO DOUBLE
RADICAL PLAN FOR DRIVERLESS TRAINS
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victor ... 4838bb6338

[philm]

Caught a 48 tram yesterday (#294) which has been fitted with the new audio and visual PIDs as in the B2s and in the news article posted above. Apologies for the terrible image quality.

[Roderick Smith]

170519F Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - tram priority.

Roderick.