General Victorian Timetable & Route Changes 2017

[Roderick Smith]

27.7.8 timetable changes.
One new morning service: departs from Werribee at 8.15, arriving at Flinders Street at 8.54.
One new afternoon service: departs from Flinders Street at 17.18, arriving at Werribee at 17.58.
Trains will run approximately every 10 minutes on the Werribee Line during the morning peak.
Stopping patterns for inter-peak services on the Werribee Line have changed to accommodate the extension of Altona loop services, Werribee trains will run express between Footscray and Newport; passengers needing to access the intermediate stations (Spotswood, Yarraville and Seddon) will be able to do so by catching (or interchanging to) alternate stopping all-stations services.
- Hoppers Crossing Routes 153, 160, 161, 166, 167, 181 timetables will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Laverton Routes 400, 417, 496, 498 timetables will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable. Routes 411, 412 better connections at Laverton with slight reduction in frequency during peak travel times. Route 414 slight reduction in frequency during peak travel times.
- Werribee
•Route 151 – Increase in frequency to every 40-45 minutes from 22.00 on Fridays. Also better train connections at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations on weekends.
•Route 153 – Better train connections at Werribee; the timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
•Route 161 – Timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
•Route 167 – Better train connections at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale on weekends. Better connections at Melton. The timetable will also be corrected to reflect accurate run-times.
•Route 170 – Increased frequency to every 40-45 minutes from 22.00 on Fridays.
•Route 180 – Increased frequency to every 40-45 minutes from 22.00 on Fridays. Better train connections at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations on weekends.
•Routes 181, 191, 192, 439, 441, 443 - Timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Williams Landing Routes 150, 151, 494, 495, 497 timetables will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
37 weekday Altona loop services will be extended to run to/from the city, and stop at all stations between Laverton and Flinders Street via Altona.
One new morning service: departs from Sunbury at 6.48, arriving at Flinders Street at 7.38.
One new afternoon service: depart from Flinders Street at 16.30, arriving at Sunbury at 17.22.
Four Sunbury services will now run direct to Flinders Street during the morning peak. The are the 7.10 up Sydenham Watergardens, and the 7.17, 7.36 & 7.53 up Sunbury.
- Sunshine Route 400 yimetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Sydenham Watergardens Route 460 timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
One new morning service: Departs Craigieburn at 7.04, arriving at Flinders Street at 7.50.
One new afternoon service: Departing from Flinders Street at 17.27, direct via Southern Cross, arriving at Craigieburn at 18.11. This is in addition to the already existing 17.27 down, stopping at all stations via the loop.
All Craigieburn services in the morning peak will run via the loop.
The existing 8.15 up Greensborough will now begin at Eltham at 8.08.
The current 8.23 up Heidelberg will now begin at Greensborough at 8.11.
The Frankston timetable has been adjusted to accommodate additional services on other lines, and to also to incorporate the new Southland station (to be opened later this year).
- Carrum Routes 708, 780, 833, 970 - Timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Chelsea Route 858 timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable
- Frankston Routes 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 779, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, 786, 788, 790 timetables will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Kananook Routes 778, 832 timetables will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Moorabbin Route 825 timetable will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
- Mordialloc Routes 705, 709 timetables will be adjusted to connect with trains on the new train timetable.
http://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/getting-aroun ... in-changes

[maxy54]

CDC Melbourne have reprinted the timetables for the ex Driver Bus Lines timetables with some minor changes

Route 624 deviations to Korowa, Sacre Coeur and Ashwood College appear to have been axed
An extra Route 623 service to St Kilda has been added leaving Chadstone at 7.40am, more than likely to provide extra capacity for CGS, Shelford and Glen Eira College
Route 612 appears to have axed the separate timetables on School Days and School Holidays

Other Route 612 changes

* The 7.20am service from Chadstone now runs express from Camberwell to Box Hill, more than likely doubling up as a Canterbury Girls Secondary College school run
* The 9.05am service from Camberwell to Chadstone has been converted into a full service from Box Hill
* The 2.35pm service from Chadstone to Box Hill (previously a School Day only service) has been converted to a full time service and has been truncated to terminate at Camberwell
* The 5.35pm service from Chadstone to Surrey Hills (Union and Kent Roads) has been axed

Hopefully soon 612 can start running 7 days a week

[Roderick Smith]

The 27.8.17 changes include some minor tinkers in the peaks.
* One extra morning-peak and one extra afternoon-peak train on the Werribee, Sunbury and Craigieburn lines (achieved by running some direct to/from Flinders St, not via the loop).
* All Altona trains between the peaks will run to Flinders St, avoiding the change at Newport (but still on only 20 min headways, and Williamstown also remains on 20 min headways).
* The existing 8.15 up Greensborough will become an 8.08 up Eltham.
* The existing 8.23 up Heidelberg will become an 8.11 up Greensborough.
www.ptv.vic.gov.au/getting-around/netwo ... in-changes

The two six-car pull-push sets are being withdrawn, without 12 new vehicles available to replace them. The two had been kept in Melbourne, running empty to Bacchus Marsh on Mon.-Fri. mornings to form up peak services, then two afternoon-peak down Wyndham Vale services, returning empty. On Tues.22.8, one down Wyndham Vale failed at Sunshine, causing extensive delays; some down Geelong trains ran via Werribee. On Wed.22.8, both sets were running in the afternoon. One was to be replaced with Sprinters from Thursday afternoon (unverified if that did happen). On Fri.25.8, the 16.50 down Wyndham Vale was a four-car Sprinter. The 17.16 down Wyndham Vale became the final run for a pull-push set. That will become a six-car Vlocity roster, but it is unclear from where the sets have been poached. Both daily newspapers have been running articles on overcrowding on VLine commuter runs; reducing capacity makes no sense.
Roderick.

[Matty G]

Hello,

Further to "maxy54's" post re: the Route 612 changes commencing 4th August, 2017.....

It is confirmed that:
14:35 ex Chadstone to Camberwell at 15:03 DOES continue on to Box Hill, arriving at 15:48 (as previous). It is thought that the trip has been broken up into 2 parts, due to the wait time for school students at Camberwell.

The 17:35 ex Chadstone to Sunbury Cresent / Union Road (Surrey Hills) is STILL continuing to operate, and for some unknown reason, has dropped off the system. Arrival into Union Road is 18:18.

Cheers.

[maxy54]

Hello,

Further to "maxy54's" post re: the Route 612 changes commencing 4th August, 2017.....

It is confirmed that:
14:35 ex Chadstone to Camberwell at 15:03 DOES continue on to Box Hill, arriving at 15:48 (as previous). It is thought that the trip has been broken up into 2 parts, due to the wait time for school students at Camberwell.

The 17:35 ex Chadstone to Sunbury Cresent / Union Road (Surrey Hills) is STILL continuing to operate, and for some unknown reason, has dropped off the system. Arrival into Union Road is 18:18.

Cheers.

Thanks Matty, i thought that it would be split in half, I assumed it was a new service, given before destinations would say “Box Hill Central” instead of “Camberwell Shopping Centre”

I have also noticed that most of the school holiday only services have been cut except for the last service from Chadstone which terminates at Hillside Parade & Toorak Road

One extra change is that the second last service from Box Hill that used to terminate outside the old DBL Depot has been extended to Glen Iris Station

[Craig]

New timetable data with minor runtime changes has appeared on the PTV website for the following Ventura routes:

Lilydale Depot - effective 5 November 2017
663 (Lilydale - Belgrave)
664 (Chrinside Park - Knox City)
671 (Chirnside Park - Croydon)
672 (Chirnside Park - Croydon)
677 (Chrinside Park - Lilydale)
679 (Chrinside Park - Ringwood)

The 664 Saturday timetable has been adjusted to space trips 20 mins apart all day south of Croydon again - the current April 2012 timetable has periods of a 10-30-10-30 pattern to meet trains with complicated logic (too long-winded to write here unless someone is keen and I'll give it a shot)

The long standing with tight 671 runtimes in the PM peak is finally being resolved after nearing 6 years, with trips ex Croydon increased from 14 to 19 minutes. This has been an ongoing bugbear since the Chrinside Village housing estate gained service in the PM peak in the December 2011 network changes.

Moorabbin Depot - effective 10 September 2017
828 (Hampton - Berwick)

Impossible to disgust the Saturday timetable as the old data from 4 December 2016 is still appearing, but it appears buses may now operate every 40 mins all day across the entire route, instead of hourly (half hourly Hampton - Southland before lunch)

Moorabbin Depot - effective 29 October 2017
705 (Mordialloc - Springvale)
New 823 timetable data for the route change via Classic Residences Retirement Village in Brighton East is not yet online although the route map is.

There is also 822 (Chadstone - Sandringham) timetable data effective 22 October 2017 but I couldn't spot any changes.

Dandenong Depot - effective 5 November 2017
802 (Dandenong - Chadstone)
804 (Dandenong - Chadstone)
815 (Dandenong - Noble Park)
848 (Dandenong - Brandon Park)
850 (Dandenong - Glen Waverley)
862 (Dandenong - Chadstone)

Unfortunately, the 802 & 862 are still timed together on weekdays. rather than 862 spaced 10 minutes between an 802 & 804 (the 802 & 804 need to stay 20 mins apart at the Chadstone end to off-set along the common section down Haverbrack Dr)

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Seems PTV leaked the timetables early, they've now vanished again.

The new 823 timetable has been released, unfortunately they've kept the hourly weekday only timetable. Link - https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/route/view/11653/

Ventura confirmed via Twitter that the upgraded 828 Saturday timetable, with a 40 min daytime headway, is on hold for now. The online timetable has since reverted to the 4 December 2016 version.

In other news, fulfilling another 2014 state election promise, extra weekend trips on 246 (Elsternwick - Clifton Hill) & 606 (Elsternwick - Fishermans Bend) will be introduced at the end of the month from 29 October 2017.

Improvements include:
* New return Saturday night 246 trip at 23:50 ex Clifton Hill & 00:35 ex Elsternwick
* 246 Sunday early morning & Sunday evening headway boosted from 40 mins to 30 mins
* 246 Sunday daytime headway boosted from 20 mins to 15 mins
* 606 gains new weekend return trip at 19:30 ex Bay St & 20:00 ex Elsternwick, plus new 07:00 ex Elsternwick & 07:30 ex Bay St on Saturdays, but otherwise remains hourly

Personally I'd have thought 606 route would be ripe for a more useful half-hourly weekend timetable as well.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Details about the resurrection of former Route 451 as Route 422 and the stage two changes in Caroline Springs can be found here - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=83361

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

More reliable bus timetables for Melbourne’s south east

From 5 November, passengers in Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs will have more reliable bus services with the introduction of adjusted timetables on 14 routes operated by Ventura. The changes will also make connections to trains more consistent.

Click the links below to view your new route information:

Route 677 Lilydale Station to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre via The Gateway and Switchback Road
Route 663 Belgrave to Lilydale via Kallista, The Patch, Monbulk and Mt Evelyn
Route 664 Chirnside Park Shopping Centre to Knox City Shopping Centre via Croydon and Bayswater
Route 671 Croydon to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre via Warrien Road and Patrick Avenue
Route 672 Croydon to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre via Croydon Hills and Wonga Park
Route 679 Ringwood to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre via Montrose, Mt Evelyn and Lilydale
Route 705 Mordialloc to Springvale via Braeside and Clayton South*
Route 802 Dandenong Station to Chadstone Shopping Centre via Mulgrave and Oakleigh
Route 804 Dandenong Station to Chadstone Shopping Centre via Wheelers Hill and Oakleigh
Route 815 Dandenong to Noble Park
Route 848 Dandenong Station to Brandon Park Shopping Centre via Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre
Route 850 Dandenong Station to Glen Waverly Station via Mulgrave and Brandon Park
Route 862 Dandenong Station to Chadstone Shopping Centre via Dandenong North and Oakleigh

*The new timetable for Route 705 will start from 29 October.

See my post above for more comments on the changes.

The 40 min Saturday timetable for 828 seems to be deferred indefinitely.

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Night Coach changes from 24 November - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=81538&start=100

Kind Regards


Craig

[B10BLE]

Bummer. Was hoping to see the 824 having 20 minute frequency near the end of the route with all Westall short workings extended to Keysborough.

Soon, I guess.

[Craig]

Route 385 is changing
October 26, 2017

On Sunday 26 November, Route 385 will change while we get ready for the Yan Yean Road upgrades. Buses will now travel along Diamond Creek Road and Plenty River Drive instead of Mackelroy Road, Treetop Terrace and Sugar Gum Boulevard.

The final plan for the duplication of Yan Yean Rd will remove the ability for the right turn into Mackelroy Rd, but hopefully they can use the new signalised intersection planned for Memorial Dr in the medium term? Although I am not sure if Butlers Rd would be suitable for buses?

Kind Regards


Craig

[burrumbus]

Bummer. Was hoping to see the 824 having 20 minute frequency near the end of the route with all Westall short workings extended to Keysborough.

Soon, I guess.

The 824 to Parkmore just doesn't justify any increase in frequency.Put bluntly very low loadings on that section of route.

[krustyklo]

Dysons wrote:
Route 385 is changing
October 26, 2017

On Sunday 26 November, Route 385 will change while we get ready for the Yan Yean Road upgrades. Buses will now travel along Diamond Creek Road and Plenty River Drive instead of Mackelroy Road, Treetop Terrace and Sugar Gum Boulevard.



The final plan for the duplication of Yan Yean Rd will remove the ability for the right turn into Mackelroy Rd, but hopefully they can use the new signalised intersection planned for Memorial Dr in the medium term? Although I am not sure if Butlers Rd would be suitable for buses?

That's less than ideal. Diamond Creek Rd is now pretty well served with the 901 and 343, and the 385 usefully serves an area that will have no alternative. Whilst I won't claim there are hordes of users, whenever I have passed through at various times of day there are usually a few people get on or off.

From a quick drive in Google Streetview, Butlers Rd is a dirt road but seems wide enough for two buses passing for most of its length. The main issues would be the low hanging branches and foliage infringing the road space that could damage buses, the 25km/h speed limit along that stretch of road which will affect bus running times and timekeeping, the willingness of the few people along that road to let the bus run along there without complaint, and the narrowness of Mackelroy Rd between Butlers Rd and Treetop Dve (it is wider east of there as far as Yan Yean Rd). Otherwise it could be a good compromise.

[Craig]

Hopefully the new 385 map is a little more accurate than the current one in Apollo Parkways? Houston, we have a problem!



Kind Regards


Craig

[krustyklo]

Hopefully the new 385 map is a little more accurate than the current one in Apollo Parkways? Houston, we have a problem!

Image

Kind Regards


Craig

The image doesn't appear. A quick look at the PTV website shows what you mean. I guess it's easily done if you have no idea of the local area, are rushed, and only take a cursory interest to the point of either not looking at a general map, the previous route map, nor contact the bus company who should ideally know, nor look at your own data and corresponding line polygons on Google Maps (one of the few publicly available bits of data). For those who wonder what we're going on about, the 385 is shown heading east the wrong way up Plenty River Dve then down Diamond Creek Rd to Greensborough. Plenty River Dve itself is shown as ending at an intersection with the Greensborough Bypass.

In reality, Plenty River Dve passes quick some distance below the Greensborough Bypass overpass and the route itself heads west from Sugar Gum Blvd, then follows Plenty River Dve around to the south exit onto Diamond Creek Rd thence to Greensborough.

Hopefully when the map gets redrawn that may draw some attention to correcting it.

[Heihachi_73]

New timetable data with minor runtime changes has appeared on the PTV website for the following Ventura routes:

Lilydale Depot - effective 5 November 2017
663 (Lilydale - Belgrave)
664 (Chrinside Park - Knox City)
671 (Chirnside Park - Croydon)
672 (Chirnside Park - Croydon)
677 (Chrinside Park - Lilydale)
679 (Chrinside Park - Ringwood)

It's disappointing that Ventura still hasn't looked into providing a bus service for Mooroolbark residents. They provide the odd bus, that's about it. Calling them services is well and truly out of the question.

Monday to Friday:
675 Chirnside Park to Mooroolbark: First bus 0626, last bus 1804
675 Mooroolbark to Chirnside Park: First bus 0638, last bus 1905
What exactly does the driver of the 675 do at either terminus? Twiddle their thumbs for 50-odd minutes waiting to go back on their eight-minute journey? The 675 is hourly for the most part, and only runs Monday to Friday.

680 Mooroolbark to Lilydale: First bus 0604, last bus 1950
680 Lilydale to Mooroolbark: First bus 0600, last bus 1912
Monday to Friday only, of course.

689 Croydon to Montrose: First bus 0636, last bus 1752 (not officially a Mooroolbark bus route but it goes past the 'Five Ways' roundabouts - 0650 until 1805 at the Mooroolbark lawn bowls club near KFC).
689 Montrose to Croydon: First bus 0725, last bus 1855 (0730 until 1900 at Paul St near KFC).

Area 2 Telebus, Chirnside Park to Mooroolbark via ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: First regular bus 0555, last full-distance bus 1600. Express buses run from 1630 to 1850 with a final express bus inexplicably starting at Partridge Way at 1918, just over three hours since the last scheduled bus stopped there.
Area 2 Telebus, Mooroolbark to Chirnside Park via ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA: First regular bus 0905, last full-distance bus 1833 with two extra buses at 1900 and 1923 which terminate short at Partridge Way. Express buses run from 0616 until 0825.

Area 3 Telebus, Chirnside Park to Mooroolbark via ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: First regular bus 0935, last full-distance bus 1535. Bus services towards Mooroolbark inexplicably start at Rolling Hills Primary School at 0535. Express buses run from Partridge Way to Mooroolbark from 1705 until 1930.
Area 3 Telebus, Mooroolbark to Chirnside Park via ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA: First regular bus 0900, last full-distance bus 1600 with buses terminating short at Landscape Drive from 1642 until 1935. Express buses run from 0600 to 0710.

Area 4 Telebus, Croydon to Mooroolbark via ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: First regular bus 0835, last full-distance bus 1535 with buses terminating short at Kiloran Ave from 1645 until 1915. Express buses also run from 0618 until 0825, the first four of which also terminate at Kiloran Ave.
Area 4 Telebus, Mooroolbark to Croydon via ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA: First bus 0910, last bus 1610. Buses start at Kiloran Ave from 0600 until 0800, with express buses from Kiloran Ave from 1703 to 1858.

Saturdays:
689 Croydon to Montrose: First bus 0836, last bus 1655 (0841 until 1701 at Paul St near KFC).
689 Montrose to Croydon: First bus 0859, last bus 1720 (0913 until 1732 at the Mooroolbark lawn bowls club near KFC).

Area 2 Telebus, Chirnside Park to Mooroolbark via ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: First bus 0840, last bus 1640.
Area 2 Telebus, Mooroolbark to Chirnside Park via ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA: First bus 0910, last bus 1710.

Area 3 Telebus, Chirnside Park to Mooroolbark via ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: First bus 0815, last bus 1715.
Area 3 Telebus, Mooroolbark to Chirnside Park via ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA: First bus 0815, last bus 1715. Yes, it is identical in both directions.

Area 4 Telebus, Croydon to Mooroolbark via ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ: First bus 0900, last bus 1700.
Area 4 Telebus, Mooroolbark to Croydon via ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA: First bus 0840, last bus 1640.

Sundays:
$null()

No, I do not expect people to walk from Mooroolbark station all the way up the Manchester Rd hill to Mooroolbark College to catch the 664 on a Sunday, which is ironically more reliable with its boring old hourly Sunday timetable than any other bus in Mooroolbark on any given day of the week! The 963 Night Bus doesn't count either.

[MAN 16.242]

It's disappointing that Ventura still hasn't looked into providing a bus service for Mooroolbark residents. They provide the odd bus, that's about it. Calling them services is well and truly out of the question.

For all we know Ventura might of tired get services improvment but no funding available.

Monday to Friday:
675 Chirnside Park to Mooroolbark: First bus 0626, last bus 1804
675 Mooroolbark to Chirnside Park: First bus 0638, last bus 1905
What exactly does the driver of the 675 do at either terminus? Twiddle their thumbs for 50-odd minutes waiting to go back on their eight-minute journey? The 675 is hourly for the most part, and only runs Monday to Friday.

Buses don't always stay on same route all day. So you cant always tell by timetable if it has a long layover

[Heihachi_73]

In that case, there has been no funding for thirty years and beyond! I grew up in Mooroolbark from the mid 1980s to 2003 and it was either walk or get a taxi because the buses were either finished in the early afternoon, over half an hour away or not running at all on that day, and practically nothing has changed since.

[burrumbus]

Sadly the operator does not approve the services operated .That is up to PTV.Most operators suggest changes,but most requests aren't approved.
I think the thing going against improvements in the area is the relatively low population of the estates there and the short routes.

[Craig]

Transdev will introduce new timetables on Orbital Routes 901, 902 & 903 from 26 November.

Other than revised runtimes, some nteresting changes to shortworkings:

* Morning peak 903 shortworkings between Sunshine and Altona (added in June 2016) now originate at Eseendon if not earlier in the route - this finally resolves the issues with 30 - 40 min gaps in the AM peak in this part of the route, a massive oversight of Ventura's original Red Orbital timetable.
It also restores peak frequency along McIntyre Rd in Sunshine North after 408 was diverted away in July 2014.

* Most Saturday shopping shortworkings along Warrigal Rd now omit the Mordialloc - Mentone section

* Alternate trips still in operation after the PM peak now terminate mid-trip at places like Dandenong & Epping (901), Keon Park, Glen Waverley & Keysborough (902) & Essendon & Oakleigh (903) as trips progressively speed up and end up closer together.
This reduces the twilight frequency to every 20 mins in parts but acknowledges lower patronage between 19:30 & 21:30.
Afternoon peak hour commuters will need to become familiar with the various shortworking destinations - previously only passengers travelling after 18:00 would have seen them.

(The runtimes of the 16:05 901 ex Frankston appear botched, they are identical to the 16:35 trip rather than spaced between the 15:50 & 16:20 trips)

Kind Regards


Craig

[Craig]

Nealy 6 months to the day of a similar change to the 477 bus, which will end the loop arrangement at Broadmeadows Shopping Centre for Route 484.

Route 484 will stop at the shops

From Sunday 17 December, catching the bus from Broadmeadows shopping centre will be easier. Route 484 will stop at the shopping centre in both directions.

For details, call 1800 800 007 or see Route 484 information.

There are no timetable changes as such, and TBL have advised me they will follow up the lack of school holiday versions of the various peak trips via Gladstone Park Secondary College and Aitken College.

Kind Regards



Craig

[CrowdedHouse]

Seems PTV leaked the timetables early, they've now vanished again.

The new 823 timetable has been released, unfortunately they've kept the hourly weekday only timetable. Link - https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/route/view/11653/

Ventura confirmed via Twitter that the upgraded 828 Saturday timetable, with a 40 min daytime headway, is on hold for now. The online timetable has since reverted to the 4 December 2016 version.

In other news, fulfilling another 2014 state election promise, extra weekend trips on 246 (Elsternwick - Clifton Hill) & 606 (Elsternwick - Fishermans Bend) will be introduced at the end of the month from 29 October 2017.

Improvements include:
* New return Saturday night 246 trip at 23:50 ex Clifton Hill & 00:35 ex Elsternwick
* 246 Sunday early morning & Sunday evening headway boosted from 40 mins to 30 mins
* 246 Sunday daytime headway boosted from 20 mins to 15 mins
* 606 gains new weekend return trip at 19:30 ex Bay St & 20:00 ex Elsternwick, plus new 07:00 ex Elsternwick & 07:30 ex Bay St on Saturdays, but otherwise remains hourly

Personally I'd have thought 606 route would be ripe for a more useful half-hourly weekend timetable as well.

Kind Regards


Craig

I echo those thoughts. Especially on nice warm summer days, when traffic is heavy around St Kilda, that lone bus servicing the route on the weekends can run up to at least 30 minutes late.

Heck, if it's busy around St Kilda on weekdays, peak services can run up to 20 minutes late.

[Craig]

I finally got a reply from Vicroads today regarding my enquiry on 26 October, asking if the above changes to 385 are permanent. This was their response (which is just cut & pasted from their website):

As part of the Yan Yean Road Upgrade, bus route 385 will no longer travel down Treetop Terrace or Sugar Gum Boulevard. Use of these stops is extremely low, with an average of between zero and three daily touch-ons recorded at each. Passengers can walk to new stops located on Mackelroy Road. Public Transport Victoria has already started communicating this change to passengers, and residents along the route will receive a letter before the bus is re-routed.

A look on Google Maps shows most people in the estate are still within 800m walk of a bus stop, and given international best practice that is acceptable for higher frequency routes such as 901, I doubt will see the route revert back for the trouble it would take to upgrade Butlers Rd.

Kind Regards


Craig

[krustyklo]

Passengers can walk to new stops located on Mackelroy Road.

Ummm.... no they can't. I thought the whole point was the inability to turn into Mackelroy Rd southbound, hence no buses in Mackelroy Rd.

I'm also interested in the validations data being between 0 and 3. Every time I have used the bus along that section (admittedly rarely), at least one person has boarded and validated. Maybe I was just lucky.

Having said that, as Craig points out, the route isn't that far from Diamond Creek Rd. Yet the reality is that the further away a route is, the less incentive to use it unless there is some other reason such as much higher frequency counter balancing the longer walk. To be fair, Diamond Creek Rd near to that section will have 4 x 901s, 3 x 385s, 3 x 343s an hour in peak hour = 10 buses or average 1 every 6 minutes compared to 1 every 20 via the closer route with 5 minutes or so extra walk, so it could even be possible patronage will increase...