-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Friday, 25 May 2018 12:14 PM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: Tues.15.5.18 daily digest

Attached:

180515Tu 'SMH'- Pyrmont Bridge.

180515Tu Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - Mon. Dandenong delays.

180515Tu 'Brisbane Times' - river bikeway. with tdu/flickr

180515Tu Melbourne 'Age':
- Hoppers Crossing.
- Flinders St diner.

180515Tu Metro Twitter:
- Metro at 17.23.
- Carrum fruit. [reminiscent of the his/hers bathers; he had the banana; she
had the other three).
- Officer/MerindaPark/Hallam coffee.

Roderick

Tues.15.5.18 Metro Twitter
5.14 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Train services between Dandenong and
Oakleigh have been restored this morning, with the first up currently
approaching Caulfield.
- 6.09 Why didn't you fix this yesterday?
- 6.17 We've had multiple teams working through the night in that area to
fix the issue.
- 6.19 Should we seek alternative routes to work like yesterday? I'm
travelling Hallam - Flinders St, and need an answer ASAP.
- 6.22 Trains are currently running normally citybound on the Pakenham line.
- 6.33 So why has my citybound train (the 6.29 from Beaconsfield) just been
cancelled?
- The service originated at Dandenong this morning because of earlier
equipment faults.
- 6.35 minor delays.
- 6.39 Will we be offered free travel for last night's fiasco and now
cancelled trains (the 6.35 from Narre Warren) this morning with no notice?
- 6.45 Trains are still delayed. Update the website please.
- 6.47 There are still some alterations on both the Pakenham and Cranbourne
lines this morning because of yesterday's disruption.
- 6.49 Can you please confirm if train lines are running ok? I'm catching
the train from Huntingdale and this tweet sounds confusing - restored yet
listen to announcements for alterations?
- 6.49 So are we getting free travel for the chaos on Pakenham/Cranbourne
yesterday?
- 6.52 Too bad you still can't get the trains to run on time. 6.49 Narre
Warren - city loop is already 3 minutes delayed. 10th delay in less than 3
weeks. Champions.
- 6.55 Yes, it sounds unconvincing. Already 7.03 from Cranbourne has been
cancelled and fingers crossed the next train would be there.
- 6.56 Services have been restored and trains are running, but there may
still be alterations or delays.
- 6.57 Trains late as usual and no notifications on Pakenham line this
morning.
- 6.58 Ohh Cmon! Not good enough.
- 7.05 What about 7.03 from Cranbourne? Around 5.00 there was a
cancellation notification. Bit too early [to know that], isn't it?
[Probably insufficient trains stabled, and management couldn't cope with
getting one placed, or
didn't want to spend the money on crew time].
- 7.08 Actually that's total bollocks. Cancelled, late trains full to the
brim five stations into the journey- oh wait, you're right, business as
usual.
- 7.09 The cancellation notification remains on the website and on
metroNotify until the service would have finished (in this case, 8.10). We
sent it out early to ensure passengers were given ample notice of the
cancellation. [classic Metro evasion].
- 7.10 No, enough with the constant lies, Metro. The 7.16 from Cranbourne
was cancelled with no reasoning. You should really be ashamed of yourself,
you're a greedy bunch of goons who need to be held accountable for
constantly affecting people's livelihood.
- 7.10 what is actually happening at Cranbourne? The app says that the 7.03
was cancelled, but we got to the station and it was running; then the
workers are saying that the 7.16 is cancelled, but it's sitting at the
platform? Correct information would be helpful.
- 7.12 I wouldn't consider this a restoration, not by any means. Just
excuses, excuses, excuses.
- 7.17 Thank you to the driver of the late 6.31 from Pakenham who caused
hilarity in the carriage when announcing that the train was so late it
magically morphed into a different service, so we were now running right on
time! I
wondered how those 'reliability' targets were met.
- 7.17 Ahh Metro, how truly delightful to be greeted by a cancelled train
this morning after last night's complete fiasco where it took 3 hours to get
home. Really, you have excelled yourselves in the inconvenience stakes. Why
is it
quite so difficult to run a reliable service?
- 7.20 7.16 from Cranbourne?
- 7.20 Wait, what again?
- 7.24 I think they really just need to call a press conference and admit
they can't handle it. I think there are some big coverups and lies
underneath all these cancellations and unsatisfactory performance. In any
other job they'd be stood down.
- 7.26 Restored?...faulty trains all over the place...by 5pm something will
go wrong.
- 7.27 This is bullshit. I keep missing important meetings with this
tardiness.
- 7.35 He asked for compensation, not an apology. If you want to satisfy the
people funding this freak show of a service, why don't you try direct
answers to people's questions? So will there be compensation for the hours
of time you've taken from people over the last 24 hours?
- 7.40 The 7.16 was cancelled. I had to take the 7.32, which was only just
announced, if it wasn't for that, then the 8.03.
- 7.50 The 7.49 is cancelled. Replacement bus to Dandenong is available,
which means you knew ahead of time. Nothing on your notifications this
morning though. Help people make decisions before they arrive at the
platform.
- 7.52 My train is stalled at Dandenong for the past 8 minutes. No
announcements. What the hell is happening? It was the 7.28 from Berwick;
reached Dandenong at 7.42, and it just left at 7.54.
- 8.09 What? Cancel again? Why there are always problems on Pakenham and
Dandenong line. It seems happens every morning. Please do not always use
"track fault", "signal fault", something else to be excuses of late delays.
I took uber yesterday morning because the 6.00 Springvale to Caulfield had
been cancelled; there were no trains for the whole morning. Sometimes I'm
confused why trains can be with problems on peak time, especially at 6.00,
such early time. And I just realised that there was one train ( not sure
which one) cancelled. Fortunately I'm off today, or otherwise I will pay
another uber? It cost me nearly half of pass fee. Metro should compensate
every passenger. I'm really worried about the train tmr.
- 8.11 the service was cancelled because of a faulty train. We posted an
update on the app/website.
- 8.15 I do not envy your job or that of the platform staff who also have
to deal with these disruptions and frustrated travellers, daily.
- 8.18 Announcements are telling me there is more congestion today haha wtf.
- 8.21 My train has just stopped before Westall, city bound. What's going
on? Why were the issues not fixed last night?
- 8.23 I love how they don't answer anyone wanting compensation...it's only
our lives they're making miserable. No biggie to metros privatised CEO.
- you can contact our customer feedback team on:
<www.metrotrains.com.au/contact-us> [always with bedbug replies from
damage-control spin doctors who know nothing about trains, but lots about
journalism].
- 8.25 It was a mess at Dandenong: a train pulled up and wasn't leaving; the
timer said that it was leaving in 22 minutes, so half the passengers swapped
to the other platform, the previous train left. Then another 5 minutes went
past, and we're told platform 3 is the city loop. JOKE.
- 8.29 Minor delays (an earlier ill passenger at Caulfield). [this phrase
always hints that the announcement has been delayed].
- 8.34 I doubt that it was an ill passenger; making excuses for your
incompetent scheduling and work.
- 9.06 I was on the train. Two trains left before this one did and there was
another 12 minute delay between Flinders St and Richmond. [vv?].
- 10.52 Pakenham line: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser in the
Officer area).
- 11.18 Major delays (equipment faults near Noble Park).
- 11.23 Is this going to be fixed by peak time because yesterday was a
nightmare and a repeat performance will cause a riot
- 11.28 EVERY TIME. HOW CAN I GOTO PLACES ON TIME. YESTERDAY IT TOOK ME FROM
14.40 to 19.00 TO GO TO MY HOUSE, 5 HOURS. I PROBABLY LOST 1 MONTH OF MY
LIFETIME IN TOTAL because of THESE DELAYS.
- 11.36 Get your shit together.
- 11.38 Ongoing major delays. Services may terminate/originate at
Westall/Dandenong. Consider alternate transport.
- 12.19 Delays now minor.
- 13.54 It is embarrassing having to give excuses at work several days of
the week because of your delays. I cannot afford anymore Uber trips this
week.
- 14.30 Minor delays (police between Berwick and Beaconsfield).
- 14.33 What is 'minor' ?
- 14.57 Please provide an update as this was 2 hours ago. I would hope the
issue has been resolved as it's been going on for some time now!
- 15.01 currently we're running a good services on the Cranbourne/Pakenham
lines.
- 15.07 This is a lie. The 14.59 Cranbourne from Parliament is running 6
minutes late; I am on it.
- 15.21 I think what they mean by good is 10 minutes or less for delays.
- 15.23 Why are we still at red then?
- 15.26 How is it good service when they alter services to run
direct/terminate early when only as little as 5 min late?
- 15.30 Total morons with zero communication skills!
- 19.17 Minor delays (an earlier ill passenger at Caulfield).
Free coffee at Officer station until 8.30, and Merinda Park and Hallam
stations until 9.00, this morning. Have a chat with our team about upcoming
disruptions on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
See our team at Carrum station this morning for a healthy fruit treat for
your replacement bus commute, supplied by Planet Fruit & Veg in Frankston.
WWI soldier-settler women attended the Better Farming Train for
demonstrations on household affairs. One visit by the train attracted nearly
20,000 women!
<www.flickr.com/photos/public-record-office-victoria/28429743666/in/album-72
157670306742760>
10.31 Craigieburn line: Minor delays (a track fault near Moonee Ponds).
10.36 Sunbury line: Minor delays (police near Ginifer).
11.46 Sunbury line: Minor delays (an ill passenger at Southern Cross). [How
did this not affect more lines?].
- 12.07: still minor delays.
Werribee/Williamstown lines: After 21.00, and until the last service, all
trains will originate from Melbourne Southern Cross Platform 12.

Melbourne Express, Tuesday, May 15, 2018
8.50 Still minor delays on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines after
yesterday's peak-hour debacle.
Australia's energy watchdog will investigate suspicions that electricity
networks and gas pipelines have overcharged consumers by $400 million a year
to cover their corporate tax bills.
Planners of Melbourne's proposed airport rail look to have a clear choice
between two routes: through Sunshine, or through Highpoint and Maribyrnong.
7.17 Not looking great on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. There are minor
delays due to a faulty train. Trains on the Pakenham line are originating
from Officer at the moment due to earlier equipment faults near Clayton.
5.57 Much better on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, where a signal fault
played havoc with the afternoon commute yesterday. A faulty train is
creating minor delays on the Cranbourne line though. Fingers crossed.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-tuesday-may-15-2018-2018
0515-p4zfan.html>

The three lies everyone tells themselves when they're living in Sydney May
15, 2018.
There are three regularly heard lies that Sydneysiders can't seem to help
themselves repeating.
Sydneysiders are often accused of being obsessed with house prices, probably
because they are.
There are other things they talk about, of course, and, I'm sad to report,
they often involve telling almost Trumpian-sized lies. Sadly they tell them
so often that through rote they've become socially acceptable.
I'm sure you'll recognise the three biggest and most regularly heard Sydney
lies.
Sydneysiders like to tell themselves the commute is 'not that bad'. Photo:
Roger Stonehouse.
"The commute is not that bad"
The first and biggest lie of Sydney life is that your commute is not as bad
as your friends assume it is.
The most flagrant and fanciful liars in this department are those who've
made the quite sensible decision to abandon the inner-city for somewhere far
flung but fabulously affordable..
No matter how far they've moved, and I'm talking from the inner west to the
Strayan-sounding Terrey Hills, the idyllic Waterfall or the properly
majestic Blue Mountains, they will look you in the eye and tell you that
their commute is "fine".
Inner city residents pretend they can get used to aircraft noise. Photo: Rob
Homer
Further questioning will elicit furious denials of logic and, seemingly,
everything we know about physics.
There are a few sucker-fish lies attached to this larger whale of extreme
denial, like when they tell you "it's not as far as you think" (it is, I
looked on Google) or that you'd be amazed how quick the commute can be.
..Related: Why I'm leaving Sydney
..Related: Why Sydney is the only proper world city in Australia
..Related: Young people, do you want a house, or a life?
I've had recent residents of the Blue Mountains tell me they can get to the
city in 45 minutes if they leave early enough. But how early, 1923?
Homeowners often dismiss the idea that they paid too much for a house in
Sydney. Photo: Anna Kucera
I live less than 10 kilometres from the city and I've had it take 45 minutes
just to get across the Anzac Bridge and turn right, so I know a journey that
quick from beyond Penrith would be more impressive than running a
three-minute
mile.
Pick a bit deeper and they might admit that, yes, on the bad days it can
take two hours and that it has recently sapped their will to live so
exhaustively that they've now started catching the train. And then they'll
start with the lies about how quick that journey is.
"You get used to the aircraft noise"
Perhaps the boldest lie told in this fair city, bigger even than "it's not
me, it's you" is another five-word whopper that gets wheeled out when you
meet people who live under our far-flung flight path; "you get used to it".
People will attempt to tell you it's "really not that bad", even as you're
standing in their garden, listening to their roof tiles rattle while
noticing that, as the tyres of an A380 lightly graze their garage, you can
only actually
hear every fourth word they say. At least that comes out as a more honest
"really bad".
Yes, I'm sure you could argue that people do get used to the noise, because
it's always there (which reminds me of another favourite fabrication - "some
days we don't get any planes at all", often twinned with "it's weird, we
only seem to get them when you're here"). But how does one define being used
to it?
Are they able to sleep through the noise? Is it possible not to be woken by
the first 5am flight, every not-quite morning? Apparently yes, because this
brings us to the most powerful subset of aircraft-noise falsehoods - "I
don"t even notice the noise any more".
Considering the seismic strength of the plane noise in some suburbs, this is
genuinely akin to someone who lives on a fault line saying they don't notice
the earthquakes any more. It's not just the rumbling and grumbling noise, or
the fact that you're missing vital minutes of deep dialogue on Married at
First Sight, it's the actual shaking and rattling effect on your house that
I find hard to believe ever sinks into the background.
I'm afraid that, once again, these people are telling porky pies large
enough to feed all of England's pubs. And the sad reason is that it's just
more convenient, and sometimes cheaper, to live in those suburbs that suffer
the aircraft blight, night after night.
"We're not overcommitted"
Without doubt the most dangerous lie many Sydneysiders tell, mainly to
themselves, is that they're not horribly over-mortgaged and up to their
children's eyeballs in debt.
I've had friends jovially brush off the fact they owe more than $1 million,
and then continue to smile, through gritted teeth, when someone brings up
the possibility of interest rates ever moving upwards again, and what that
would do to them.
The fact is that rates will move, house prices might well go down, and then
Sydneysiders will really have something to talk about.
<www.domain.com.au/news/the-three-lies-everyone-tells-themselves-when-theyre
-living-in-sydney-20180515-h0zu2u/?utm_campaign=strap-masthead&utm_source=sm
h&utm_medium=link&ref=pos1>

New rules launched to fight 'dodgy' power bill discounts 15 May 2018.
<www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/new-rules-launched-to-fight-dodgy-
power-bill-discounts-20180515-p4zffi.html>

Plans for pedestrian and cyclist bridge in Brisbane's west. 15 May 2018
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/plans-for-pedestrian-and-cycli
st-bridge-in-brisbane-s-west-20180514-p4zf9n.html>

State welcomes its 5 millionth Queenslander 15 May 2018.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/state-set-to-welcome-its-5-mil
lionth-queenslander-20180515-p4zfco.html>

I beat Brisbane's peak-hour traffic with muffins and coffee 15 May 2018.
My daily commute takes less than a minute as I shuffle from the couch where
I take my morning coffee in the library upstairs, to the desk in my
word-nerd cave downstairs where I search every day for new ways to describe
explosions or
zombies or an exciting combination of both.
A couple of times a week though, I have to deliver somebody else to work or
school and the commute becomes real.
Fare increases the past five or six years make it feel as though you now pay
the old-fashioned way, handing over a big wedge of the folding stuff every
week. Photo: Alamy
Real enough that when I can avoid Brisbane traffic, I will.
Not by taking public transport. What am I, crazy?
But by sitting out peak hour in a cafe somewhere, or last week in the
library at UQ.
Between about 6.30 and maybe a quarter to nine in the morning, there's no
point being on the road.
It's a crawl every which way. Better to laager up at Pourboy and wash down
their excellent muffins with the best coffee in the city. (Seriously, come
at me. I'll fight you.)
Campbell Newman - Remember him? Little guy? Liked to cosplay the Incredible
Hulk? - thought he could HULK SMASH his way through the city's gridlock by
punching giant transport tubes under the earth.
But I've driven in those tunnels. They're impressive feats of engineering,
and great fun to use because they're mostly free of other drivers.
Nobody wants to pay 10 bucks for their daily commute on top of the cost of
running a car.
No normal punter, anyway.
Even somebody who works for themselves and can quantify exactly how much
money they're losing by sitting in a traffic jam for an hour or so will
quickly grow tired of the little beep from the Go Via tag telling them
they're down another five bucks.
And public transport?
It used to be that you paid in the extra time it took to get anywhere.
A bus ride was cheaper than running a car, and you didn't have to pay for or
even think about parking at the other end, but you were subject to the
vagaries of the network and the unavoidable loss of your time by the need to
service
other passengers.
Fare increases the past five or six years make it feel as though you now pay
the old-fashioned way as well, handing over a big wedge of the folding stuff
every week for the questionable convenience of fighting for a seat on
overcrowded buses and trains which might turn up on time.
Or not.
Monday's report that increasing numbers of Brisneylanders are getting back
into their cars, even as daily commute times grow longer (and the price of
running that car goes up and up, to say nothing of the environmental cost)
seems to
suggest that whatever the state and local governments are doing with public
transport isn't working.
You can see the desperate, makeshift ploys to patch up an over-strained road
network.
The weird and ultimately pointless effort to widen Wynnum Road is a great
example, destroying dozens of homes to move the choke point of the daily
traffic snarl a couple of hundred metres away further out into the suburbs.
I don't pretend to have an answer.
I suspect we're doomed by our addiction to private transport.
Maybe 30 or 40 years from now fleets of self-driving cars will provide
on-demand wheels via an app but well before then this city is going to
strangle itself.
Could public transport help?
Hell yeah.
But the investment needed would be so great that you can bet somebody would
decide there were votes to be had in trashing the very idea of it.
28 comments
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/i-beat-brisbane-s-peak-hour-tr
affic-with-muffins-and-coffee-20180515-p4zfb5.html>
* Once petrol hits $2 a litre the busses & trains will start to fill up.
* great to see more ppl promoting the ol' pushy. I cover 3 inner city
suburbs in 15-20min or its 40min and $3.25 via bus ...

Bunbury takes crown as most expensive regional city to get around in 15 May
2018
<www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/bunbury-takes-crown-as-most-e
xpensive-regional-city-to-get-around-in-20180515-p4zfgl.html>

Mobile payments on the cards for new SmartRider system 15 May 2018.
The death knell is sounding for the current iteration of the Public
Transport Authority's longstanding cashless ticketing system, smart rider.
The system was introduced in 2007 and is currently used by 85 per cent of
peak hour passengers, and about 80 per cent non-peak passengers.
New smart rider systems could include features like mobile phone payments.
Photo: Erin Jonasson .
However, with the planning and construction of new Metronet lines under way
the state government is spending $34 million on new cashless ticketing
devices and a new card system that could allow for features like mobile
phone payments.
Installation of the new devices will begin in 2019, with the first expected
to be in place by the middle of the year.
The new system will require passengers to swap their old SmartRider with a
new one.
The PTA have confirmed this will be done free of charge and passengers will
be given several months to swap over before the upgraded system comes into
effect.
PTA spokesman David Hynes said SmartRider had been the most reliable and
successful cashless transport ticketing system in the country, but needed
upgrading.
"As happens with all technology, it must eventually be upgraded to meet
current standards," he said.
"The upgraded system will feature more sophisticated security technologies."
Mr Hynes said Transperth was also investigating the inclusion of flexible
payment options such as smartphone or debit or credit card tag-on
capabilities.
"The contactless card and mobile phone pay-as-you-go system could be similar
to the system that has been successfully implemented by Transport for
London," he said.
<www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/mobile-payments-on-the-cards-
for-new-smartrider-system-20180514-p4zf9m.html>
* Compared to the metro cards of other cities in the world, the SmartRider
is actually very fast to tag on/off. Unless the upgrade retains this
attribute of the current system, it's not an upgrade.
* How wonderful! $34 million to benefit the city dwellers of the state....
yet can't cough up the money to save Moora college and benefit the country
dwellers of the state - many of whom don't even have public transport!!
Remember there is more to WA than Perth - and to compare the need to have
this system 'as used in London' - we are just a tiny speck on the world
stage yet our 'leaders' seriously believe we are BIG... most people in
Europe/USA wouldn't be able to show where Perth was on a world map. Get over
yourselves and put money where it's really needed!
* I find Transperth Smartrider system to be very effective ticketing methos
and very user friendly. The only drawback was the lack of top up and payment
options. It is time for an upgrade to meet 21st Century payment options, and
I
welcome Government investment in improving and already excellent transport
ticketing system. Congratulations to all involved in this initiative.

New research finds travel costs in Melbourne have surged over in the space
of a year
Herald Sun May 15, 2018.
video: The great Australian transport trap.
TRANSPORT costs have surged in Victorians over the last 12 months, with
Melburnians now paying an extra $18 per week to move around the city.
A Melbourne family pays an additional $243.36 in fuel and $104 per year in
public transport fares than they did for the same period last year, new
analysis has shown.
PLAN TO EXPAND MELBOURNE'S CONGESTION LEVY
ONE FACTOR MAKING 'CHEAP' SUBURBS EXPENSIVE
MYKI FARE INCREASE: HOW MUCH WILL IT COST YOU?
The Transport Affordability Index, compiled by the Australian Automobile
Association, reveals the state capital is the second most expensive city in
the nation for transport with annual costs equivalent to $19,810.
"Melbourne ranks third among the capital cities when transport costs are
considered as a percentage of income," RACV general manager of public policy
Bryce Prosser said.
"While RACV acknowledges the capital investments being made into the public
transport network, future fare increases must be fair and recognise the
significant disruption passengers are experiencing.
RACV general manager of public policy Bryce Prosser.
"The index shows that while Victorian public transport fares increased the
most out of all Australian cities, Victorian fares are still lower than New
South Wales and Queensland, who are both expected to further increase their
fares in July."
Motorists have been slugged with a petrol excise of 40.9c per litre and the
weekly cost of fuel in Melbourne has jumped to $69.58.
At the start of the year, Myki fares rose by 4.7 per cent across the public
transport network pushing the price of a daily ticket up to $8.60.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said short
journeys were becoming less affordable.
"It is now $4.30 even for a tram trip of a few stops," he said.
"That's quite affordable from Pakenham into the city but it isn't when
you're just going to the shops.
Daniel Bowen of the Public Transport Users Association (Victoria).
"It may discourage people from using public transport particularly if
they're travelling with a family.
"A short trip by train with the whole family can be expensive compared to
getting in the car.
"Public transport needs to be an option for more travel or families will
continue to incur the cost of having multiple cars."
Melbourne continues remains the most expensive city for car loan payments,
with a weekly cost of $124.66.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/new-research-finds-travel-costs-in-melbo
urne-have-surged-over-in-the-space-of-a-year/news-story/61e3ed867ad04be32858
2099041c1d6f>

Carnegie: New beginnings loom in a suburb home to one of Melbourne's biggest
follies May 15, 2018 .
Parts of the Koornang Road shopping strip in Carnegie are extremely lively
as more people have moved in. Photo: Scott Barbour
As we watch Melbourne's railway lines being raised into the sky, or buried
under the road, or extended, it's interesting to remember the ones that
were.
There was the Inner Circle railway line, which, before it closed in 1948,
rambled from Royal Park Station to Fitzroy, through Edinburgh Gardens, North
Fitzroy. North Carlton Station, now a community centre, and some tracks,
remain (it's now a bike path).
The Outer Circle railway line pretty much covered some of Boroondara,
starting at Fairfield and passing through Camberwell and Alamein. Parts are
now the Outer Circle Trail, popular with dog walkers and the odd runner.
Koornang Park is popular with families with young children and provides a
large green space. Photo: Scott Barbour
One forgotten line is the Rosstown Railway (circa 1883). It slices through
the suburb of Carnegie, and was built by William Murray Ross to transport
sugar beet from Carnegie to Elsternwick. But the project was a folly and a
failure.
Odes to him remain in Carnegie: the Rosstown Hotel is the most obvious, but
the biggest one, having the suburb named after him (admittedly something he
did himself, pronouncing his estate was now a township), was ripped away
from him. (If it's any consolation, he'd passed away a few years earlier in
1904.)
You can still follow eight and a half kilometres of the Rosstown Railway: it
starts at Elsternwick Plaza and finishes at Oakleigh Station. Make a detour
and check out Melbourne's newest elevated train stations in all their glory.

Carnegie Station (formerly Rosstown Station) is almost finished, and it
doesn't look too bad. It certainly fits in to the environment better than
Murrumbeena's, which is not far away on Neerim Road.
The Rosstown Rail Trail in Carnegie: one of Melbourne's forgotten former
train lines. Photo: Jayne D'Arcy.
Koornang Road divides the suburb in two from north to south. At the northern
end it boasts a long traditional shopping strip dotted with more Korean
restaurants than possibly necessary. A few modern cafes serve up similar
fare, just in a more minimalist, bare-bulb, environment.
Real estate agencies take up prominent buildings; you can't miss Jellis
Craig on one corner. Gary Peer, on the other side of the elevated rail line,
looks on from an equally imposing corner site.
Real estate is going well here. According to Domain Group data, prices are
up 97.9 per cent in the past five years, to a median of $1.4 million.
They're up 11 per cent in the year to March 2018 alone- despite the
disruption caused by
the construction of the elevated rail line. Yes, people still want to buy
in. It's no wonder: the housing stock is limited and diverse: from unloved
weatherboards to solid "commanding" Georgians and Spanish Mission.
Koornang Road is getting another community space thanks to Sky Rail. Photo:
Jayne D'Arcy
The suburb is filled with an equally diverse range of parks and recreational
facilities. Packer Park Velodrome is one of the few velodromes in
metropolitan Melbourne (anyone can take their bike down and use it) and it's
right next to
kid- and party-friendly playground and wetlands. There's Lord Reserve, next
to Koornang Park with Carnegie Swim Centre Pool.
Surprisingly, one of the best places to play is in the middle of the
shopping strip: Carnegie Library and Community Centre Forecourt. It's so
close to the soon-to-be completed community space under Carnegie Station.
Yes, Carnegie, folly no more.
Five things you didn't know about Carnegie
..Its population is almost 17,000.
..Sibling Spice is one of the newer cafes to open its doors on Koornang Road,
giving another cool option to Left Field, which opened two years ago on a
quieter stretch of the road.
..Carnegie Hall (the Melbourne version) will become a state-of-the-art aged
care facility. It's keeping its current Dutch theme (it's known as the Dutch
Club Abel Tasman), with a Dutch restaurant, Dutch shop and museum forming
part of
the new complex.
..The local council, Glen Eira, acquired a prominent building at 296-298
Neerim Road for $3.6 million in 2017 to "unlock opportunities" (it backed
onto a council-owned carpark).
..The seven-level sugar beet mill built by Ross in 1875 was on Neville and
Miller streets. It was demolished in 1908.
<www.domain.com.au/news/carnegie-new-beginnings-loom-in-a-suburb-home-to-one
-of-melbournes-biggest-follies-20180515-h103qz>

Green Light Diner at Flinders Street Station review.
Location:Melbourne Cuisine:American (US) May 15 2018 .
The Good Morning sandwich with scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon and jalapeno
mayo. Photo: Chris Hopkins .
Flinders St Melbourne, VIC 3000 [actually Swanston St].
Opening hours Sun-Thu 8am-9pm; Fri-Sat 8am-1am .
Features Licensed .
Payments eftpos, AMEX, Visa, Mastercard .
Phone 03 9046 8260 .
I am that person, fumbling for my Myki and tapping on like a drummer in a
punk band, huffing down the steps to the train platform, pressing
desperately on the door, looking imploringly at the smug persons within,
then staring forlornly as my train eases its way from the station, at best
oblivious but, I suspect, gloating.
Except I'm not quite as forlorn any more because, instead of feeling bad for
20 minutes, I can ditch the gloom and go to Green Light Diner for coffee or
booze, free Wi-Fi and a hot sandwich. I can head there for Sunday roasts
($19) or late-night beef-and-pickle bagels. I can go to have a superlative
scrambled egg sandwich drip down my chin and make me oblivious to missed
trains forever.
Green Light is a new diner at Clocks, the TAB and pokies club that's not
been a dining destination of note until now, when it was taken on by Darran
Smith, a restaurant professional who could silver-serve a flounder or flambe
a tart
tableside but probably never will again. Instead he's doing bagels and
coffees and loaded fries in a swanky all-day venue, along with pub guy Steve
Schreuder.
The light-filled Green Light Diner at Flinders Street Station. Photo: Chris
Hopkins
The entrance plaza feels like a utilitarian waiting room but tuck around the
corner to the main dining area, a gorgeous and atmospheric hat-tip to art
deco railway stations and first-class travel. With its luggage racks,
vintage
suitcases, leather booth seating and brass fittings, you expect to hear
steam engines hissing and a chorus of clackety-clack.
Instead, you get TV white noise and Top 40 hits but the natural light is
lovely and the booths spacious and comfortable. I recommend it for snacks
but it's also a good location for meetings. Further into the premises,
there's a terrace that overlooks the river, a good spot for quiet beers,
batched cocktails and secret assignations. Later in the year, the basement
will become a whisky bar - stand by for good times.
If you are meeting important associates to get projects green lit, arrive
early to have the Good Morning, a most excellent sandwich at any time of
day. Drippy scrambled eggs, nicely cooked bacon, melty cheese and jalapeno
mayo are just about held together by a sweet brioche bun. It's a two-napkin
situation that requires private time.
Pork schnitzel with chips, fried egg and capers. Photo: Chris Hopkins
Easier to eat in polite company, the pork schnitzel with fried egg and
capers is golden crisp, and the spaghetti carbonara is topped with a yolk
that you can splat, spill and twirl through bacon-flecked pasta. It's good
gear.
I'm much more into empty calories than empty spending but it's worth noting
that the pokies doing their dumb dinging and stinging down the back are run
by Doxa, a social club which funds youth projects via pokies profits. So if
you feel like a flutter after your frittata, at least your coins are going
to the kids.
Rating: Three and a half stars (out of five)
<www.goodfood.com.au/green-light-diner-melbourne/green-light-diner-at-flinde
rs-street-station-review-20180515-h1038x>

New bus route proposed to service inner Brisbane in morning peak hour 15 May
2018.
Brisbane City Council has contacted more than 6000 households asking them to
help convince the state government that a morning express bus is needed to
service inner Brisbane's riverside suburbs.
The council is preparing to pitch its case to the state government for a
Newstead-Teneriffe Express bus that would run on the Commercial Road
corridor in morning peak hour.
Brisbane City Council contacted more than 6000 households asking them to
help convince the state government the inner-city riverside suburbs needed a
second high-frequency bus route.
The council's public and active transport chairman Adrian Schrinner said
more people continued to call Brisbane home and it was important the city
continued to be serviced by world-class public transport services.
"By 2041, Brisbane will be home to an extra 386,000 residents and council is
committed to working with the community to carefully plan for our future,"
Cr Schrinner said.
A TransLink spokesman said the Newstead and Teneriffe area was already "well
serviced" by several services, including high-frequency buses.
The spokesman said 10 different bus routes serviced the area.
"TransLink will continue to monitor demand in the area and work closely with
Brisbane City Council and the wider community to best meet customer demand,"
the spokesman said.
Route 60, the blue CityGlider, runs every five minutes through the area
during peak times and 24 hours on Friday and Saturday.
The blue CityGlider service used to run along Commercial Road, but the route
was changed to run along Skyring Terrace in 2014.
Central ward councillor Vicki Howard used her ward budget to fund 6300
flyers sent to households in the Newstead and Teneriffe area.
"The Commercial Road corridor is a particularly busy route into the city and
a 'Newstead-Teneriffe Express' would help residents spend less time
travelling and more time with their family and friends," she said.
"I urge residents to contact my ward office, to give us the best opportunity
in our pitch to the state government to approve this important public
transport service."
Councillor Vicki Howard used her ward budget to fund 6300 flyers which were
sent to households in the Newstead and Teneriffe area. Photo: Tony Moore
The flyer said: "it's not going to be easy to convince the state to invest
in this service".
Opposition transport spokesman Jared Cassidy agreed a second bus route was
needed for the area but said the council should fund it.
"If the administration wants to take the decision to expand CityGlider and
have another service they can do that themselves, but obviously they're not
wanting to put money where their mouth is," he said.
Cr Cassidy said unless the city would do something radical like a congestion
charge, good public transport options needed to be provided.
Residents had until May 31 to provide feedback on the proposed route.
* For Translink to say that the inner north is already well serviced is
complete fantasy. After 7.30 in the morning there are numerous daily
examples of buses being completely full. One day in particular it took me 45
mins to get from Newstead to Fortitude Valley. Reason being I had to wait
for a bus with room available. The afternoon peak hour has a similar trend
on the return route.
* Hang on, there are already 10 services in the area, with 5 minute
intervals at peak times! And she wants another one but wants the State gov
to pay for it!
Walk the 50 metres to Skyring Terrace and catch the bus that goes past
regularly.
* Good old Brisbane, just throw another Bus route at the purported problem.
I understand the major cost implications, but when will underground light
rail get a go in major Aus Capitals? I am not talking 'thru rail' but actual
light
rail. Start small, and expand. may not make financial sense now, but neither
does assuming the already congested roads will take increased population to
2041 and beyond. Maybe we'll have flying cars by then...?
* Why does local government persist in trying to tell state government how
to do its job? Maybe BCC should stick to their highly overpaid and non
competitive supplier contract and stop biting the hand that feeds it. That
would be the contract where the state recoups 17c for every $1 it pays BCC.
Annually BCC gets roughly $1billion from the state.
* There are already too many pointless bus routes in Brisbane carrying
little or no passengers because BCC won't co-operate with Translink. The
entire mess of buses needs to be sorted into reliable high frequency
services coordinated
with high frequency efficient trains otherwise people are going to keep
getting into their cars.
* Newstead and Tenerifffe are a healthy walking distance from the city. The
LNP Councillors should be looking at providing better services to outer
suburbs rather than propping up their ineffective local Councillor.
* This proposal cannot be serious. Commercial Road is less than 1km long and
has the CityGlider route at both ends. This isn't a priority.
Focus on providing CityGlider-frequency services to Hamilton, Spring Hill,
Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane first.
Even if you were to provide an increase in services to New Farm more
generally, why not improve the 199 and 196 to CityGlider standard?
* A congestion charge isn't "radical"!! it's completely practical!
* Council, remember that you are about the outlying suburbs as well, not
just the inner city as you think it is.
* Just do it. Extra services in peak hour please. Newstead area is growing
exponentially. During peak times the Glider is now the de facto Bulimba
Express. Standing room only if you're lucky from Gasworks. Just hopeless
planning. Stop passing the buck and do something to fix this 3rd world
standard service.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/new-bus-route-proposed-to-serv
ice-inner-brisbane-in-morning-peak-hour-20180515-p4zfgq.html>