FW: Fri.1.6.18 daily digest
  Roderick Smith

-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Friday, 8 June 2018 9:08 PM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: Fri.1.6.18 daily digest

Attached.

180601 Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- letters (rail & road).
- Acciona green energy. at flickr.

180601F 'SMH' - Dee Why bus.

180601F Melbourne 'Age':
- tramlines in a cold morning.
- Pakenham bustitution.

180601F Metro Twitter:
- delays everywhere (TfV).
- Westona coffee.

Yahoo is showing no photos in the web version. For those formerly relying on web viewing: photos are variously at <www.westonlangford.com>, <www.hcvc..com.au/forum/index>, https://tdu.to, <www.paddleducks.co.uk>, Metro Twitter https://twitter.com/metrotrains, Age / SMH / Brisbane Times / Canberra Times ' WA Today at the links, and <www.flickr.com/photos/13175590@N00> (for 7 days, search on tag 'workaround').
I have experimented with direct email. The photos don't go through, just a link to the attachments section at Yahoo. However, that is blank: the last attachments showing were posted in April.
I will keep the flickr workaround for a while longer. Jeff and I have chatted re relocating transportdownunder to groups-io. I don't know what Chris is thinking re vicrail-news.

Roderick.

Fri.1.6.18 Metro Twitter.
Buses replace trains on Pakenham/Traralgon, Cranbourne & Frankston lines as construction work continues. Allow more time to complete your journey.
From Friday 1 June to Tuesday 12 June, there will be north & southbound lane closures in Clayton Road between Haughton Road and Dunstan Street.
We've got coffee at Westona until 9.00, where you can chat to our team about the upcoming Kororoit Creek Rd level-crossing works.
- Thanks for the coffee and info. Appreciated.
13.01 Buses will replace trains between Eltham and Hurstbridge (equipment faults). Buses have been ordered, but may take over an hour to arrive; consider alternate transport: Bus route 580 Eltham - Diamond Creek; Bus route 343 Greensborough - Diamond Creek - Wattle Glen - Hurstbridge; Bus route 381 from South Morang station (South Morang line) - Diamond Creek.
- 13.18 how soon until buses are at Diamond Creek?
- 13.23 buses will take about an hour to arrive. The local bus 343 departs from Diamond Creek at 13.24 towards Greensborough.
- 13.27 Might be worth telling the train driver at Diamond Creek; all he’s said to passengers is that there’s a signal failure.
- Best for you to catch a local bus.
- 14.39 Extended journey time of approximately 30 minutes. Anticipate line suspension until at least 4pm.
- 15.12 Trains have resumed, with major delays. The first trains through will be the 14.39 down Hurstbridge and the 16.03 up.
18.04 Lilydale line: Delays up to 20 minutes (a trespasser in the Croydon – Mooroolbark area).
- 18.22 Trains have resumed, with delays.
18.34 Buses to replace trains Keon Park - South Morang (a person hit by a train). Buses have been ordered, but may take over 60 minutes arrive; consider alternative transport.
- 18.45 Trains continue to operate Flinders Street – Keon Park, but are subject to delays and alterations.
- 18.54 Any idea on the condition of the person hit? I'm on that train.
- 18.56 Emergency services are in the area. Please follow instructions from police.
- 19.07 Hope everyone is okay. Hate seeing these things.
- 19.10 Happens too often, about two times a week lines should be fenced off like they are in most modern cities.
- 19.11 Who was it? I’m sending their estate my $65 Uber bill.
- 19.12 10 buses are ordered, expected to be on-site in next 20-40 minutes. Extended journey time up to 60 minutes, and replacement buses expected to remain in operation until 10pm.
- 19.16 Walking on tracks again.
- 19.16 I am at Keon Park; no instructions, no buses.
- 19.28 Buses are expected on site soon. We have sent staff to Keon Park, and they should be almost in position if not already.
- 19.42 7 buses are in operation, another 3 buses expected soon. Extended journey time up to 60 minutes .
- 19.43 Is anyone in contact with someone on that train? Are they able to get off?
- 19.49 Can you turn the heater up on the train sitting in between Epping and South Morang please (it’s like a freezer). [Still stranded 75 min after the event; just as well Metro doesn't run an airline].
- 20.11 Really sorry to hear this, thoughts to all involved. The staff at Bell are always amazing in a crisis like this, hopefully the ones on the way can/have been able to learn from them. I'm on my way that way now, I hope everyone is understanding!
- 20.45 10 buses are in operation.
- 21.54 Trains have resumed, with minor delays
From 8pm Fri 1 June until 4pm Sat 2 June, buses will replace trains on the Frankston line between Flinders St & Moorabbin [taking an unbelievable 75 min more, and not taking bikes, surfboards or animals. Management convenience is our first priority].

Melbourne Express: Friday, June 1, 2018
8.29 Touch on, gloves off. I know I just told everyone to rug up but apparently that's not good advice when travelling on Metro Trains.
Commuters on the Belgrave line just heard an announcement advising them to remove beanies, scarves and gloves during winter to make them more comfortable and reduce the risk of feeling ill while travelling.
Tram tracks on a cold Melbourne morning. Photo: Kiran Benny.
7.37 It seems there's been some confusion about bus replacements this morning. The PTV journey planner has forgotten that buses are still replacing trains on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line between Westall and Caulfield and will be until June 17. PTV is looking into the error.
the PTV official online timetables and Journey Planner say that Metro Cranbourne/Pakenham trains are running today between Westall-Caulfield. They're not. It's buses until 17th June.
Also affecting Google Maps and other web sites+apps using the same data.
I queried this. The text is right; the diagram is wrong. There are no trains between the City and Caulfield (and as far out as Moorabbin and Westall) between Fri 8pm and Sat 4pm.
The flyer is being checked. https://static.ptv.vic.gov.au/PDFs/Disruption_PDFs/May-2018/1527204354/29-May-17-June-works-brochure2.pdf … #MetroTrains #LevelCrossings
For those playing at home, the brochure online has been corrected (though who knows how many paper ones were distributed).
The timetables on PTV's web site have been fixed too (though who knows how long it'll take for the fixed data to get to Google and others).😬 #MetroTrains
6.34 The commute is looking OK so far.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-express-friday-june-1-2018-20180601-p4zis8.html>

Nation's 'dirtiest' power stations to burn brown coal for decades 1 June 2018.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/nation-s-dirtiest-power-stations-to-burn-brown-coal-for-decades-20180601-p4zix2.html>

Seven years for man who raped at hospital hours after being bailed 1 June 2018.
A tram in Melbourne
Rape plea: Tourist mouthed 'help' to tram passengers, but no one did
A man who raped a woman outside a Melbourne hospital after he followed her in a "brazen, predatory and unwanted" manner will spend at least five years behind bars.
Jamie Macarthur, 50, had consumed large quantities of alcohol – and perhaps drugs – when he started talking to a woman in her 20s at a city tram stop in the early hours of March 16, 2017.
On the tram, the woman tried to get away but Macarthur, a New Zealand citizen, grabbed her by the neck and waist, pulling her towards him, kissing her and putting his hands on her.
"The victim was in fear of you and tried to diffuse the situation by placating you," County Court Judge Irene Lawson said, while sentencing Macarthur on Friday.
"She did not know how to get out of the situation she found herself in and tried to make eye contact with a passenger, but the passenger just looked back at her."
She said the woman exited the tram near St Vincent's Hospital and Macarthur followed her to the hospital entrance.
The the woman rang the bell and tried to get inside, but the doors were closed, with Macarthur telling her: "We are going to f--- tonight."
Macarthur dragged the woman from the door, threw her to the footpath and put her in a headlock.
"The episode was witnessed by hospital security, who for some inexplicable reason, did not intervene," Judge Lawson said.
Macarthur then digitally raped the woman once, attempted to digitally rape her twice more, and physically assaulted her before the hospital doors opened and she escaped.
His lawyer had argued he misinterpreted the woman's advances up to the point he followed her to the hospital foyer.
"Thereafter, disinhibited by your intoxication, you submitted to your sexual urges and sexually forced yourself upon her," the judge said.
"I do not accept ... that you mistakenly believed that your advances were tolerated by the victim. Your behaviour after leaving the tram, following the victim, was brazen, predatory and unwanted."
The assault came hours after Macarthur was released from police custody the night before, when he assaulted numerous strangers in the Melbourne CBD while noticeably intoxicated.
He had spent the afternoon kicking and punching at people, knocking passers-by with his backpack, and blocking women in their path, mainly around the Melbourne Central shopping centre.
Macarthur was jailed for seven years and nine months, with a non-parole period of five years.
He was placed on the sex offenders register for 15 years.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/seven-years-for-man-who-raped-at-hospital-hours-after-being-bailed-20180601-p4zixy.html>

The Sydney suburb where residents face an 'obstacle course' just to get a bus 1 June 2018 127 comments.
Flax Soetjandra notices the transformation of Dee Why every time she walks to the beach with her dog Harry.
Pittwater Road is choked with traffic. There are long queues to board double-decker B-line buses. The footpaths have been turned into obstacle courses.. The suburb is noisy with building works.
Commuters face long queues and building works to catch buses in Dee Why Photo: James Brickwood
“Transport is a massive issue,” she said. “There are a lot of buses with the new B1 line, but the queue to get one is super-lengthy and currently a bit haphazard as big apartment developments are being built on Pittwater Road where the buses stop.”
Ms Soetjandra said the suburb had always been vibrant and diverse.
But she said the residential developments were leading to worsening congestion that the area’s roads and public transport were ill-equipped to handle.
“It seems they put in high-density apartments without worrying about how people are actually going to get in and out to live their lives and work,” she said.
Flax Soetjandra, at a bus stop on Pittwater Road in Dee Why, said traffic congestion had worsened in the area. Photo: James Brickwood
Ms Soetjandra said her 20-year-old son Aden had a difficult journey to go to Macquarie University: “I don’t know how he gets there on time. The public transport isn’t good and the congestion is terrible.”
Some of the worst traffic congestion in Sydney occurs far from the CBD and inner-city suburbs.
Northern Beaches councillor Vincent De Luca said Dee Why was facing a "development onslaught”.
“We have no trains and people in Dee Why even lack water pressure sometimes to have a shower,” he said. “Streets are clogged with parked cars and there is traffic chaos.”
Cr De Luca said further strains on local infrastructure were caused by developments in surrounding suburbs such as Frenchs Forest, Ingleside and Warriewood.
“There needs to be a halt to rezonings and any medium and high rise development until our roads are better, the upgrade of Mona Vale Road occurs and the promised Northern Beaches Link Tunnel is completed,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Transport for NSW said the state government had made “major investments” in public transport and roads on the Northern Beaches, including the new hospital precinct at Frenchs Forest and 2000 weekly B-Line bus services.
“We acknowledge there will be short-term pain for long term gain, particularly the Northern Beaches Hospital road upgrade,” she said.
About 600 dwellings have been approved for Dee Why since 2012, according to Northern Beaches council - the result of zonings approved “decades ago” to meet housing targets set by the NSW government.
Meriton’s $400 million Lighthouse development includes two 17-storey towers housing 351 apartments in Dee Why’s new town centre.
Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan said the Pittwater/Spit/Military Road corridor was the most congested in Sydney.
Cr Regan said rapid public transport was needed between Dee Why and Chatswood.
“Tens of thousands of people travel this corridor every day but unfortunately there’s no real public transport now for commuters,” he said. “All we have is an all-stop bus service that can take over an hour to travel the short distance between Dee Why and Chatswood.”
Related Articles:
Cars that ate Palmy: a packed car park near the Pittwater Park Wharf.
Palm Beach driven mad by a lack of parking and traffic congestion
The Northern Beaches council acknowledged the area’s crippling transport problems in its Move - Northern Beaches Transport Discussion Paper released last in April.
“Travel times along local and major roads and on public transport on the Northern Beaches are currently amongst the worst in Sydney according to household surveys,” the paper said. “Our traffic volumes show no sign of easing despite
efforts to encourage public transport patronage.”
The Northern Beaches population was 266,344 people living in more than 100,000 dwellings in 2016. It is forecast to add another 46,000 people by 2036.
Cr Regan also reiterated the council’s “consistent position” that infrastructure needed to be built at the same time as development is occurring.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott, the federal member for Warringah, highlighted the strains on local infrastructure in a speech to The Sydney Institute in February, suggesting cutting immigration to improve “stagnant wages,
unaffordable housing and clogged infrastructure”.
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/blacktown-by-the-sea-residents-face-obstacle-course-just-to-get-on-a-bus-20180528-p4zhwj.html>

'Privatisation by stealth': Nalder lines up Wyatt over energy asset sale 1 June 2018.
<www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/privatisation-by-stealth-nalder-lines-up-wyatt-over-energy-asset-sale-20180531-p4zilx.html>

Metro announcement asks commuters to remove winter woollies.
Herald Sun June 1, 2018.
Train commuters will be advised to remove their winter layers upon boarding.. Picture: Nicole Garmston.
MORNING winter chills are upon us but passengers travelling on Metro trains will be advised to consider removing beanies, scarfs and gloves when they board the train.
The trial announcement follows an increase in the number of ill passengers in recent weeks due to the colder conditions.
Paramedics at stations have advised that passengers going from the cold outdoors to heated trains in warm clothes has been a factor in many cases, often compounded by an underlying illness and/or not having eaten that day.
Airconditioning on Metro trains is designed to keep the temperature around 22C.
“We want to make sure our passengers stay well and have a safe and comfortable journey,” Metro spokesman Marcus Williams said.
“Unfortunately there has been an increase in passengers feeling unwell as temperatures have dropped in recent weeks, especially in the mornings.”
Metro will continue to monitor the number of passenger illnesses and assess passenger feedback when deciding whether the announcement will continue.
RAIL STAFF COMPLAIN OF THE BITTER COLD.
Comments 7
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/metro-trains-announcement-asks-commuters-to-remove-winter-woollies/news-story/9a1a3d8b4fef4963db300aa28cdee4d9>
* Has anyone from Metro ever been to Europe in winter? There, extra woollens can be removed because there are two-level luggage racks and coathooks: something which Metro fails to provide. Perhaps it is worried about the 7% fewer
passengers carried in Japan in winter (the extra thickness of winter clothing)? Concentrate on providing frequent and reliable services. So much of Melbourne could have 10 min headways today, but doesn't, and still won't when the
gold-plated tunnel is finished. Everything from Metro is designed for manger convenience, and not for passenger benefit.

Predator who raped victim outside St Vincent’s Hospital could be free in less than four years
Herald Sun June 1, 2018.
The woman tried to escape by leaving the tram near St Vincent’s Hospital but was followed and raped by the man.
A BRAZEN predator who raped a young tourist outside a Melbourne hospital hours after being released on bail could be freed from jail in less than four years.
Jamie Evan Macarthur, 49, pleaded guilty in the County Court to sexually assaulting the woman, in her 20s, in a terrifying attack outside St Vincent’s Hospital on March 16 last year.
The New Zealander told police he engaged in “rough play” with the victim because he desired her after they met at a Bourke St tram stop at 4.50am.
WOMAN BEGGED FOR HELP ON TRAM
MELBOURNE’S MOST DANGEROUS STATIONS
He followed the woman, who was visiting the city from interstate for a fashion festival, onto the tram and pulled her towards him, kissing her.
In fear of her life, the victim mouthed the word “help” to another passenger, but he did not respond.
When she got off the tram near the hospital, thinking it would be a safe place to shelter, he persisted in following her, saying “you’re not leaving me”.
video: What happens in a criminal trial?
She tried to escape into the hospital, but the doors were closed. He pulled her back, threw her on the ground, and said: “We are going to f---..”
The shocking next moments were captured on security footage. Judge Irene Lawson described his behaviour as “brazen, predatory and unwanted”.
“You were persistent in your pursuit for the victim … exploiting her for your own sexual gratification,” Judge Lawson said.
“The victim was in fear of you and tried to defuse the situation by placating you.”
MORE LAW AND ORDER
It was only seven hours earlier Macarthur was released from police custody for being drunk in a public place, and randomly punching and kicking passers by at Melbourne Central train station.
He pleaded guilty to 22 charges including rape, attempted rape, theft and assault.
Judge Lawson sentenced him to 7 years and 9 months’ jail, but set a non-parole period of five years.
With 442 days of time already served, he could be released back into the community as early as 2022.
He was placed on the sex offenders register for 15 years.
Comments 19
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/predator-who-raped-victim-outside-st-vincents-hospital-could-be-free-in-less-than-four-years/news-story/6f7d8d655c4e949cc7417fcd1286eff3>

One in five rooftop solar units deficient, official figures show 1 June 2018. 59 comments.
<www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/one-in-five-rooftop-solar-units-deficient-official-figures-show-20180601-p4zixo.html>

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