-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Monday, 15 January 2018 1:40 PM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: daily digest, Mon.15.1.18

The yahoo disaster lingers. Only one group to which I post is showing photos in the web version. All others transmit photos to those on individual email, but don't show them on the web or archive them.
Everyone should log in to the web version, go to help, then to product feedback, then to 'fix upload of photos issue', and add your voice to the 250 others to bring the issue to the top (currently only fourth spot).
Most photos which I post go to at least one other location, but not all are open access.
Short term, I am placing photos at my flickr site (open access, <www.flickr...com/photos/13175590@N00>), but it has its own problems (slow and cumbersome). It also means that different hobbies will be intermixed. To cope, anything placed will be removed after 7 days, with no permanent archiving.
Some archives are open-access:
* Weston Langford photos (the unprocessed originals) <www.westonlangford.com>.
* Historic Commercial Vehicle Club <www.hcvc.com.au/forum/index>.
* TramsDownUnder https://tdu.to.
* Paddleducks (for paddlesteamers) <www.paddleducks.co.uk>
* Metro Twitter (google for it).
* Age articles are open access, but on a quota of 30 per month; Herald Sun ones are paywalled.

oz-spotters is looking at opening its backup google group for photos, but that hasn't happened yet.
Photos which are at these won't be on my flickr.

If the problem persists, I am looking at creating a facebook group or a google group which will be open access. Facebook may require a profile, and not everyone will be happy with that. So far I can't make google open access, joining formality is required.

Even being selective, today's set was slow to add to flickr, but it was a busier day than most.

Attached:

180114Su Metro Twitter - last trains.

180115M Melbourne 'Herald Sun' - 180114Su Metro disruptions.

Roderick

Metro Twitter, Sun.14.1.18
South Morang & Hurstbridge lines: major delays (equipment faults near Diamond Creek and Jolimont – Flinders Street).
- Buses will replace trains Parliament - Clifton Hill from 22.00 during urgent repair works near Flinders Street. Passengers are advised to defer travel or consider alternate transport as limited buses are available. [the usual can't cope, don't try, don't care copout].
- Does this mean there are no trains running after the cricket now?
- The special trains for the Cricket listed on our webpage are running, but buses will be replacing trains shortly afterwards.
- there will 100% definitely be trains from Jolimont running at 22.30 and 22.38 to Macleod tonight?
- Currently both those services (the Eltham and Greensborough specials) are scheduled to run tonight.
- Metro is beyond useless.
- wouldn’t be surprised.
- Are buses also replacing trains on the south Morang line?
- Called PTV re what time last train from Jolimont they didn't know about works. Had to tell them no trains after 10. Will there be enough buses for cricket crowd on Hurstbridge line?
- Will this continue tomorrow?
Frankston & Dandenong lines: Buses will replace trains Flinders Street - Caulfield (adding to Caulfield - Dandenong) from 22.00 during urgent repair works near Flinders Street. Passengers are advised to defer travel or consider alternate transport as limited buses are available. The last through services leave Caulfield at 22.09 and Flinders St at 22.10.
- What time are you rolling out the clowns? What a joke! No major sporting event to get home from in Melbourne tonight! Couldn’t run a chook raffle you lot!
- Last trains approximately 22.00 with extra services after the cricket still running, followed by buses shortly after. Metro could hardly predict that a storm could damage overhead equipment to this extent, hence urgent repairs happening tonight to avoid disruptions tomorrow [the normal apologist; if equipment were designed, installed and maintained properly, storms would have such an effect].
- Metro couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery!
Alamein/Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Buses will replace trains Parliament-Burnley from 22.00 (urgent repair works near Flinders Street). Passengers are advised to defer travel or consider alternate transport as limited buses are available.
- What's the likelihood of this impacting peak travel tomorrow morning
- Is the web site notice for the GW line correct? "Buses will replace trains between Burnley and Darling from 10:00pm"
- Probably need to work with YT to see if extra 109 trams can be put on.
Glen Waverley line: Buses will replace trains Parliament - Darling from 22.00 (urgent repair works). Consider alternate transport/defer travel as limited buses are available. There may be wait times of ~ 1 h. [can't cope, don't try, don't care]. Train services will operate Darling - Glen Waverley.
Because of Metro works, passengers on trams may experience delays caused by higher demand for services. Please allow extra time for your journey. [No extra trams, and the standard copout 'allow extra time', most passengers can't do that, it is simply forced onto them].

Mon.15.1.18 Metro Twitter.
4.31 Urgent repair works near Flinders St station from last night have been completed. First services today have begun, with no current delays.
Use public transport to get to Australian Open tennis today. There'll be extra trams from Flinders St. Catch Route 70 & 70A trams free with your tennis ticket. Get our map for travel options & walking times to Melbourne Park...
10.08 Because of a tram fault in Flinders St, Route 70/75 trams to Docklands are delayed; anticlockwise City Circle trams may also be delayed. 10.17, trams are moving again, with residual delays.

January 14 2018 Melbourne's car-based attacks bolster calls for city 'ring of steel' .
Is it time for Melbourne's CBD to get rid of the vehicle-cum-weapon?
It's a question that Melbourne City Council's transport portfolio chair Nicolas Frances Gilley is asking now, weeks after Saeed Noori allegedly drove a car through the Flinders and Elizabeth streets corner, killing a man and injuring 17 people.
One person died after a car ran into pedestrians on the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth streets last month. Photo: Paul Jeffers.
Having occurred less than one year after the alleged Bourke Street attack, which killed six, Cr Frances Gilley, who has previously called for more CBD roads to be converted to parks, is now considering ways to reduce the risk of car-based attacks in the CBD.
In a briefing to Cr Frances Gilley last November, transport consultant, Will Fooks, advised that Melbourne should consider mirroring London's Traffic and Environmental Zone, dubbed the "ring of steel".
Bollards outside an entrance to the city's Southern Cross station. Photo: Craig Butt .
New permanent protective bollards are being rolled out across Melbourne under a $10 million CBD upgrade. But the concrete blocks installed in the city - which have drawn criticism for their ugly and imposing appearance - cannot be rolled out on every street, creating the need for a traffic management solution that reduces car access to the city, Mr Fooks said.
The 1.6 square kilometre "ring of steel" around London's finance district was created in the 1990s to reduce the flow of cars into the centre, in response to the IRA bombings.
Roads into the city were narrowed, converted to one-way streets, and the number of entry points was reduced.
This led to a drop in car traffic by around 25 per cent "almost overnight," and an 18 per cent increase in public transport speeds, Mr Fooks said.
"I don't think the risk of vehicle-based attacks is going away in major cities," Mr Fooks said. "If anything, I think the risk is increasing ... so you've got to look at the solutions in front of you.
"We need to control the level of vehicles in the central area and it needs to be thought about not just in response to terrorism, but in response to a city as being an economic centre of Victoria and the environmental and social aspects of the city."
For Melbourne, Mr Fooks proposed potentially closing smaller streets that served as through roads in the CBD, particularly those streets near major transport interchanges such as Southern Cross Station, reducing traffic lanes and turning opportunities.
Initially, the security cordon in London included manned checkpoints and heavy CCTV surveillance, but this was phased out.
Mr Fooks, who worked at Transport for London for eight years and studied the impact of the "ring of steel", said the surveillance component was not crucial to the plan he was pitching to council, which would boost safety and liveability by reducing traffic congestion.
"The fundamental thing that London did was they took the terrorism issue and they took the transport issue and they put the two together and responded in a way that developed a far better CBD for the people who lived and worked in the CBD," he said.
"That's been proved through the 20 years that the ring of steel has been there. The economic output of the central London has just gone from strength to strength and the development sector is investing ... many of the local streets inside the zone in London have been converted into urban realm improvements, so they pedestrianised spaces."
Cr Frances Gilley said it was time to reconsider how traffic flows moved through the city, given recent attacks in Melbourne.
"We really need to think about what can we do quickly, what interesting work was done in London, and what might we can do here," he said.
"We need to create some places as safe havens", said Mr Frances Gilley.
New strategies needed to ensure that in the event of another car-based attack, authorities could quickly "shut them down".
Acting Minister for Police Martin Pakula said the government has established a steering group including representatives from Victoria Police, Melbourne council, Emergency Management Victoria, government and transport authorities, to plan for better security in the city.
"We will continue to work across agencies to oversee this work, taking expert advice from relevant authorities and making security recommendations for each location," said Mr Pakula.
Metal bollards and planter boxes were being installed in Bourke Street Mall, as well as another eight priority sites identified by Victoria Police, including Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, Princes Bridge, Southbank Boulevard, Southern Cross Station, Queen Victoria Market surrounds, the State Library and Olympic Boulevard.
<www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbournes-carbased-attacks-bolster-calls-for-city-ring-of-steel-20180112-h0hj4w.html>

Energy Australia asks Andrews Government to extend licence for Yallourn coal-fired power station. with tdu.
Herald Sun January 14, 2018.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/energy-australia-asks-andrews-government-to-extend-licence-for-yallourn-coalfired-power-station/news-story/bec5698319dad493b19aa02c5c815ace>

City Loop, nine rail lines to shut for crucial repairs to train network.
Herald Sun January 15, 2018.
THE City Loop and nine rail lines across Melbourne’s east shut last night at 10pm after storm damage to crucial parts of the network.
A power surge on Saturday night damaged the overhead power equipment near Flinders St Station, forcing the closure of nine lines for repairs.
Buses replaced trains across sections of the nine lines as well as the City Loop.
The lines impacted were Alamein, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Glen Waverley, Hurstbridge, Lilydale, Pakenham, Sandringham, South Morang and City Loop.
While the thousands of fans at the cricket were warned about the closure, extra services from Richmond and Jolimont near the MCG still ran, with last trains across the various lines between 10 and 11pm.
Metro Trains Executive Director Raymond O’Flaherty urged passengers to consider altering their travel plans if possible, as delays of up to an hour were anticipated.
“We understand conducting these necessary works will be an inconvenience for our passengers travelling late tonight and we apologise for the delays this will cause,” Mr O’Flaherty said.
“We have scheduled the works when patronage is at its lowest to minimise the impact as much as we can.
“The timing will allow for tonight’s extra services from the cricket at the MCG to run while giving us enough time to complete the works over night.
“We urge our passengers to check our website before they travel.”
Normal services were expected to resume from first trains today.
TRAINS, TRAMS FAIL NEW PUNCTUALITY TARGETS.
MAJOR HODDLE ST DELAYS CONTINUE FOR MOTORISTS.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/city-loop-nine-rail-lines-to-shut-for-crucial-repairs-to-train-network/news-story/d1c624558e2a170dce9d661727def7d8>
* So, no trains out of Flinders St on any lines to the southeast, east or northeast tonight after 10pm. And they're already flagging that there won't be enough buses. Good luck if you're travelling.
* The Flemington and Stony Point lines have Good Service; they have no scheduled trains running at this time. Zero cancellations, and zero delays.
* the reason most lines are part replaced by buses tonight is to repair storm damage from yesterday. Ideally this wouldn't be necessary, but better to have everything shipshape before the next peak hour.
* special cricket trains are running as late as about 22.40 (depending on line), but perhaps small mercies if some people are leaving the MCG early.󠁧
* the Aussies are streaming out of the ground WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
* Last outbound trains from Richmond to Burnley/Caulfield/Clifton Hill are actually at or after 10:30pm... but I suppose you don't want a crowd rushing into Richmond Stn at the last minute.
* MCC and Cricket Australia have been advised that there will be significant disruption to the train network from 10pm tonight. Buses and trams will not be affected.
* Are things particularly bad in Australia this year? There seems to be major rail issues in all of the east coast capital cities at the moment, including Metro Trains & V/Line in Victoria.
* Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne - all three messes have been years in the making. I'm not sure if it's worse this year or there's just more scrutiny (and more pressure because cities are more reliant on rail than ever before)?
* It’s probably a combination of the above - issues are worse as systems struggle with patronage growth(except Brisbane where it’s falling), impacting more people and hence getting more media time at a slow news time of year.
* The SEQ railfail has been devastating in terms of effects on passengers. Low frequency with often delays and cancellations, missed connections.
Day 471 today. Not much faith left by the masses sadly. On the rail replacement bus today QR was being savaged by punters.
* I understand that the rail situation in SEQ is particularly dire.
* The QR situation is the worst of the bunch. Melbourne went through a similar staff shortage in about 2005, but I don't think it was this bad.
* Ironically the QR situation could exacerbate Auckland’s train driver situation if Kiwi drivers were recruited with the much better salaries in Oz.
* lucky there's no major sporting event on at MCG.
* Looks like the last outbound trains will be the cricket specials.
* This is no good.
* But best if lines are fixed!
* hope fans have all left MCG by that time.
* Australian Open starts tomorrow. Additional maintenance to ensure smooth running?

Modern Metropolis: towards the 20-minute city
This is advertiser content for Netflow.
Can Melbourne continue to sit atop The Economist’s list of the world’s most liveable cities when it is growing faster than New York or Mexico City? According to government figures Melbourne is set to more than double its population in the next 30 years with the population rising to 8 million in 2050, and the Census pointing to a city that is growing by more than 300 people a day.
So how can this growth be balanced with Plan Melbourne’s stated aim to develop a 20-minute city – an urban environment where every resident can meet their everyday needs within a 20-minute trip, ideally on public transport or by bike. This means shops, cafes, work and play all within 20 minutes – and the key will be a coordinated, and bi-partisan, approach to infrastructure says Phil Dreaver, managing director of road project joint venture, Netflow.
“Now that Infrastructure Victoria has been set up as an independent body we need support from all political parties to take a longer term view to implement necessary infrastructure,” says Dreaver. “We need to engage in a truly accelerated level of infrastructure and investment because we are experiencing unprecedented growth.
“The only cities that are growing as fast as Melbourne in the developed world are Dallas and Houston. This is not just about transport but things like water, sewers, education, healthcare. When it comes to key government services we can no longer ‘pay as it comes’, we have to start ‘paying ahead’ and prepare the infrastructure to cope with the population growth. Only then will we have a truly 20-minute city.”
Managing the expansion of an international city the size of Melbourne is a complex process, a mix of increased urbanisation, controlling the spread of the city’s urban boundaries and connecting new and growing suburbs with a mix of the correct infrastructure. It takes planning and with bodies like Future Melbourne, the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) and the aforementioned Plan Melbourne already on the case there is a healthy discussion being had about what Future Melbourne looks like.
“The vision for the future of our growing outer suburbs is one of maturing neighbourhoods with more and more services and facilities that you would expect of an established neighbourhood,” says Stuart Moseley, chief executive officer of the VPA. “In inner or middle Melbourne it’s primarily transport infrastructure that we need to keep accessibility and opportunities, and the government’s already moving on a lot of that with Melbourne Metro, the West Gate tunnel, level-crossing removal and, moving forward, the North East Link Project, more public and affordable housing and the possibility of an airport rail line.”
These newer suburbs are focussed in the city’s north and west and, unlike Sydney, which has natural geographic boundaries like the harbour and the Blue Mountains, Melbourne has little to stop it expanding. The city’s future size is only curbed by planning initiatives like the Urban Growth Boundary that was set up in 2002, and updated in 2010 to add 600,000 new dwellings.
“The geographic centre of Melbourne is moving from Waverly Park to the CBD which brings its own challenges,” says Damien Augustinus, executive director Plenary Group. “The CBD growing as a job centre is inevitable, but at the same time what we need to address is providing jobs in the regions.”
This idea of a poly-centric city, where the CBD is just one of several city hubs, is key to Melbourne’s future, but the move away from a single centre will not be swift.
According to Dreaver, this shift will require a “doubling down” on infrastructure and he points to road congestion and one of the biggest challenges to keeping Melbourne liveable. He is not just talking new roads; existing infrastructure will also need to work harder, so a future Melbourne will see densification of established suburbs as well as the peri-urban spread of new addresses, but this needs to be smart density, growth that concentrates increased housing along existing tram and rail links.
“There has been a strong focus on looking at the down time on the train, trams and bus networks,” says Peter Ryan, chief executive officer of WBHO Infrastructure. “The investment in those infrastructure assets has already been put in place so let’s allow the population to grow around that investment – and that is something that is absolutely necessary moving forward.”
Then there are the more intangible aspects of Melbourne life that are drawing people to the Victorian capital, things like creativity, culture and even our famous coffee, what place will they have in the Melbourne of tomorrow?
“The great things about cities all over the world is they are crucibles for creativity,” says the VPA’s Stuart Moseley. “There is no one city that does everything right, but there are many cities that do many things right and you can learn from them. Portland is famous the world over for transit-oriented smart growth, European cities lead the way in terms of density and diversity and compact form, and there are some fantastic creative cities. It is really a matter of looking at where are the lessons that you want to learn from.”
Netflow is the joint venture between Cintra and Plenary with a focus on road projects in Australia and New Zealand. It brings together two of the largest developers and managers of infrastructure globally to provide competitive offerings for road projects including static and dynamic tolling, user recognition and managed lanes. Netflow harnesses Cintra and Plenary’s extensive in-house capabilities in design and construction, traffic and revenue analysis, project management, finance, road operations and maintenance, customer service, and tolling technology. Netflow is contracted by the Victorian Government to deliver the $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade project – Victoria’s largest single investment in arterial roads to date – in Melbourne’s west.
http://paidcontent.theage.com.au/wbho/infrastructure/article/modern-metropolis-towards-20-minute-city