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Sent: Thursday, 13 September 2018, 20:28
Subject: Mon.10.9.18 daily digest

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180910M Metro Twitter:- Carrum.- Buckley St

Roderick.
Mon.10.9.18 Metro Twitter.
5.30 Craigieburn line: Trains have resumed from the first this morning after level-crossing removal work at Essendon.
At Carrum this morning FREE yoghurt from Chobani until 9.00.
8.54 Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Minor delays and some [ie all] trains direct Richmond - Flinders St (an equipment fault near Richmond).
8.56 I'm on the 8.36 from Pakenham.  Will this train be going through the loop?
- 8.57 Again issues, not even a single day without issues, hats off.
- 8.58 we expect the 8.36 to run via the loop.
- 9.00 Minor delays and all trains direct Richmond - Flinders St.  Change at Flinders St for Loop trains. [with only the Clifton Hill group available, clockwise.  Changing at Richmond to Burnley group could be better, if trains have space].
- 9.01 The 7.48 Narre Warren to city train was announced as not running via loop after leaving Richmond station; straight went to Flinders St with no prior notice.  Apparently driver was advised only after leaving Richmond.  How come this happens?
- 9.10 My train is stuck after Richmond for the last 10 minutes; no announcements yet.  What’s happening?
- 9.14 Our crews are working on an equipment fault near Richmond and all trains are running direct to Flinders Street. This is also causing some platform congestion there.
- 9.15, as before.
- 9.21 All trains are running direct to Flinders Street, causing platform congestion.
- 9.21 So whatever unplanned maintenance you were doing last night, you stuffed it.
- 10.49 Trains will depart from altered platforms Caulfield - Richmond. then direct to Flinders St.
- 11.41 Trains have resumed normal platform arrangements and routing via the loop.
9.16 This Hurstbridge train has stopped constantly since North Richmond. Can you tweet about delays so that I can send the tweet to my boss?
14.06 Alamein/Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Minor delays (an ill passenger requiring medical assistance at Burnley).
16.50 Hurstbridge/Mernda lines: Minor delays after an earlier [unannounced] unruly passenger at Flagstaff.
- 17.08 Any reason why you gave no indication to the public of cancelling the 17.01 Mernda even though you idiots made that decision well in advance?  Was it so that you can keep your punctuality numbers up at the expense of a delivered hit?
- 17.17 We posted info on the app/website regarding the cancellation.  Do you have the metroNotify app?
- 17.21 No, just the PTV website, twitter, metro website, a 3rd party metro notify relay to twitter, and every other failed information service you guys randomly update to.  Not keen on you randomly updating another app when you feel like it.
Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Escalators and one lift are now working at Hughesdale station.  Lift access will be available at Carnegie and Murrumbeena stations by the end of September.
18.29 Sunbury line: Minor delays (trespassers).
20.31 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Major delays (police attending to a trespasser at Sandown Park). Trains may be held.
- 21.09 clearing.
A stack of bustitution announcements for the evening and succeeding days.

Melbourne Express, Monday, September 10, 2018
The state government has launched a public competition to name the six tunnel-boring machines that will begin digging the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel. The catch? They have to be given female names.
The tradition dates back to the 1500s when miners prayed to Saint Barbara for protection. The government is calling on suggestions for inspiring women, with a preference for Victorians. Follow the link below:
Melbourne freeway [tollway] to rival world's widest
An artist's impression of the North East Link at Doncaster. Photo: Victorian Government
Newly released plans for the North East Link show the Eastern Freeway will swell to more than 20 lanes at its widest point. At one intersection at Doncaster,  an artist's impression shows 14 carriageway lanes, four emergency lanes, two bus lands and on- and off-ramps.
Highway 401 in Canada spans 18 lanes. But both are dwarfed by the Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, which spans 50 lanes.
Manningham councillor Dot Haynes says the expanded road will be "devastating". What do you think? Share your thoughts via email or Twitter.
7.19 Route 11 trams in both directions are delayed by a traffic incident in St Georges Road.
5.53 Murrumbeena Road in Murrumbeena is closed at the train line until September 23 (level-crossing removal works). The Fitzroy intersection of Nicholson and Johnston streets is closed until Wednesday for tram works.  They're back off the buses on the Craigieburn line after level crossing removals at Essendon.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-monday-september-10-2018-20180910-p502qk.html>

Fewer than one-third of predicted passengers use new Redcliffe rail. 9 September 2018. 32 comments.
Talking points:
•The Petrie to Kippa Ring rail line (Redcliffe Peninsula line) was predicted to have 21,000 daily customers when it began.
•It opened in October 2016 and by May 2018 there were only about 6451 passengers daily.
•Public transport lobby group Rail Back on Track said passengers told them no peak hour express services made the trip too slow, it was faster to use the Sandgate line and buses did not connect with trains.
Fewer than one-third of 21,000 daily passengers predicted for south-east Queensland's newest train line are actually using the line two years after it opened, TransLink statistics show.
The main reasons for the poor passenger demand were no express services in peak hour, poor connections with buses and a slow service with trains stopping "all stations", a transport lobby group said.
South-east Queensland’s Petrie to Kippa-Ring train line (Redcliffe Peninsula line) opened in October 2016, amid controversy over train drivers and services.
Poor bus links and no peak hour express services have left the Kippa-Ring to Petrie rail line with only one-third the projected passengers. Photo: Supplied.
In that first month, there were only 4709 daily passengers.
In November that dropped to 4645 passengers a day.
By May 2018, the number of passengers using the Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail line had grown to 6451 daily passengers.
However, that was still fewer than one-third of the 20,358 daily passengers predicted when the Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail line was developed in 2010.
Robert Dow of rail travel lobby group Rail Back on Track listed five reasons why passengers were not using the rail line as frequently as predicted.
1.Hornibrook’s feeder-bus network to the rail line was perceived as “not the best”;
2.The rail service had a perception of reliability;
3.There remained a perception that fares were too expensive;
4.The trip from Kippa-Ring took 40 minutes; whereas it was 20 minutes from Sandgate;
5.The timetable did not include peak hour express services.
“I think there is a case – when they recover the timetable – to try to give them some express peak services,” Mr Dow said.
“But they certainly can’t do it at the moment because of the nature of the timetable.”
TransLink said it had added extra express services to the Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail line.
There are fewer than one-third of the passengers using the Redcliffe rail line than were predicted. Photo: Tony Moore.
“To reduce travel times for customers on the Redcliffe Peninsula line, Queensland Rail runs Redcliffe Peninsula services express through the inner-northern area from Northgate to Bowen Hills, stopping only at Eagle Junction station,” a TransLink spokesman said.
The Redcliffe Peninsula line services share tracks with Caboolture and Sunshine Coast line services between Petrie and the CBD.
“Our current timetable and stopping patterns are designed to ensure an equitable service frequency at each station along the northern corridor,” the TransLink spokesman said.
Mr Dow said feedback received from passengers was that bus company Hornibrook needed to look at better connections between bus and rail.
“I really think there is a need to look at the feeder bus network to the line. That's important,” he said.
He said the other complaint Rail Back on Track received was “it takes too long”.
“Passengers would like some express services in the peak times,” he said.
“What happens is the trains stop all stations from Kippa-Ring through to Petrie. Then they run all stations from Petrie to Northgate.”
Questions are being asked as fewer than one-third of the projected number of passengers using the Petrie to Kippa Ring rail line. Photo: Glenn Hunt - AAP.
By contrast the Sunshine Coast (Caboolture line trains) ran express from Petrie to Northgate.
“So there is a little bit of express envy there,” he said.
Mr Dow agreed that passengers could get off the Kippa-Ring to Petrie train and wait for an express service from Petrie to Central.
“But the services aren’t always optimal for that,” he said.
Mr Dow said the group was waiting for TransLink to provide 2017 and 2018 travel data so it could check to see if the Shorncliffe line had seen a major patronage bump since October 2016.
“That is patronage that could potentially have gone on the Petrie to Kippa-Ring line,” he said.
“Some of it could be going on to the Shorncliffe line.”
He said some passengers were also going to Dakabin station, north of Petrie, as well as using the faster Sandgate line because they had express services.
Queensland Rail said the state government reduced fares in December 2016 through the Fairer Fares package.
“Fares in the south east are now about 44¢, or 13.5 per cent, lower on average per eligible adult trip than they were before the introduction of Fairer Fares,” the spokesman said.
Queensland Rail said the initial customer demand was based on projected growth in suburbs north of Brisbane, which had not met expectations.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/fewer-than-one-third-of-predicted-passengers-use-new-redcliffe-rail-20180909-p502po.html>

Frankston in focus as parties make pledges on hospital and rail safety 10 September 2018.
Labor and the opposition both went to Frankston on Monday, wooing voters in the state's second most marginal seat with competing promises on health and law and order.
The Andrews government promised to spend $562 million on a major upgrade to Frankston Hospital if it is re-elected on November 24.
Labor says it will transform the 77-year-old hospital into an 11-storey facility with 120 new ward beds, two new operating theatres and 13 new emergency beds.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jill Hennessy. Photo: AAP.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jill Hennessy visited Frankston hospital on Monday morning, promising to expand its child and maternal health services to meet booming demand in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
The promised upgrade includes two new floors for mental health services, new maternity and obstetrics wards, a women’s clinic, a paediatric ward and special care nursery.
Mr Andrews said it was the biggest upgrade to an outer suburban hospital in Victoria's history.
"The community across this region deserve nothing less," Mr Andrews said.
"There's a lot of people who talk about growth – we get on and get things done and cater for that growth."
The government estimates there will be 3000 births a year at the expanded hospital by 2032, an increase of more than 1100 per cent on the 235 babies delivered in 2015-16.
Work is due to start in 2020 and be finished in 2024.
But shadow health minister Mary Wooldridge said Labor could not be trusted to deliver the hospital on time or on budget given its recent track record with the Monash Heart Hospital, where costs grew from an initial $150 million taxpayer outlay to $396 million.
"Frankston needs a new hospital but Daniel Andrews’ track record is appalling," Ms Wooldridge said.
"Daniel Andrews' last commitment for a new hospital in the south-east has blown out in cost by over 250 per cent and the time line is five years later than promised."
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy was also campaigning in Frankston on Monday, promising to recruit 100 extra protective services officers to patrol 20 Melbourne railway stations in daylight hours if the Coalition wins the November 24 election.
The Opposition promised to spend $57 million over four years to employ 100 extra PSOs and deploy them at “high crime spots” on the metropolitan network.
The opposition has promised to deploy 100 PSOs at railway stations in daylight hours.  Photo: Rob Carew.
Mr Guy announced Frankston and Mordialloc stations on the Frankston line would be the first stations to see PSOs working on platforms between 10am and 6pm.
“We will have the single biggest expansion of our PSO system since they were introduced,” Mr Guy said.
“I want to see our railway stations become safer spaces but not just from 6pm to the last train, but all day.”
Michael Lamb, the Liberal candidate for Frankston and a former police station commander, said it was "very clear to see that the train system is used by the criminal element during the day", including ice-addicted people behaving erratically.
The former Baillieu Coalition government introduced PSOs to Melbourne stations between 6pm and the last service.
The Andrews government completed their rollout to every station on the network.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said Mr Guy's claim that the promise represented the biggest boost to PSOs since they were introduced was wrong.
One hundred and nine PSOs were recruited in 2016 to cover all-night services on weekends and $62.3 million was committed last year for 100 new mobile PSOs.
"These claims show yet again, you can't trust a word the Liberals say on law and order," Ms Neville said.
Last month it was agreed that PSOs would also patrol trains, as well as stations, after a deal was struck with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, which represents authorised officers.
Labor holds the state seat of Frankston by a margin of just 0.5 per cent.
Related Article State's elective surgery waiting list reaches new low.
<www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/frankston-in-focus-as-parties-make-pledges-on-hospital-and-rail-safety-20180910-p502sr.html>

New trains to run on 139 services, but no express trains for Redcliffe. 10 September 2018.
Talking points:
•Queensland Rail's chief executive Nick Easy says it is not up to him to explain problems with a rail line.
•Queensland Rail's chief executive Nick Easy said its not up to him to explain why buses do not connect to rail services on a particular rail line.
•There are no new express services added to the Redcliffe rail line, even though two new New Generation RollingStock trains were added to the City Train fleet on Monday which provide 139 new services per week.
As Queensland Rail chief executive Nick Easy announced almost new trains would run on 140 services, he was unable to explain why only one-third of the expected passengers are using the Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail line.
It has emerged that the Redcliffe Peninsula (Petrie to Kippa-Ring) line carried fewer than one-third of the expected 21,000 daily customers.
Queensland Rail CEO Nick Easy. Photo: Dan Peled/AAP.
“I think that is question that TransLink needs to answer,” Mr Easy said when quizzed on the line's poor performance.
Mr Easy announced on Monday that two additional New Generation Rollingstock trains had been added to the CityTrain network.
That meant 27 of the 75 new trains were now in service.
The two new trains will run on the Redcliffe Peninsula and the Springfield lines and provide 139 additional services a week.
However, Mr Easy also said the new trains did not mean extra express services to the Redcliffe line, despite calls for these services by commuters on Monday.
“At this point in time our focus in that we consistently provide the current timetable,” he said.
“So the resources that we have, supports that current timetable.
“We have recently seen in the June and July period and in the (August) holiday timetable for the Ekka, there was no downgrading in services.”
Mr Easy said that was because Queensland Rail had extra train crew.
“At this point in time I am not in a position to comment on other increases to services,” he said.
The Redcliffe Peninsula line will receive an extra 22 services, but not express services.
Mr Easy said there was a “one-seat journey”, which took 55 minutes, from Kippa-Ring to Brisbane Central on the line.
Poor bus links and no peak hour express services have left the Kippa Ring to Petrie rail line with only one-third the projected passengers. Photo: Supplied.
“When we are in a position to increase services, that is what we will do,” he said.
Public transport advocacy group Rail Back on Track has cited a lack of express services and poor bus connections with Hornibrook Bus Lines as major problems.
Hornibrook referred all enquiries about its bus services to TransLink.
Mr Easy would not comment on the connection between bus lines and rail lines, although he has on other occasions.
“Queensland Rail is not responsible for the bus services or the connections,” he said.
“But what we will continue to do is work with TransLink and all the authorities in relation to the delivery of the timetable.”
The Queensland government will pay $4.4 billion over 32 years to add 75 of the latest trains and carriages to the CityTrain network.
The roll-out of the trains, which are assembled at purpose-built rail yards at Wulkuraka near Ipswich, have been marred by design flaws, driver shortages and union problems.
Mr Easy said “testing” of the trains would influence how quickly the remaining 48 trains would be added to the CityTrain network, but declined to give any indication to reporters.
“The timing for the deployment of the future lines is something that we will communicate to our customers in due course,” he said.
Mr Easy said the incident where one of the NGR trains came into contact with overhead power lines on July 7 was still being investigated by Queensland Rail.
“We do know there was an issue with the pantograph,” he said.
The pantograph is the structure on top of a train which connects to the electrical power supply.
“That led to the delinement (sic), but what we will do is conclude that investigation,” he said.
“That particular train was withdrawn from service and that matter has been rectified and the train has been returned to the network.”
Mr Easy also declined to answer a question about a possible merger of QR and TransLink into a single public transport authority.
“That is question you will have to address to the state (government),” he said.
In March, independent experts recommended a merger of Queensland Rail and TransLink after identifying “a serious culture of mistrust” between the two bodies.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated the NGR trains would add 139 services to the timetable. The NGR trains will instead replace older trains on existing services.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/new-trains-to-run-on-139-services-but-no-express-trains-for-redcliffe-20180910-p502wb.html>

Big homes in outer suburbs affect Melbourne’s liveability: report.
Herald Sun September 10, 2018.
MELBURNIANS’ love of bigger homes in the outer suburbs is contributing to bring down the city’s liveability, a new report has found.
The lack of services and public transport networks on the urban edges affected people’s lifestyles, according to a study by RMIT University’s Centre for Urban Research.
As Melbourne’s population passed 5 million, report author Distinguished Professor Billie Giles-Corti said higher density homes were the key to bringing services and transport to the neighbourhoods and ease traffic congestion.
“We are building at low density … but if you don’t have enough density you don’t have enough people to support good shops and services nearby. And that’s why density is such a critical issue,’’ she said.
Prof Giles-Corti stressed the change had to be “higher density, not high density’’ to create walkable neighbourhoods.
“We don’t need to go to Hong Kong-style on the fringe. But a Fitzroy-style of density.’’
Melbourne’s average housing density of 14 dwellings per hectare is below the 25 required to create walkable neighbourhoods, she said.
Inner Melbourne has better liveability than the urban fringe, the RMIT report states.
RMIT Centre for Urban Research professor Billie Giles-Corti. Picture: Supplied
Residents in inner-Melbourne enjoyed a better lifestyle than those in the outer suburbs, she said.
“What the development industry sells to people is low-density housing on the fringe. It’s sold as having a yard, three bedrooms, movie theatre, everything is internal.
“You have to have your own little city in your house.
“Whereas if you live in the inner city, you can walk to the local cinema or the local pool.’’
The pressure could also be lifted if employment hubs were distributed across the city rather than on the CBD, Prof Giles-Corti said, so more people could cycle or walk to work.
The report, Creating Liveable Cities in Australia, also found that Melbourne had fewer commuters on public transport, with just 16 per cent catching the bus, tram or train compared to 26 per cent in Sydney.
Melbourne has lost its crown as the world’s most liveable city to Vienna after seven years as No. 1.
Low density homes mean there aren’t enough people to support more services and infrastructure, such as trains, according to a study.
But Prof Giles-Corti questioned the The Economist Intelligence Unit which she said was based on how much bonuses companies should pay executives because they are going to a hardship post.
“There’s not a city in Australia that is a hardship post.’’
Prof Giles-Corti said the state government’s recent announcement of plans for a suburban rail loop was an opportunity for Melbourne to create hubs outside the CBD.
“The new rail project is a real game-changer in a way,’’ she said.
“Building bike paths within 5km of all stations in Melbourne could help commuters incorporate active travel into their daily routine,” she said.
“And there’s no reason that we can’t afford that.’’
The report also found that 39 per cent of lower-income households are experiencing housing affordability stress.
And just under half of all homes are close to a big public open space of at least 1.5 hectares.
MELBOURNE LIVEABILITY: HOW YOUR SUBURB RATES.
MELBOURNE LOSES ITS LIVEABILITY CROWN.
DON’T BLAME BIKES FOR CBD’S CLOGGED FOOTPATHS.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/big-homes-in-outer-suburbs-affect-melbournes-liveability-report/news-story/5d56c8ff1ffbad9914c4cc0e15a7c524>