----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Roderick Smith rnveditor@...>
To: Tdu Transportdownunder transportdownunder@...>
Sent: Monday, 17 September 2018, 21:48
Subject: Fri.14.9.18 daily digest.

Attached.
180914F 'Brisbane Times' - pedestrians vs traffic.
180914F 'SMH' - Sydney Harbour Bridge concepts.
180914F Metro Twitter - Frankston bustitution.
Roderick.
Fri.14.9.18 Metro Twitter.
Buses replace trains Carrum - Frankston/Stony Point until 4.30 Sun 16 Sep (level-crossing removal and Frankston station work).  Heading to Finals Footy tonight? Allow extra journey time.
8.14 Minor delays of up to 10 minutes (a track fault between Craigieburn & Roxburgh Park).
- 10.00 It's actually been more than 10 minutes.
- 10.22 Because of urgent track work at Roxburgh Park, buses are replacing trains between Craigieburn and Broadmeadows.
-  Alternative Transport [from a tweeter]:
   Bus 532 - Broadmeadows Station to Craigieburn Station via Upfield Station.
   Bus 541 - Broadmeadows Station to Craigieburn North via Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park Station.
   Bus 484 - Broadmeadows Station to Roxburgh Park Station via Westmeadows & Greenvale.
   Bus 540 - Broadmeadows Station to Upfield Station via Coolaroo Station.
   Bus 542 - Pascoe Vale Station to Roxburgh Park Station via Oak Park, Glenroy, Jacana, Broadmeadows Station, Meadow Heights.
- 12.07 Trains have resumed.
16.35 Sunbury line: Minor delays (a trespasser).
- 16.57 still minor, clearing.
16.57 Cranbourne/Pakenham line: Minor Delays (an ill passenger at Oakleigh)...  [where we have removed the third platform, so other trains can't work around the stranded one].
- 17.04 clearing.
17.49 Hurstbridge/Mernda lines: Minor delays (an ill passenger at Jolimont)...
- 17.58 clearing.
19.33 Sunbury line: Minor delays (a trespasser).
- 19.50 Is there a further update on how long it might take to get us moving?
- 19.51 We have police on site, with major delays now.
- 20.07 still major, but clearing.
20.21 Mernda line: Buses to replace trains between Clifton Hill and Bell (an external power fault near Merri).  Buses have been ordered, but may take over an hour to arrive; consider alternative transport.
- 20.31 Trains resume, but with major delays.
- 22.09 Ffs, why are we paying for these services?
22.31 All entrances to Richmond are open for returning football crowds.  Current waiting times leading into the station are 2-3 minutes.
- 22.32 How about opening the gates to stop the crowd crush?  It’s dangerous.  Are you that desperate for fares?  Profit over passenger safety!
- Truer words were never spoken.  You'd think they'd make an exception just this once.  It sounds like you're better off walking down to South Yarra or East Richmond.
- 22.38 Current waiting time is 5 minutes.
- 22.56 Current waiting time is ~10 minutes.
- 23.00 Current waiting time is ~10 minutes.
- 23.02 Richmond station is a bloody joke; about time it was rebuilt, it’s over 100 years old.  [~1960.  The new tunnel does nothing to improve the situation].
- 23.07 30 minutes at least. There will be a dangerous crowd crush of you don’t fix this.  What a disgrace.
- 23.12 Current waiting time is minimal.
- 23.21 Bit like the trams...had to wait forever at Jolimont, only for the tram to stop at Elizabeth St.  They didn’t think of getting a few extra trams when there’s been 90 000 at a game of football.  Public transport sucks in Melbourne.
- 23.27 It’s actually a poorly timed joke.  If I didn’t pay $140 a month for the privilege of experiencing delays, cancellations and crushes, I’d think that it’s funny.
- 23.55 Most would have touched on after 6pm, so they wouldn't be charged any extra if they touched on or didn't touch on.  However the platforms do get crowded, so slowing passenger flow (ie by making people touch on) can help prevent dangerously overcrowded platforms [the management apologist, ignoring the lack of sufficient extra trains].
- I didn't think of that, which makes perfect sense.  But as far as I'm concerned they're more concerned with fare evasion than public safety.  For example, many VLine routes still only use paper tickets, at times I've had to jump turnstiles because my VLine ticket won't open it.
- Then more bus replacements.
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Buses replace trains Caulfield - Dandenong from 0.30 Sat 15 Sep until the last train of Sun 16 Sep (maintenance work).  Buses extend to replace trains Caulfield - Pakenham, from 0.00 Sun 16 Sep until the last train.

Melbourne Express, Friday, September 14, 2018.
Man grabs woman from behind on walking track .  A man has jumped out of the bushes and grabbed a woman from behind as she walked along a walking trail near Geelong.  The woman was on the Bellarine Rail Trail in Leopold, at about 18.50 on Wednesday.
The 8.20 Flinders Street to Craigieburn has been cancelled.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-friday-september-14-2018-20180914-p503o9.html>

The 25 tips every tourist needs to know before visiting Melbourne
Herald Sun September 10, 2018.
What tourists really need to know about visiting Melbourne.
FOOTBALL finals and the Spring Racing Carnival are about to draw thousands of interstate and overseas visitors to the city formally known as the most liveable in the world.
Victoria needs to be on its best behaviour, but even then, our eccentric customs and habits will seem alien to an outsider.
Here are 25 tips that every tourist should read before visiting Melbourne.
1. Australia’s Prime Minister changes regularly.
The last PM from Victoria was four changes of leadership ago but our turn is next.
2. It’s wise to always carry an umbrella wherever you go in Melbourne. An umbrella is a great weapon to fend off criminals and it’s more discreet than carrying a baseball bat.
3. Traffic in Melbourne is very dense and it is best to park well away from the city and catch public transport. Please note the car park labelled ‘M1’ is not, in fact, a car park.
Not an actual car park. Picture: Nicole Garmston.
4. There is no train to the airport in Melbourne. But be assured this changes absolutely nothing; any train to the airport would be cancelled and you’d have to catch a taxi anyway.
5. Petrol in Melbourne is very expensive. Steepest prices are often avoided by filling up on a Tuesday and departing the petrol station before being asked to pay.
6. Australian Rules Football is the dominant code in Melbourne, followed by Anglicanism and Catholicism.
7. Victoria’s numberplates carry the slogan ‘The Education State’. It is yet unclear which state this refers to.
8. In Victoria, anybody deemed to be spreading hate speech will be given a fine. Anybody committing more serious crimes will be given bail.
9. If you are displeased with the weather in Melbourne, just wait five minutes. By that time the cost of electricity will have increased and you’ll have something more serious to worry about.
10. The East West Link is the name of a road Melburnians often wish had been built.  Punt Rd is the name of a road Melburnians often wish had never been built.
11. It is frowned upon to keep driving past a tram when it is open. It is equally frowned upon to keep driving past a Dan Murphy’s when it is open.  If it’s open, do not drive past.
12. In Melbourne, ugly things that have been around for a long time, such as Federation Square, the Nylex clock and John Elliott, are eventually considered institutional.
13. It is widely accepted that crime in Melbourne was a lot easier to take when criminals only harmed each other and were later dramatised on television.
A lot more entertaining when it’s just something on the telly.
14. It is encouraged, but not compulsory, to wear black in Melbourne. Rumours this custom started as a sign of mourning when Buddy Franklin moved interstate are false.
15. Melbourne CBD’s many small alleyways are home to world-class bars, which are open as a reward to anyone who can get past the violent crime often committed in the immediate area.
16. Federal Parliament used to be located on Melbourne’s Spring St. It has now been moved to a safe distance 500km away.
17. Each station in Melbourne is regularly visited by two PSOs and several dozen criminals.
18. Art on the walls of Hosier Lane can be painted over by anybody. Please note this rule does not apply for art on the walls on the National Gallery of Victoria.  Don’t try street art here.
19. Victorians like to joke that Tasmanians have two heads. The sad fact is that Port Phillip Bay has two heads.
20. It is known to get so hot in Melbourne’s summer that it is impossible for the trains to run, and so cold in Melbourne’s winter that it is impossible to run for the train.
21. Melbourne Bitter is a popular beer in Melbourne. It is untrue that it was named by Sydneysiders after Melburnians’ attitude to the inter-city feud.
22. Melbourne Zoo is known for its magnificent elephant enclosure. Regional Victoria is also home to several white elephants including the Wonthaggi desalination plant.
We have all kinds of elephants.
23. There is debate in Melbourne about whether the AFL Grand Final is deserving of a public holiday. There is no such debate about whether it’s worth showing up to work on Cup Monday.
24. The Melbourne cafe industry is an economic oddity that relies on having as many customers as possible in shopfronts that can never be found.
25. The Melbourne CBD street grid was designed so everybody knew what they were looking for. Melburnians have been proving that theory wrong ever since.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-25-tips-every-tourist-needs-to-know-before-visiting-melbourne/news-story/002158ae1c351a1f080d7c2d7efcbdbb>
Sun shines on Labor's solar scheme as Liberal energy war flares up 14 September 2018.
<www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/sun-shines-on-labor-s-solar-scheme-as-liberal-energy-war-flares-up-20180914-p503vf.html>

Brisbane CBD pedestrians forced to contend with cars amid safety push. 13 September 2018. 13 comments.
As Brisbane City Council pushes pedestrian safety measures and messages, council contractors have been directing people to walk on a CBD street, barely a metre from passing traffic.
Pedestrian access to Anzac Square was closed on Monday so restoration work on the square could be completed.
Pedestrians walking between parked vehicles and a bus on Adelaide Street. Photo: Ruth McCosker.
Since the closure, pedestrians have been walking along Adelaide Street between parked cars and oncoming traffic, often with about one metre between themselves and vehicles.
On Thursday, a traffic controller was spotted directing pedestrians, including an elderly woman, to walk along the road.
A traffic controller points an older woman to walk down Adelaide Street. Photo: Ruth McCosker.
Also that day, several pedestrians walking on the road had to stop while a large truck turned in front of them to enter the construction site.
Traffic cones mark an area for cars for the construction site to park, leaving pedestrians walking on the outer side of these cones, and with little distance between themselves and traffic.
Buses travel along Adelaide Street as well as general traffic, including trucks.
Pedestrians and construction site workers walk along the road on Adelaide Street. Photo: Ruth McCosker.
The council recently announced several changes to city speed limits and crossings in a bid to improve pedestrian safety after a spate of accidents involving pedestrians.
Council infrastructure chairwoman Amanda Cooper said highly visible signage had been placed to direct pedestrians to use a safe alternative route.
“A traffic controller is also located where the path has been closed to direct pedestrians back to the lights to cross safely," she said.
Footpath closed sign on Adelaide Street near Anzac Square. Photo: Supplied.
"Traffic controllers never encouraged pedestrians to walk on to the road - they have attempted to direct people to the safe routes but, disappointingly, have at times been ignored."
Fairfax Media witnessed traffic controllers allowing pedestrians to walk past them to step onto the road throughout Thursday.
Cr Cooper said pedestrian impatience and distraction were leading causes of incidents in the CBD, which was why the council was undertaking urgent upgrades at safety hot spots near Anzac Square.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-cbd-pedestrians-forced-to-contend-with-cars-amid-safety-push-20180913-p503j2.html>

Disbelief in Hong Kong at 'Chinese influence' claim from Australian MPs 14 September 2018.
<www.theage.com.au/world/asia/disbelief-in-hong-kong-at-chinese-influence-claim-from-australian-mps-20180913-p503nt.html>

Sep 14 2018.  Ten cool industrial sites you must visit.
.....* Central Deborah Mine, Bendigo.  Should you prefer some down the mines action closer to home, the Central Deborah Mine in Bendigo should prove just the ticket. A variety of tours go 61, 85 and 228 metres deep respectively, with hard hats donned and frankly terrifying machinery from the Victorian gold rush era still in place. See central-deborah.com
.....When visiting Bendigo, the writer was a guest of Tourism Victoria.
<www.traveller.com.au/the-ten-coolest-industrial-sites-you-must-visit-h155oq>

How Sydney Harbour Bridge could have looked 14 September 2018.
An alternative design of the harbour bridge - a stiffened suspension bridge designed by McClintic Marshall Products Company. Photo: State Library of NSW
It's a structure synonymous with Sydney, adorning postcards and fridge magnets, and for millions of Australians it's a symbol of home, but the Sydney Harbour Bridge could have looked very different.
A Proposed Sydney Harbour Bridge, ca.1903 / design drawing by Norman Selfe.
Related Gallery, 30 Images, How the Sydney Harbour Bridge could have looked
More than 70 designs were proposed after various state governments recognised the need to connect the north and south sides of Sydney, from a floating bridge to a three-pronged bridge, and even one suggestion to fill in the harbour.
State Library of NSW curator Anni Turnbull said it's "remarkable that it actually got built".
With help from a large team, she's turned the story of the bridge, including opposition to the project, the designs and its construction, into a five-part podcast and interactive web series.
Ms Turnbull, who spent a year working on the project, said The Bridge series is a way of giving people access to the State Library's vast collection of information and imagery related to Sydney's most iconic landmark.
What the Sydney Harbour Bridge could have been.
video: What the Sydney Harbour Bridge could have been
When it came to ideas to connect Sydney's north and south, ideas included a three-pronged bridge, a pontoon bridge - and even a suggestion to fill in the harbour were entertained.
"I think people don't know about the history of what we could have had, I also think they don't know about the battles and how long it took, and the political struggles," Ms Turnbull said.
Before the bridge
By the time it was completed in 1932, Sydney desperately needed a bridge to connect the north and south of the city.
Ferries were the only way to transport people and goods across the harbour - by 1890, more than five million passengers were crossing the harbour each year.
"The ferry organisations were not very keen on any kind of harbour crossing because they had a monopoly of getting goods and people across the harbour," Ms Turnbull said.
But as Sydney expanded, it became obvious the city needed a bridge and the first design was submitted in 1840. Between 1900 and 1924, four public design competitions were held.
One Harbour, many options
Ms Turnbull, who calls herself a pontist - or a "bridge enthusiast" - said there were some "fantastical" designs submitted over the years.
Crowded ferries ‘Kurraba’ and ‘Kirribilli’ at Circular Quay circa 1900. Photo: State Library of NSW.
"Then there was an idea for a pontoon bridge that would swing around, and then the other one that we've got is the 1840 design for a floating bridge, and I don't know how that would have worked frankly," she said.
There were numerous designs for cantilevered bridges, as well as a flat iron bridge designed by Peter Henderson in 1857 that would have impeded shipping, and even bills to create a harbour tunnel that were put to parliament in the 1890s.
"I don’t know how they would have dug the tunnels then," the curator said.
"It was even mooted to fill in the harbour, which I really don't understand how that could have worked anyway."
One of the more outlandish plans was a 1922 design by Ernest Stowe for a three-pronged bridge joining Millers Point, Balls Head and Balmain.
A 1922 design by Ernest Stowe included a lift to get vehicles from one section of the bridge Photo: State Library of NSW.
"Apparently there would be a lift system in the central pylon on Goat Island, where the cars or trucks - or carts as it was - would go in, and have to be moved up to go to the next layer to go out," Ms Turnbull said.
"I like the idea of what could have been, it's a fantastical approach to design."
Despite Norman Selfe winning a government competition for a cantilevered bridge design, it was a bow-shaped bridge designed by John Bradfield that won politicians over.
In 1924, more than 80 years after the first design was submitted, the Harbour Bridge Act was carried by NSW parliament.
Norman Selfe's winning bridge design. Unfortunately, it never got built. Photo: State Library of NSW
Ms Turnbull said the third instalment of the State Library's series explores the sheer effort it took to ensure Sydney got the bridge it deserved.
"Bradfield, he sounds like he was very driven," Ms Turnbull said.
"The [bridge builders] who were interviewed speak highly of Bradfield, one of them said, 'he knew what he wanted, and he wanted it yesterday'."
See the State Library's interactive 3D models of various harbour bridge designs and their full series on the bridge, which is being released weekly, on the State Library website.
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-the-sydney-harbour-bridge-could-have-looked-20180914-p503ry.html>

Andrews Government: Melbourne’s airport rail will run through west.
Herald Sun September 14, 2018.
video: Daniel Andrews to pledge $5 billion for Melbourne's airport rail link.
PREMIER Daniel Andrews has insisted Melbourne's airport rail will go through the city's western suburbs, despite the federal government not yet approving a route.
Advertisements running in newspapers this week reveal the Victorian government has fully settled on the Sunshine Station route, at the same time as the Commonwealth is still assessing two other options.
The federal government has already budgeted $5 billion to help Victoria build the project, while the Andrews Government has committed another $5 billion if it wins the November state election.
Federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge said the Sunshine route was attractive, but the government had not yet made a decision.
“We want to ensure the route delivers the best benefit to Victorian travellers,” Mr Tudge said.
“The Coalition Government wants to see the rail link to the airport built as quickly as possible, which is why we have allocated and locked into the budget $5 billion towards this project.
“It would be great if the state government put up real money today, rather than making it a condition of being re-elected.”
Artist impression of a proposed Sunshine railway station on the airport rail link.
Multiple studies have chosen a route running from Southern Cross to the airport, with a major interchange at Sunshine, as the best option.
But the federal government hasn’t officially ruled out going through Highpoint and Maribyrnong, or a third option of using the Craigieburn line with a spur between Essendon and Tullamarine.
In the new advertisement, Rail Projects Victoria has called for construction companies, designers, engineers, and property owners to register their interest to help build the airport rail link.
“The Melbourne Airport Rail Link will connect the airport to metropolitan and regional rail lines via Sunshine Station,” the advertisement states.
The Sunshine option also has the option of connecting with Geelong and Bendigo.
A full business case is currently being developed and construction is due to start in 2022.
While the federal government has made its commitment, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has said he would continue with the project, but wanted to see the final plans.
MELBOURNE AIRPORT CARPARK FEES RAKE IN $145M PER YEAR.
REGIONAL HUBS TO WIN BIG WITH AIRPORT RAIL LINK.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/andrews-government-melbournes-airport-rail-will-run-through-west/news-story/75967ab64558fbfe406e1a61168817fc>