----- Forwarded Message -----
 To: Tdu Transportdownunder transportdownunder@...>
Sent: Wednesday, 9 January 2019, 9:17
Subject: Tues.8.1.19 daily digest

No photos until further notice.

Roderick.
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Buses replace trains Flinders St (Federation Square) - Westall until the last train, Sun 13 Jan.
- No trains and slow buses, shambles.
Frankston line: Buses replace trains Flinders St (Arts Centre)-Moorabbin until last train, Sun 13 Jan.
- Another week ruined by Metro.
- Are there buses Brighton to Moorabbin for those who don’t want a limited express bus?
- Express buses will operate from Brighton Beach - Moorabbin. Take a Sandringham line train to connect.
- thanks for not acknowledging that your tweet about the current Frankston line arrangements is absolutely inaccurate.  Is in line with how your company normally operates.
- This isn't what is happening - the buses are running between Moorabbin & Brighton Beach - why aren't your tweets reflecting this?
- There's stopping all station buses running between Moorabbin-Caulfield then express to the city. Passengers beyond Moorabbin should take a Sandringham service and change at Moorabbin/Brighton Beach for a connecting bus
- Which is not what the tweet I replied to says.  At Flinders they are telling ppl to catch Sandringham line.  No bus from Flinders to Moorabbin per that tweet from Metro.
- There are buses to Moorabbin but they are slower than taking a Sandringham train and a bus from Brighton Beach to Moorabbin. Here's the stopping pattern of the buses
Stony Point line: Buses replace trains Frankston - Stony Point until last train, Sun 13 Jan.
Sandringham line: Trains will run to an altered weekday timetable.
Women in veteran carriages at Spencer Street 1972.
11.04 Minor delays Moorabbin - Frankston (police attend to an unruly passenger).
- 11.11 now major.
- 11.39, now minor and clearing.
Cranbourne/Pakenham Lines: The Bulla ice cream van has just arrived at Westall near the bus replacement bus stop.
- I would rather get a train to work than have ice cream. I hope all the works will be done after 13.1.
- you have to do more than icecream. Just dish icecream and get us to work in time from Pakenham and Cranbourne. Lord help us, because Metro has given up. Icecream does not speed the train. Where’s the beer?
- The Bulla truck can’t repair the agony the commuters/taxpayers are experiencing now. Never-ending problem on the railways. C’mon speed up. We are TIRED.
- Why aren’t there direct trains from Cranbourne to Westall?
- What about the other stations
- Stick the train replacement buses.
17.48 Mernda line: Minor delays (police attending to unruly passengers at Preston and Thomastown).
17.52 clearing.
- shocking.
19.01 Minor delays: Moorabbin - Frankston (police near Cheltenham).
- 19.25 clearing.
https://static.ptv.vic.gov.au/PDFs/Disruption_PDFs/Dec-2018/1544594438/Frankston-Brochure-January-19.pdf

Metro commuter shocked to discover needles embedded in train seat
Herald Sun January 8, 2019
A pincushion prankster has put Melbourne’s Metro staff on high alert after a commuter found more than a dozen needles jammed into a train seat for unsuspecting passengers to sit on.
Anthony Artusa boarded at West Footscray station about 7.54am yesterday and came across the nasty surprise while he was finding his seat.
“Upon sitting down, I felt a prick in the back of my upper leg region. I checked my pockets thinking I had left something in there,” Mr Artusa said.
“Turns out there were approximately 20 needles that were depressed by someone into the seat of the train that I sat on.”
“They were beneath the surface and once I sat on them, they pushed into through my clothing and piercing my skin.”
As many as 20 needles were pulled out of the chair once they were discovered but no other spots on the train are believed to have been targeted.
Pictures of the needles show them embedded in the seat with their sharpest ends facing upwards.
Metro staff are now scouring through CCTV footage and have inspected the train where the needles were found as they work to hunt down the person responsible.
“This is a terrible act of vandalism and we are thankful that no-one was injured,” a spokesman said.
“Metro has launched a full investigation into the incident and will work closely with Victoria Police.”
A passenger on a Metro trains was shocked to find about 20 needles poking out of his seat when he sat down. Picture: Anthony Artusa.
Detectives have been contacted about the needles and are currently investigating the situation.
It comes after nationwide manhunt was launched last September to end the strawberry sabotage scandal in which dangerous needles were embedded in pieces of fruit.
DNA found on a punnet of strawberries in Victoria was used to charge a Queensland farm worker for the alleged contamination that rocked the strawberry industry and forced farmers to dump tonnes of fruit.
Last week Victoria Police launched another investigation into needle tampering after a couple from Craigieburn said they found two small needles inside a bag of seedless grapes.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/metro-commuter-shocked-to-discover-needles-embedded-in-train-seat/news-story/f2b0caad62c268d2ed58ae115ffc8469>

'He had a smirk on his face': Bus sex assault victim haunted by attack 8 January 2019.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-hunt-for-bearded-man-with-man-bun-after-sexual-assault-in-sunshine-20190108-p50q66.html>

'Non-compliant' light rail could still get accreditation 8 January 2019.
32 comments
The ACT's light rail project could still receive accreditation even if the electrical cabling is too shallow to meet Australian standards, so long as Canberra Metro can prove it's safe.
But the Electrical Trades Union says the consortium will be hard-pressed to find a sparkie who would sign off on it.
A light rail vehicle arrives at the Gungahlin terminus. There are concerns about the electric cabling on the project.Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong
The union and its representatives are concerned electrical conduits in parts of the corridor are too close to the surface to meet Australian standards, the Sunday Canberra Times revealed.
Australian standards say high-voltage cables installed underground in areas accessible to the public should be buried at a recommended 750 millimetres..
But a source on the light rail project said there were high-voltage cables buried "somewhere between extremely shallow and not very shallow" in the corridor.
A pit near the intersection of the Federal Highway and Flemington Road in Canberra, where electrical cables appear to be installed just a few millimetres below ground level. 'White elephant': Fears Canberra light rail network won't be certified
Photos also show high and low voltage cables exposed near the intersection of the Federal Highway and Flemington Road, nowhere near this deep.
A Transport Canberra and City Services spokesman says the ACT government directorate "fully expects" the project to achieve certification against all relevant Australian standards.
But the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator - which is currently assessing Canberra Metro’s application for accreditation - confirmed that standard may not need to be met if the consortium can be managed through the safety management system it is required to have.
"To be accredited under Rail Safety National Law an operator must be able to demonstrate to [the regulator] how it has met its safety duties through certification by independent and qualified persons - including by other relevant bodies such as the Technical Regulator," a spokesman said.
The Technical Regulator responsible for electrical safety in the ACT is the director-general of the ACT government's Environment and Planning Directorate.
Asked whether it was problematic that effectively an employee of the client was involved in the certification process, the National Rail Safety Regulator spokesman said there were checks and balances in the system.
"For example, [the national rail regulator] would require evidence that the Technical Regulator is satisfied that electrical systems are safe for operation before any approval to operate services would be granted," he said.
"The accreditation process also includes audits of an operator’s safety management system and inspections of processes adopted to certify rolling stock and track infrastructure."
The ACT government spokesman also said there were "robust contract and regulatory processes in place to check and ultimately verify all aspects of the work, including electrical works".
He said the photo of the exposed cables was "somewhat dated" and the site had since been rectified.
"As with any other large and complex infrastructure project, the need to rectify some elements of the works is to be expected. The contract has processes in place to deal with this inevitability," he said.
"Throughout the construction period Canberra Metro has been addressing parts of the project that require rectification along the way.
"The ACT government expects that there may continue to be a need to rectify parts of the project before operations commence. This shows the contract we entered into is doing its job in ensuring Canberrans receive a world-class light rail system."
But the ACT Opposition's transport spokeswoman Candice Burch said the potential lack of compliance with Australian standards presented a significant risk to public safety.
She has written to Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris asking if she still had confidence in Canberra Metro to achieve certification for light rail.
"The minister needs to respond to community concerns as a matter of urgency.. Missed deadlines and other failures have already resulted in major delays in the completion of light rail," Ms Burch said.
"Only last week we heard of $7.7 million in extra costs added to the project. Now there are concerns the network will not receive certification. This once again demonstrates why Canberrans can’t trust ACT Labor to manage infrastructure projects.”
However Electrical Trades Union ACT officer Mick Koppie said he did not believe there was a risk to the general public, but rather to contractors digging in the area, possibly in decades' time.
"You’re basically making a time bomb," Mr Koppie said.
Mr Koppie also expressed scepticism that the risk could be managed through Canberra Metro's systems.
"How will they prove it's safer than putting it three-quarters of a metre down? How will they get someone to sign off on it? No electrician would," he said.
The ACT government spokesman said public safety was of paramount importance across the project and the project would not have high voltage electrical conduits too close to the surface.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/non-compliant-light-rail-could-still-get-accreditation-20190107-p50pyr.html>