Fw: Daily digest Mon.4.2.19
  Roderick Smith


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Sent: Friday, 15 February 2019, 10:20
Subject: Daily digest Mon.4.2.19

There will be no photos for several days.
Roderick.
[Another day not coping.  The car at Reservoir was wedged between a train and a boom barrier.  That left one track clear, but Metro can't cope with single-line running any more.  It seems that this blocked trains coming into the city to form peak services, a result of removing stabling from the city centre].
4.2.19 Metro Twitter.
5.15 Minor delays Mernda - South Morang (an equipment fault at Mernda). Our maintenance team is on site, working to fix the fault.
6.17 Spencer Street is closed both directions between Bourke Street and Little Bourke Street (a building fire).  Emergency services are on scene.  Use King Street or Wurundjeri Way as alternatives.
- 6.23 If you're passing through Southern Cross station, please do take care. Some trams have been altered.
7.44 Hurstbridge line update? Website shows nothing. What platform city bound at Diamond Creek?
8.02 Craigieburn line: Minor delays (an earlier train fault at Moonee Ponds).
13.49 Craigieburn/Sunbury/Upfield lines: Minor delays (an equipment fault near Melbourne Central).  Trains may be held.
- 13.57 Some of us confused at North Melbourne because there were no announcements that the Upfield train had been changed to platform 4. Someone shouted it to a few of us at platform 2 because she noticed we were standing confused at the screens and didn't realise the change.  Might be one or two left behind who'll now have to wait another 20 minutes to get the next one.
- 14.32 minor and clearing.
- 15.49 Are Upfield trains terminating at Coburg? Will you have replacement buses to get to the rest of the stops?
- 15.51 Announcements say 'Stopping all stations to Upfield'. Screens say 'Terminating Coburg'. Website says ‘running good service’. Which is it?
- 15.58 Only the 15.42 outbound train terminated at Coburg. It then originated there as the 16.15 to Flinders Street.
- 16.00 So by no, you mean yes? I am on an ‘Upfield’ train. It left Flinders St at 15.42, and will terminate at Coburg? Will there be a bus or I just have to wait 20mins for the next train home?
- 16.01 Terminated is past tense. This train hasn’t made it to Coburg yet. Is that as far as it will take me? Could you please clarify?
- 16.05 So I take your non reply to mean yes, Metro is short running this service today?  What’s the reason?  [link to 2015 short-working article given].
- 16.51 How many more cancellations are expected this afternoon on the Craigieburn line?  I thought that your issues above were resolved, but there are two cancellations.
15.07 Minor delays after police attended to a trespasser near Pakenham.
16.12 Mernda line: Buses will replace trains between Bell and Epping (a motor vehicle hit by a train). Buses have been ordered but may take over an hour to arrive, consider alternative transport.
- 16.18 I just got on a train at Melbourne Southern Cross; there are no announcement or messages on the train about this yet.
- 16.21 Currently on the 16.00 from Flinders St. No announcement from the driver. Do I need to arrange alternative transport?
- 16.24 Alternatives: bus routes: 553/552 Bell - Preston - Regent - Reservoir, 555 Reservoir - Ruthven - Keon Park - Thomastown - Lalor - Epping 556 from Reservoir  - Epping & 357 from Thomastown - Epping.
- 16.26 Stuck on the train that's crashed? How long will this be, and what transport shall I take home to Southern Cross.
- 16.31 555 crosses the line at Reservoir. Are buses running in two halves, or diverting via Keon Pde and Cheddar Rd?
- 16.35 What happened?
- 16.35 Nice work, a passenger had to tell the driver that there was an issue, as your team hadn't.  Great communication channel team.
- 16.54 The vehicle incident in the Reservoir area is causing traffic congestion. This may cause extended travel times to buses in the area.
- 16.59 To all waiting at Bell: trams which run to RMIT / Uni Hill are a 3 min walk from the station; better than waiting for the bus.
- 17.01 Buses are in operation, with a further 17 enroute, but may take over an hour to arrive. Extended journey time of approx. 60min.
- 17.24 Why have all the Eltham trains been cancelled?
- 17.26 Why are you not running any services to Heidelberg?
- 17.31 Trains have now resumed, with minor delays.
- 17.33 So cancel all Hurstbridge trains so you frustrate commuters and cause issues on another line. Flinders Street is packed. Last two trains cancelled and last three on platform all Mernda trains. Why?
- 17.33 Yep 3 services to Mernda have gone through including one originally meant to be a Greensborough service. Still we wait. Sigh!
- Pathetic Hurstbridge line.
- 17.34 Also you've cancelled a Greensborough train. You do realise people live between Clifton Hill and Ivanhoe?
- 17.34 Why do issues on the Mernda line lead to cancellations on the Hurstbridge line? If there were cancellations required I would have thought they’d be on the Mernda line.
- Pathetic.
- 17.36 What bullshit.  People are tweeting to you about the lack of Greensborough trains and you are being completely silent. Just give us an explanation at least.
- 17.38 So Hurstbridge suffers again because of a 'faulty train'. Surely one of the five that have gone through Melbourne Central for Mernda could have lessened the crowding?
- 17.38 Looks like I’m not the only one frustrated by this. Where are the Greensborough trains? Can’t wait to be squished on the train..
- 17.40 There hasn’t been a Hurstbridge line train for 30 minutes. I’d call that major.
- 17.41 Any danger of an update on the Hurstbridge line?
- 17.42 Minor? How many cancellations at peak until it is not minor?
- 17.43 We need a Royal Commission into the lack of common sense shown by our rail system. Ticket prices up - reliability worse & common sense non existent!
- 17.44 Your trains are too full already at Melbourne Central; this is not minor [photo]
- 17.45 And the 17.38 left Flinders at 17.43. I wonder what will happen when they put even more apartments up in Alphington. It will be like Public transport thunderdome. Every commuter for themselves.
- 17.47 I pity the people in the loop; they don't stand a chance of getting on the next few trains!
- 17.47 Hope you're not getting on at Parliament.
- 17.49 The poor Metro trains guy on the platform at Flinders coping an earful; it appears that they told him nothing either.
- 17.55 Why is the Hurstbridge line affected as well?  Literally every train since 17.00 is full. I have waited at Parliament for 1 hour but still no train which I can get on. Whatever you are doing is not good enough
- 17.57 Hurstbridge passengers at Jolimont now been here over an hour due to overcrowding. No doubt compensation will be provided?
- 17.58 Operating on a ratio of four Mernda line trains to one Hurstbridge line train at the moment. When one arrives there is no hope to get on due to demand. Metro livestock carriage service.
- 18.36 Bunch of absolute morons running the timetabling. Always at peak hour Mernda gets preferential treatment.
17.40 Frankston/Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Minor delays (an earlier faulty train).
- 17.48 Tbh instead of tweeting here and wasting time, do something productive and fix the problem which we are facing every single day.
- 17.54 Again?
- 17.59 This is everyday metro!  Please sort this out! So over this!
Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Craigieburn from 20.30 (maintenance works).
Operation JET.
We're working with police to promote, in the young minds of this generation, the importance of rail safety around level crossings and the dangers & consequences of trespassing.
Visit our Community Education Unit <www.metrotrains.com.au/community-education-unit>

Metro pulls up short to meet performance targets March 25, 2015.
Metro is terminating trains part-way along the line hundreds of times a week, dumping passengers short of their destination in an effort to meet lucrative government-mandated performance targets.
The extent of Metro's short running is revealed in leaked internal documents that show 400 services were altered in just one week this month as the company scrambled to satisfy a new, more accurate performance monitoring system introduced on March 1.
Train stopped at Flinders Street Station. Photo: Craig Abraham
The new automated system, PRS, replaced a long-standing manual system in which Metro staff recorded the company's on-time and cancellation figures and supplied the data to the state. Public Transport Victoria then cross-checked the information against its own sample surveys.
PRS uses track sensors that automatically record train arrival and departure times at stations, reducing the government's reliance on data provided by Metro to inspect whether ithas met targets that can secure it million of dollars in quarterly bonuses.
Illustration: Matt Golding
Metro has consistently met its targets in recent years. In the 18 months to September, it received $16.7 million in incentive bonuses. But the good results have been achieved in part by a readiness to alter services to stick to the timetable.
In the week PRS was launched, Metro hit its 88 per cent punctuality target and its 98 per cent reliability target but did so while running hundreds of incomplete services, documents obtained by Fairfax Media reveal.
Between March 1 and 7, the company truncated 399 scheduled services - or 2.7 per cent of trains that ran that week. It also bypassed the City Loop or Altona Loop 71 times.
It is not known how many paying passengers were delayed by the practice, but 95 of the altered services were peak-hour trains heading in the busy direction.
Daniel Bowen, spokesman for the Public Transport Users Association, said the extent of short-running and loop-skipping revealed in the documents was troubling, and suggested Melbourne commuters were not as well served as Metro's performance results indicated.
"Bypasses and short-running can disrupt hundreds of passengers on each train and the fact that they're happening so often is a cause for alarm," Mr Bowen said.
He said the state government should scrutinise its franchise agreement with Metro to make sure it is appropriately penalised for running short services, just as it had pledged to reduce the practice of station-skipping.
"The fact that these stats exist may be a sign that the government and PTV need to be looking at the contract, which in some cases allows alterations to trains that affect a lot of people, which really should be penalised," Mr Bowen said.Metro receives quarterly performance bonuses and penalties from the government based on a complex formula of "passenger-weighted minutes"..
The operator is penalised more for a late-running peak-hour train than a tardy off-peak train, for example, and more for a cancelled train than a short-running train, which is counted as a partial cancellation.
In the first week of March, Metro stopped 196 trains short of the scheduled destination, a practice it calls "short arrivals".
A further 132 trains started part-way along the line - a practice Metro calls "short departures".
Reasons listed for the short services include train and signal faults, delays, police operations, vandalism and trespassers.
In all, 550 services were altered or did not run in the first week of March, although just 151 services were officially recorded as cancelled, putting Metro narrowly inside the 98 per cent reliability threshold that triggers customer compensation.
Metro spokeswoman Larisa Tait said there were valid reasons for running a short service, and that Metro was not necessarily penalised less heavily for doing so than if it had allowed a late-running train to continue to the end of the line.
"Ultimately, we resort to short arrivals and departures to assist with disruption management, to avoid knock-on effects and to return the network to on-time running (i.e. we alter some services when required to avoid trains running late all day)," Ms Tait said.
"We may also consider short arriving or departing a late-running service on single sections of track, which compounds delays."
https://amp.theage.com.au/national/victoria/metro-pulls-up-short-to-meet-performance-targets-20150324-1m6mel.html

If it's not a tram, why are there T-lights at Canberra's intersections? 4 February 2019. 32 comments.
It's the question that has reddit users scratching their collective heads.
If it's a light rail system and not a tram that's under construction from Gungahlin to Civic, why are there now 'T' traffic lights at our intersections?
Why do these lights say 'T' and not 'L'? Credit:Karleen Minney
Is it because it's a light trail system, where the 'T' is silent, as one meme suggests?
Will it be called the tube, or the trolley, as it is in other places around the world?
Intrigued as we are with all things light rail, The Canberra Times did a quick ring-around to figure out why - and the answer sadly didn't involve any silent letters.
"I had to look into this actually. It's specified in the Australian road rules, whether it's a tram or light rail, the [traffic light] symbol is a 'T'," the Australasian Railway Association's general manager of passenger and corporate services Emma Woods said.
Unfortunately, the 'T' is not silent. Credit: Reddit
'T'-lights are also used on the Melbourne and Gold Coast light rail systems, she said, and are similar to the B-lights we see in dedicated bus-ways, like that on Barry Drive.
ACT government sources also said 'T' had been used as it's the universally recognised symbol of rail systems, whether light or heavy.
But what is the difference between a tram and light rail system?
"Tram is your historic or more traditional version, the difference being they run on the road along with traffic. That's your Melbourne system for example," Ms Woods said.
"Melbourne has the largest tramway in the world at 250 kilometres, but also the slowest because it's stuck in traffic like everyone else on the road.
"Light rail is the modern version and it has a dedicated corridor. It doesn't get stuck in any road congestion, it has higher travel speeds. Some people use the terms interchangeably but realistically Canberra is getting light rail."
The Gold Coast system also has its own dedicated corridor, although the Newcastle system also under construction shares the road with cars in one stretch.
Ms Woods said having a dedicated corridor for light rail, like in Canberra, made the network more efficient.
"Melbourne has a really substantial investment program under way to transition from a tram way to a light rail system, meaning they're sifting to a dedicated corridor which increases the speed and the number of people it can move," she said.
Light rail is expected to start running from April 27, with testing under way on the Northbourne end of the line.
Drivers have also been undergoing training on the Northbourne corridor, with signs warning of changed traffic light sequences due to testing.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/act/if-it-s-not-a-tram-why-are-there-t-lights-at-canberra-s-intersections-20190131-p50uu2.html>

Delays for commuters after car hit by train in Reservoir
Herald Sun February 4, 2019
A car has been hit by a train near Reservoir train station. Picture: Twitter / Lone_Deranger.
Train services have resumed after a car was hit by a train in Reservoir this afternoon, causing peak-hour havoc for commuters.
Metro advised passengers that the Mernda line is still experiencing delays of up to 15 minutes following the earlier suspension of services.
The incident occurred just near Reservoir train station shortly after 4pm.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said that there were no injuries as a result of the incident, which initially saw train services on the Mernda line suspended between Bell and Epping stations.
Replacement buses were ordered but may take over an hour to arrive, Metro has warned.
A VicRoads spokesman confirmed that the incident occurred at the High St level crossing.
High St is also closed to traffic in both directions at the level crossing.
Victoria Police and MFB are on the scene.
An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said that paramedics were at the scene assessing a woman in her 40s believed to be the driver of the car.
By 18.03, the car had been removed from the train tracks.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/delays-for-commuters-after-car-hit-by-train-in-reservoir/news-story/d2e7969c1ec4fb6539caab81330629a1>

Point Cook residents left in a jam during commuter crush
Wyndham Leader February 4, 2019.
Westgate motorists banked back to Old Geelong Rd.
Commuters in one of Melbourne’s fastest growing suburbs are spending more than 28 days a year stuck in traffic.
It took the Wyndham Leader nearly half an hour to crawl just 5km down Point Cook Rd to the Princes Freeway during the morning peak last week — a journey that would normally take about six minutes.
And if that's not bad enough, motorists spend both the morning and afternoon peaks driving into the sun.
And with most western suburbs station car parks jam packed by 7.30am, and a lack of connecting bus services, driving is often the most viable option for commuters living in the west.
Wyndham mayor Mia Shaw said surveys showed about 40 per cent of Point Cook residents took more than an hour to get to and from work each day, despite living just 29km from the CBD.
It took the Leader nearly half an hour to drive just 5km along Point Cook Rd in peak hour traffic.
Fed up drivers have ranked the section of Point Cook Rd between Sneyeds Rd and Princes Freeway in the top 10 most congested roads in the state in three consecutive RACV Redspot Surveys.
Last year’s survey found the average speed on Point Cook Rd during the morning peak was just 27km/h between Shane Ave and Seabrook Blvd in Seabrook.
Cr Shaw said road congestion and poor public transport were the most common gripes among residents.
“Many sections of Wyndham’s roads have reached capacity, and some are carrying more traffic than they were designed for (and) this is causing traffic jams, delayed bus services, and safety issues,” she said.
“The Victorian Government’s Western Roads Upgrade is a welcome improvement to our road network but more needs to be done.”
The car park at Aircraft station is completely full by 7.30am on weekdays.
Eight priority roads in the western suburbs will be upgraded as part of the $1.8 billion project, which also includes adding lanes to sections of Palmers and Dunnings roads, between Princes Freeway and Point Cook Rd.
A dedicated bus lane will also be installed in each direction from Wallace Ave to Dunnings Rd.
Works started last year and are expected to be complete by 2021.
But the state’s peak motoring body says Point Cook Rd should also be duplicated.
RACV general manager public policy Bryce Prosser said extensive urban development in the suburb meant extra lanes were needed on Point Cook Rd to help carry the load.
video: How do Australia’s train networks compare to one another?
“In addition, a bicycle route should be provided along a duplicated Point Cook Rd so that commuters and school students have a safe route to ride to locals schools, the shops and Aircraft station,” he said.
He also called for more dedicated bus lanes and increased services to ferry people to Williams Landing and Laverton stations.
VicRoads has all but ruled out duplication of Point Cook Rd, saying more than 30 properties would need to be acquired by the government for the project to go ahead.
Metro north west transport and planning director David Teague said they would continue to look for ways to improve the notorious stretch of road in the growing suburb.
“We’re working closely with Major Road Projects Victoria which is upgrading a number of arterial roads in Melbourne’s western suburbs which will help reduce congestion and improve safety,” he said.
IS YOUR COMMUTE WORSE THAN THIS? TELL US BELOW.
ROAD RAGE LEADS TO CITIZEN’S ARREST
MELBOURNE TRAFFIC NOW WORSE THAN NEW YORK
HOW DID THE SUBURBAN SCHOOL RUN GET THIS BAD?
INSIDE THE BABY BOOMING SUBURBS OF THE WEST.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/wyndham/point-cook-residents-left-in-a-jam-during-commuter-crush/news-story/0b409d07ad2bf533e2c2d5b94c2f0c4c>


[Managers and politicians are obsessed with the word 'Metro', without knowing what one is or what one does.  Marge could see through the monorail hype; Australians can't see through the bullshit fed by UK imports].
New metro rail line to Sydney's south-east in the pipeline February 4, 2019..
A new rail line to Malabar in Sydney's south-east via Randwick or to Miranda in the Sutherland Shire via Sydney Airport are options the state's top transport officials have been canvassing behind closed doors.
Leaked government documents, obtained by the Herald, show the mooted lines would form an "eastern extension" of a rail line the Berejiklian government has committed to build between Parramatta and the CBD dubbed Sydney Metro West.
They reveal that the trade-off for those living in suburbs benefiting from an extension of the metro line would be a significant increase in apartments.
A line to Malabar from Sydney's CBD is one of four options for an 'eastern extension' of a metro rail line.Credit: Christopher Pearce
Aside from high-frequency train services, the internal Transport for NSW documents say that some of the key objectives underpinning decisions on an eastern extension of the line are "unlocking urban renewal opportunities" and "enhancing housing supply".
They show the four "strategic options" developed for an eastern extension of the line that focuses "on the south-east and Illawarra" are from the CBD to Kogarah via Sydney Airport; Miranda via the airport; Malabar via Randwick; and a line branching off to both Malabar and Kogarah.
Transport sources say a conversion of the existing Airport Line to carry single-deck metro trains is considered the cheapest and least disruptive option for extending the metro line.
The Berejiklian government earmarked $3 billion in the state budget last year for Sydney Metro West, the cost of which Transport for NSW has estimated at up to $18 billion. The final construction cost will depend on the route chosen.
A conversion of the Airport Line is considered the cheapest and least disruptive way of extending the metro rail network to Sydney's south east.Credit:Dean Sewell
Geotechnical drilling has also been carried out at Zetland as part of planning for Sydney Metro West.
Another leaked document shows that the transport agency has been considering four options for sites both near and on the site of Central Station in the CBD for Sydney Metro West. Two of the sites are near the eastern edge of the railway precinct and two on the western side.
It also reveals that attempts to make provisions for platforms for high-speed rail at Central Station have complicated plans for both the metro line and large scale development of the precinct.
"[High speed rail] provision impacts rail infrastructure and development," the documents state. "Commonwealth option proposes tracks below and above platforms 2-6, constraining development."
The possibility of separating the Airport Line from the suburban network, and running single-deck metro trains from Central to Revesby, was also canvassed in an options paper two years ago.
The rationale for converting the Airport Line was that it would free up capacity for an extra 12 trains an hour on the City Circle Line. Single-deck metro trains are also considered more suited to travellers lugging baggage to and from the airport.
"[A metro line from] Kogarah via Sydney Airport makes the most sense because it's the cheapest option. They could roll it out in a single term of government because they could convert the existing heavy rail," a transport source said.
But Transport Minister Andrew Constance said any prospect of extending Sydney Metro West to the city's east was well over a decade away.
"Our focus is only to the west right now given the state of the T1 Western Line," he said. "Our priority is to get [Sydney Metro] City and South West built, get Metro West and Western Sydney Airport Metro underway."
He declined to say what his preferred alignment for a metro line to the south-east was.
Transport for NSW said it was "always exploring ways to better connect customers across NSW".
While naming Sydney Metro West as its top priority, NSW Labor has said it will consider building a metro train line through southern Sydney if it wins government at the state election in March, instead of building the F6 Extension motorway and two other toll roads promised by the Berejiklian government.
Related Article The Berejiklian government is banking on the Sydney Metro project. Old, crowded trains and maxed-out credit: Will the Sydney metro project sway voters?
Related Article 'Yagoona Metro' on the cards if Bankstown proves too hard.
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/new-metro-rail-line-to-sydney-s-south-east-in-the-pipeline-20181218-p50myx.html>

See also:Old, crowded trains and maxed-out credit: Will the Sydney metro project sway voters?

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Old, crowded trains and maxed-out credit: Will the Sydney metro project swa....
By Matt O'Sullivan Australia's largest public transport project will be a centrepiece of the Berejiklian government's elect... | |

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