----- Forwarded Message -----
 To: Tdu Transportdownunder transportdownunder@...>
Sent: Monday, 11 March 2019, 12:03
Subject: Thurs.7.3.19 daily digest

Roderick
Melbourne Express, Thursday, March 7, 2019
8.56 A much better day on the train network than yesterday's horror-show.
Letter to the editor: The design that "summons a bleak reminder of that tear-filled childhood birthday party you had the year Daddy left,” according to CityLab.   So a new moquette will replace the seat fabric on all trams, trains and buses in Victoria over the next five to 10 years (The Age, 5/3). A bright orange will be used for priority seats, to make them more visible, for people who have a disability or are pregnant. Is this a joke? The hideous orange is more likely to make a pregnant woman sick than provide her with relief. Stick to the blue for all forms of transport, and maybe the green ones can be for priority seats.
6.50 Route 75 trams towards Docklands are diverting via Swan St between Stop 29 Riversdale Junction & Stop 6 Russell St (an ill passenger). Burwood Rd passengers consider trains from Hawthorn. Bridge Rd passengers consider route 48 trams.
Buses will partly replace Route 1 trams between Stop 129 Moreland Rd and East Coburg  until the last tram tonight (works)
5.57 After a horror morning on the train network yesterday, fingers crossed it’s a smooth one today. All clear at the moment.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-thursday-march-7-2019-20190307-p512af.html>
Thurs.7.3.19 Metro Twitter
6.49 Apart from the 6.46 ex Pakenham originating from Westall at 7.25, all three lines are running normally at present.
8.02 Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Minor delays (an equipment fault near Box Hill).
- 8.12 Announcement 'stopping all stations train please move to platform 2'; 5 minutes later the train arrived on platform 1.
- 8.25 And then the obligatory announcement 3 days in a row now that the train is being redirected at Richmond because of ‘late running’. Don’t worry about the further delays and inconvenience caused to passengers.
- Was this announcement on a specific train or at a station? If trains are running late because of a disruption, they can lose their timetabled slot through the loop - and it can cause further delays to other trains if a late running train continues through the loop. [coverup nonsense; any following train at Richmond is already a signal block behind; reversing at Flinders St is supposed to cause even more congestion].
10.45 Minor delays Dandenong - Pakenham (police attending to a trespasser).
- 10.56 Trains are on the move, with minor delays.
10.54 Upfield line: Major delays (an [unexplained] operational incident near Gowrie). Trains may [ie certainly will] terminate/originate at Coburg.
- 11.42 Add replacement buses.
- 11.44 consider alternatives, such as: Bus route 530 Campbellfield – Coburg; Bus route 534 Glenroy – Coburg; Bus route 540 Upfield – Broadmeadows; tram route 19.
- 12.10 Trains are resuming; delays are clearing.
13.44 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Minor delays (an ill passenger requiring ambulance assistance at Caulfield).
- 14.11 clearing.Alamein/Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Buses replace trains Burnley - Box Hill from 21.30 until the last train of Mon 11 Mar ([unspecified] station 'upgrade' works).  Trains will operate Camberwell - Alamein, to an altered timetable.  There are three tiers of bus operation:
- stopping at all stations Burnley - Camberwell.
- express Burnley - Camberwell, then stopping at all stations.
- express Parliament - Box Hill between 4.45 and 21.55 on Fri 8 Mar.
Journeys will be prolonged by 60 min.  [Did Metro enhance service on the Glen Waverley line?]
Passengers with special needs contact you local station in advance, or ask staff at the replacement bus stops to organise travel.
For the safety [the universal coverup] and comfort of all passengers, there are restrictions on what you may take with you on buses.  You cannot:
- Take a conventional bike on a bus or tram (only folding bikes that meet the size criteria).
- Take an animal on a bus or tram unless it is in a suitable container. Exceptions apply for assistance dogs.
- Take a surfboard on a tram or a bus.
At Box Hill, buses use Whitehorse Rd, not the bus 'interchange'.
<www.ptv.vic.gov.au/plan/disruptions/article/belgrave-and-lilydale-lines-buses-replacing-trains-between-burnley-and-box-hill-from-10pm-thursday-7-march-to-monday-11-march-2019>
- How long will it take to get from Richmond to Belgrave this Friday evening? Last week starting at 21.30, it took 2.5 hours.
- Arrogant metro gets worse and worse.  It has never once run an effective bus replacement: insufficient buses, overcrowed, and poor connections.  Up to privatisation, the work could be done with trains still running.
- What time is the last train [ie 21.30 ex Flinders St, or 21.30 ex Burnley]?
- 8.3 Sign says Burnley, announcement says Parliament. Either way it is faster to walk this morning.
Frankston line: Buses replace trains South Yarra - Moorabbin tonight from 23.00 until the first train on Friday (urgent third-party works).  Passengers for Caulfield and beyond, take a Sandringham train to Elsternwick. Passengers South Yarra - Caulfield, take a Sandringham train to South Yarra.  [Did Metro enhance the Sandringham service?]
Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Buses replace trains South Yarra - Westall from 23.15 until the first train on Friday (urgent third-party works).  Passengers for Caulfield and beyond, take a Glen Waverley train to Darling.  Passengers for South Yarra - Caulfield, take a Sandringham train to South Yarra.  [Did Metro enhance the service on either line?]
- Late change: the replacement is extended to Dandenong.

Police investigate after woman groped at Flinders Street Station March 7, 2019.
video CCTV: Alleged groper at Flinders Street
Police search for a man who allegedly groped a 26-year-old passenger at Flinders Street station while she was waiting for an Upfield train.
Police are hunting for a man after a woman was sexually assaulted as she left Flinders Street Station earlier this year.
The 26-year-old woman arrived at the station on platform 4 on an Upfield line train about 6.50pm on January 19.
An image of the man police wish to speak to in relation to a sexual assault at Flinders Street Station. Credit:Victoria Police
As she left the station she was approached by two men.
Police say one of the men touched her inappropriately from behind multiple times, before they both ran off towards Swanston Street.
The man is described to be Caucasian, aged in his 20s and about 168 centimetres tall.
The incident follows of a spate of sexual assaults on the state's public transport system.
Last year, police made five appeals for information in three weeks after five men allegedly exposed themselves, or performed lewd acts, in front of women on Melbourne trains.
An image of the man police wish to speak with over a sexual assault at Flinders Street Station. Credit:Victoria Police
Two schoolgirls were also allegedly sexually assaulted and violently attacked by the same man within a day of each other on the same bus route in Melbourne's south-east in September last year.
In August, a man allegedly masturbated in front of a woman and then punched another woman, on the 86 tram in Melbourne’s inner north.
The number of sexual offences on public transport reported to Victoria Police rose by 40 per cent in 2016-17 to 350 - up from 249 reports the year before.
The offences included sexual assault, obscene exposure and other lewd behaviour – and were mostly reported on trains.
Investigators have released images and CCTV footage of two men police believe may be able to assist with their enquiries over the January 19 incident at Flinders Street Station.
Anyone who recognises this man or who may have witnessed this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-investigate-after-woman-groped-at-flinders-street-station-20190307-p512ai.html>

NSW Greens propose $1 metro fares to 'revolutionise' public transport system March 7, 2019. 34 comments
<www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-greens-propose-1-metro-fares-to-revolutionise-public-transport-system-20190307-p512g4.html>

MPs seize on power hardship to renew coal push March 7, 2019.<brisbanetimes..com.au/business/the-economy/households-on-power-bill-hardship-programs-hits-record-high-20190307-p512ca.html>