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Subject: Wed.20.3.19 daily digest

Roderick
Link: <www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/can-you-name-the-people-in-these-historic-queensland-photos-20190212-p50x8f.html>
Wed.20.3.19 Metro twitter. [items earlier in the day are missing]9.38 Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Minor delays (an ill passenger at Camberwell).  Trains may depart from altered platforms.
- 9.47 clearing
10.22 Glen Waverley line: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser) and an equipment fault near Mount Waverley.
- 10.38 trespasser delays clearing; fault delays continuing.
- 15.54 Are there still delays since these incidents?
15.47 Werribee/Williamstown lines: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser near Newport).
- 15.53 clearing
16.43 Sunbury/Craigieburn/Upfield lines: Minor delays (an unruly passenger at North Melbourne).
- 16.48 clearing
17.09 What about Mernda line? There are cancelled trains.
- 18.22 What's up with cancellations and delays on platforms 9 & 10 at Southern Cross? And don't say "operational reasons".
Mernda/Hurstbridge line: Buses replace trains Parliament - Bell/Heidelberg from 20.10 (maintenance works).
20.39 Buses to replace trains Greensborough - Hurstbridge (an equipment fault at Greensborough).  Buses have been ordered but may take over 60 minutes arrive, consider alternative transport.
- 20.58 consider bus route 513.
- 21.06 Trains continue to operate Heidelberg – Greensborough. [a triple change, and so multiple delays].
- 21.29 Trains resuming; major delays clearing.

Melbourne Express, Wednesday, March 20, 2019
8.55 Slight delays are ongoing on the Pakenham, Craigieburn and Frankston lines. Trams are fine. Overall, there's no reason to make alternative arrangements.
7.26 Frankston line cancellations. Three services have been cancelled from Frankston into the city this morning (a "train fault").
The 7.42am is the next affected cancellation, but other services are still running.
There are also minor delays on the Sandringham and Werribee lines.
6.44 There've been a couple of cancellations of Waurn Ponds to Southern Cross services this morning. The 7.35am from Waurn Ponds is the latest cancellation, with the next leaving at 8.10.
Those affected, you can follow the VLine Geelong Twitter feed.
A controversial plan to create an open air restaurant in the heart of Chinatown was approved by a divided Melbourne City Council last night.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-wednesday-march-20-2019-20190320-p515mu.html>
Workers and students pushed to regions in Scott Morrison's 'congestion reduction' bid March 20, 2019. 281 comments
<www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/workers-and-students-pushed-to-regions-in-scott-morrison-s-congestion-reduction-bid-20190319-p515kf.html>
Victoria's growth will place increasing demands on our environment March 20, 2019.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-s-growth-will-place-increasing-demands-on-our-environment-20190320-p515s1.html>
Brisbane Metro's new vehicles may be electric: deputy mayor March 20, 2019.
Talking points:
•Residents will see what the Brisbane Metro vehicles will look like by mid-2019.
•A contract to build the Brisbane Metro depot for the 60 super-buses, which may well be electric, will go to market on March 27.
•Later in 2019 two large contracts - to build the new underground bus station at South Brisbane - and then the tunnel under Adelaide Street to King George Square's xunderground busway will be announced.
•The Brisbane Metro project will begin running in 2023.
Brisbane's new Metro transport service could be run by 60 electric vehicles when it begins in 2023.
The choice of vehicle to make up Brisbane Metro will be made by mid-2019, Brisbane's deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Wednesday.
The latest design image for Brisbane Metro.Credit:Brisbane City Council
"At the moment we are considering all options for power trains," Cr Schrinner said.
"We are looking at everything from fully electric through to more traditional power trains.
"That includes hybrid power trains as well.
"We want to make sure that the new [Rochedale] depot is set up to accommodate the future charging requirements for a future electric fleet as well."
Three companies have provided designs for the Brisbane Metro bi-articulated buses.
Those businesses are joint venture Transit Australia Group and Van Hool of Belgium; Hess Ag of Switzerland, and Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, Germany.
"We have shortlisted to three different companies that are in the running for that vehicle and those three different companies are offering different power trains," he said.
"So, there are three different options on the table at the moment.
"By the middle of this year we will choose the preferred supplier of the Metro vehicles."
A pilot vehicle will be built first by the winning tender for evaluation around Brisbane's busways.
"That pilot vehicle will come here for testing on the network to make sure that it meets our specifications," he said.
"Once we are satisfied with the pilot vehicle, we will order the remaining 59 to make that full fleet of 60 vehicles."
"We are planning for up to 90 vehicles down the track," he said.
"We need room to grow as Metro expands. We are already looking at the opportunities for the state government's busway to be expanded down to Springwood as well."
"So this depot needs to be future-proof. It must be ready to expand as Metro expands."
Brisbane City Council has outlined the issues behind the proposed 4.5-hectare depot for the Brisbane Metro super-bus vehicle fleet on School Road.
Two other large contracts in the Brisbane Metro project were set to be announced later in 2019.
A tender would be awarded for the construction of an underground busway station near the Brisbane Cultural Centre at South Brisbane.
The new depot at Rochdale was described as the third piece of the Brisbane Metro project "infrastructure jigsaw".
The contract to build the Rochdale Brisbane Metro depot goes to tender on March 27 and the winning tender was to be announced later in 2019.
The depot on School Road would have vehicle fuelling and recharging facilities, "wash down" facilities, an administrative centre and parking for 270 cars.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-metro-s-new-super-buses-may-be-electric-deputy-mayor-20190320-p515s2.html>
Driving in the path of light rail? That's going to cost you March 20, 2019. 35 comments
Talking points:
•Drivers stopping or driving on Canberra's light rail tracks could face a fine of up to $3000.
•If your ticket looks like the dog ate it, then that’s a potential offence too. The direct fine is $75 for children and $181 for adults.
•Jaywalking doesn't exist as a specific offence on ACT statutes but many similar offences do for "unsafe crossing" by pedestrians.
Driving a car or riding a motorcycle into the path of Canberra's light rail will cost you a fine of $464 and three demerit points under an extensive list of road transport offences which are now in operation.
If a driver fails to move out of the path of an approaching light rail then that would incur a $200 fine and a loss of three demerit points, while the same penalties would apply for any driver failing to give way to light rail.
An incident like this could cost the driver an automatic three demerit points and a $464 fine. Credit:ACT government
Both offences sit under road transport regulations which were introduced in 2005, years before light rail was considered for the ACT.
Now that light rail testing is in full swing in Canberra ahead of its official April start-up, all drivers, motorcyclists, bicycle riders and pedestrians will need to keep a watchful eye out for the big red carriages or face some significant penalties.
In Melbourne, everyone knows trams are not to be trifled with. The most recent figures from the city of trams revealed an average of three tram v car incidents per day.
Potentially very expensive, but levied at the discretion of the police officer at the time of the offence, is the mistake of a private driver stopping in any of the shared tramway sections of Canberra's roads.
Stopping or driving on the tracks carries a maximum of 20 penalty units.
With each penalty unit set at $150, that's potentially a huge fine of $3000 - the same financial impost if your vehicle was driven whilst unregistered..
However, if you drive a public bus, public mini-bus, taxi or hire car, then the light rail tracks can be accessed provided you are only dropping off or picking up passengers.
The specific offence of jaywalking doesn't exist on ACT statutes but many similar offences do for "unsafe crossing", all aimed at covering a range of errant and aberrant pedestrian behaviour.
Police road rules also eschew the term “light rail” and instead use the more common term of “tram”, despite this description being out of favour with Canberra Metro.
There are fines for crossing the road when the lights are not green ($151), not crossing by the safest route after getting off a tram ($151), delaying crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing despite a tram approaching ($151), and staying on the crossing longer than necessary ($151).
Under the 2017 road rules, police can issue an infringement notice to anyone who crosses a street, a railway line or a tram track in an "unsafe" manner.
The recent incident at the intersection of Northbourne Avenue and Barry Drive in which a pedestrian wearing earphones stepped in front of an oncoming tram could have been the first incident in which police could potentially have used their regulatory powers to issue a fine.
Northbourne Avenue already has the highest incidence of pedestrian collisions in the ACT.
Police in other jurisdictions such as NSW extend their foot patrols to include trains and public transport, and ACT police have indicated that the same type of patrol discretion would apply here with Canberra's light rail.
NSW police also place an emphasis on commuter safety with messaging such as avoid waiting alone, walk with other commuters when you can, be an alert and confident commuter, keep your belongings secure, and travel near the driver if alone in a carriage.
Activating the emergency stop button on the light rail is an offence, but it’s one administered by Transport Canberra.
Light rail drivers will also face scrutiny when the service becomes public. The ACT application of national rail safety laws will apply which requires all drivers to return a 0.0 return on an blood-alcohol breath test, and a zero return for illicit drugs.
Any driver-related incident would fall to Transport Canberra to enforce, as was the case recently when an Uber driver had to slam on the brakes to avoid a near-miss with a light rail driver who belted through the intersection against the lights.
That incident was captured by a dash cam video and the light rail driver suspended by Canberra Metro Operations.
Hefty penalties also exist for any rail service operator who fails to keep up-to-date records relating to the driver, the driver’s instructor and the driver’s assessor.
Failing to keep records on any of the three - driver, instructor or assessor - carries a 10-unit penalty and a $360 fine for each instance.
Obligations also fall on the light rail operator to fulfil certain obligations for the public or face a potential penalty.
Not displaying a sign to show that the people in the carriages and at the light rail stops that they are under surveillance is an offence, as is failing to return lost property or not holding lost property for a reasonable time.
If your ticket looks like the dog ate it, then that’s a potential offence too.
Travelling on light rail with a defaced/damaged/changed ticket carries a penalty of 5 penalty units. If you’re under 18, the fine is $75 and if you're an adult, it rises to $181.
Related Article Emergency services at the scene of a collision between a tram and a pedestrian in Canberra on Saturday morning. Man hit by Canberra tram while walking through intersection
Related Article. Readers were divided over whether the government should start constructing Stage 2 of the light rail. Light rail near-miss under investigation.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/driving-in-the-path-of-light-rail-that-s-going-to-cost-you-20190314-p514bf.html>