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To: Tdu Transportdownunder transportdownunder@...>
Sent: Monday, 13 May 2019, 21:21
Subject: Wed.1.5.19 daily digest

Roderick

190501W Metro Twitter:- level-crossing blocked.- service problems.- blocked..
190501W Melbourne 'Herald Sun':- letters (transport, energy).- Melbourne SC escalators.
190501W Melbourne 'Age':- letters (transport, electricity).- station carparks.- electricity. [with tdu]

Another day of 'We can't cope; we don't try; we don't care; our first priority is management convenience'.

Wed.1.5.19 Metro Twitter
Flagstaff Station: No lift access between the concourse and the platforms until Mon 13 May (works).
Frankston line: Minor delays (an equipment fault near Carrum).
- Can you let me know at what time I should leave for work tomorrow?  I'd like to be there by 8.40.  Can you tell me if your service that I pay for will actually work tomorrow?
- Currently at risk of losing my job because of the poor performance of getting me to work on time.
- When can we expect the Frankston line to run smoothly? It’s so annoying. You say minor delays, but my train is leaving Mordialloc at 8.02 when it’s meant to leave there at 7.44. How is that minor?
- Can Metro share the link for claiming another refund already for new month?
- What Was The Plan Here?‏
- Minor delays to you...but major problems for everybody crammed into this "stopping all stations" that was meant to be an "express" but was running late...even worse for those who can't get on. Here let me help: Every now and then in Melbourne, the trains descend into chaos. They did so relatively recently, making headlines around the state for the local public transport monopoly. With delays and frustration with the service all too common, are Metro going about things the wrong way?  https://whatwastheplanhere.wordpress.com/2019/03/27/metro-trains-melbourne
- Minor delays? Next two trains cancelled; I couldn't get on one prior.
- You need to install a speaker at the Bentleigh end of the Patterson platform; announcements can't be heard at that end.
- Any update? Announcements at Mentone are that there are no express trains today.  The next train has been changed several times.
- Didn't it happened just last week? How well you fixed it sot that it happened again today.  Boom gate at Seaford is closed for the last 15 min already; people missed two trains on other side because of of that.  You are a joke and a jerk.
- So Metro blocks people to hide its constant failure and incompetence. You are quick to block when people complain, but not when its about doing your job and fixing issues.  Shame on you twitter handler who, sitting in an office, with no idea of the incovenience that thousands are facing.
- Get the Frankston line in order! Every day without fail, another stuff up! Especially during peak times! Get your act together!
- 8.10 Minor delays (an earlier [unannounced] faulty train).
- 8.14 Now major.
- How can you, in good conscience, continue to charge us for this shoddy service when every day there are cancellations and major delays?
- Absolute joke. The train switched to a stopping all stations via the loop in mid journey, then changed to not via the loop. No announcement on the train to say it wouldn't be going via the loop. Every day I need to give a 20 min buffer to get to work, at least.
- And Metro doesn't care to improve its services,  Premier Andrews doesn't care either; why would he?
- Can you not keep the only exit I have from my street closed because of trains crawling over the level crossing?   These trains are doing less than walking pace and keeping the boom gates down for over 10 minutes. 
You might have delays, but don’t make everyone else late.
- You lot are a pack idiots.  Why don’t we just get the Japanese to run our pt network, then it somewhat work?
- How is waiting 45 minutes for a train a minor delay? Every day there are delays and cancellations.
- Hey you behind your keyboard, don't call it minor if you are not in the train.
- You changed an express mid trip to stopping all stations.  Seriously?  Looking forward to a refund this month.  3 days of faulty trains this week
- How is 20 minute delays minor? Is that a joke?
- Can’t believe I had to pay for that service.
- Complete and utter joke.  Government should cancel all contracts with Metro and find a company capable of running trains on time.
- 7.17 from Frankston just pulling in at Flinders Street - 25min delay. NOT minor.
- How about some sensible performance monitoring like measures based on peak vs off-peak, groups of stations (delays of 10mins for frankston are often 20 at Patterson) and whether you can actually fit on the ones that turn up.. That would get interesting.
- Definitely want a refund.  Source: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund
- Can you at least update the displays at each station so that we don't get misinformation?
- Jacinta Allan , as the minister for transport infrastructure, is this your responsibility?
- Why make an express into an SAS? It's already full, and further delaying everyone. Who's the idiot that makes these decisions?
- Liars.  This wasn't minor; the trains were packed as well, so you had to wait a couple of trains to get on.
- Nice work blocking me people can still see this.
- This is not a minor delay. You cancel trains at peak hour; the next train is standing in the middle of nowhere without any announcement, then moving slower than slow due to signal faults. This is a major delay.
- Minor delays? It’s 20-30 minutes, and even then it’s a can of sardines. Screw your heads on you blokes, pathetic.
6.27 Minor delays (an equipment fault near Craigieburn).
8.09 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Minor delays (an ill passenger at Oakleigh).. [where we have removed the third platform, and so other trains can't overtake].
- 8.13 clearing.
8.22 Mernda line: Minor delays (a faulty train at Ruthven).
- There have been no announcements at Thornbury station; the 8.20 train just blew straight through without stopping.
- No announcements at Thornbury.
- Yes, the same at Merri;  we are all waiting for at least 20 min, but no train.
8.41 Minor delays on Cranbourne and Pakenham bound services (an equipment fault near Armadale).
- 10.45 clearing
13.26 Werribee line: Minor delays (police request near Williams Landing).  Trains will be held.
- 13.39 Now major.
- 13.51 clearing.
13.50 Frankston line: Trains will depart from altered platforms between Caulfield and Moorabbin.
16.35 There is currently no lift access at Epping. Passengers requiring lift access are advised to change at Thomastown or South Morang and speak to staff.
- 18.06 Lift access has been restored.
- Can the staff who fixed that lift also do escalators?  Southern  Cross?
18.13 Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: Minor delays (an equipment fault near Westall).
- 18.22 Now major, but clearing.
- Is there an update? I’m on a slow train to nowhere.
- 18.31 Additional delays on the Pakenham line (police attending to a trespasser near Cardinia Road).
- Trains should be moving, with delays.
- Apparently not. I’ve been delayed by a slow train in front of us, signal faults at Westall and goodness knows where else. Now the train is terminating at Dandenong. You don’t even try. No consideration to the traveller. You think only of your bonus and how to achieve that.
- I think you mean a 'skyrail' police operation. At least that's what we're being told at Caulfield. A Melbourne failed infrastructure project.
- Expecting a refund of my monthly pass for this entire week which has been full of faults and delays.
- As per the driver,  there had been a signalling fault at Caulfield as well.
- Third world service with issues almost every day.  UUseless.
- Here we go again.  Why is there an issue at Caulfield?
- 18.49 Major delays (from two causes) clearing.
- It is clearing only because you are terminating Pakenham trains at Dandenong. Why reduce 'delay' times if we are going to have to get off and wait for another train? Every night this week there have been delays - extremely frustrating after 18 months of inconsistent timetables.
- During these situations we are under the direction of police. Some service terminations are required to stop additional delays forming.
- Delays at Caulfield and Westall this evening are your direct fault. We sat outside Caulfield station for 10 minutes this evening.
- We also had an earlier equipment fault at Westall (an external power issue).
- There’s a few of us waiting at Dandenong with no idea on when a train to Pakenham is arriving. When can we expect to get home? I left the city at around 17.30; at this rate I will be home at 19.30. The bus replacement service was faster.
- 19.12 Additional delays (a motor vehicle across tracks between Beaconsfield and Officer).
- Major delays, but clearing (the vehicle is now clear).
- If I call bingo because I've heard every excuse I can think of do I win a prize? Oh wait it's Metro, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
- Anything else? Bloody hell. Just another night on the train in Melbourne.
- Thanks Metro.  It has been an adventure of a lifetime.  At this rate we might have unicorns on the track.
- You've GOT to be kidding. Can you lot run a picnic let alone a bloody train line? That's four excuses in one bloody trip. Useless.
- Would have been quicker to walk.
- Wtf... seriously.
- Am I having a nightmare? Trespassers, signal faults and now a vehicle on tracks. Wow I hit the jackpot tonight
18.28 Werribee/Williamstown lines: Minor delays (a faulty train at Southern Cross).
- 18.35 clearing.
- 20.43 So why is the Altona loop cancelled? Altona people don’t get to go home.
Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Sunbury from 20.30 (maintenance works).
Mernda/Hurstbridge lines: All trains will run direct to/from Flinders Street from 21.00 until the last train (maintenance works).
Melbourne Express, Wednesday May 1 2019
8.58 A There are delays up to 20 minutes on the Frankston line.
On this day in 1959: Tullamarine airport announcement.
A plane at the airport in 1969.  Credit: Age Archives
Tullamarine was announced as Melbourne's new airport. It was opened as Melbourne International Airport, then was simplified to Melbourne Airport.. 60 years later, we still have the airport. We're still waiting on the train there.
Read about the 1959 announcement in our archives.
Our reporter Nick Bonyhady is catching trains, buses and a boat from Hobart to Cairns to ask Australian voters what they care about most this federal election.
Nick's passed through Victoria's Wangaratta and NSW's Wagga Wagga on his way to the nation's capital.
8.38 There's a suspected gas leak at Spencer and Lonsdale streets in Melbourne CBD.
Emergency crews are on the scene. Traffic has been blocked off in the area and trams halted for the moment. Jump off that tram and get those morning steps in, people!
8.24 On the Frankston line there are now major delays of up to 20 minutes (an earlier faulty train).  That follows several cancellations both inbound and outbound this morning.
On the Cranbourne line, there are delays of up to 10 minutes (ill passengers at Caulfield and Oakleigh).
7.59 On the Frankston line there have been several cancellations, including one service on the way to the city that terminated at Mordialloc. The 8.10am service from Frankston has been, while an 8.24am outbound service from Flinders Street is also cancelled.
On the Craigieburn line, there are delays of up to 10 minutes.
Frankston line issues The 6.48 to the city has just been cancelled, as well as the 6.53 out of the city.
There are delays up to 10 minutes due to an equipment fault near Carrum. There are also 10 minute delays on the Craigieburn line.
Seven prominent independent candidates have released a combined statement demanding the major parties take action on climate change and block the Adani coal mine.
5.53 There's been one cancellation on both the Craigieburn and Werribee lines this morning, and some slight delays on the Frankston line. Roads look clear.
<www.theage.com.au/melbourne-news/melbourne-express-wednesday-may-1-2019-20190501-p51ite.html>

Fearful uni students want more cameras at tram stops in wake of Aiia Maasarwe's death January 18, 2019. 2 comments
Students at La Trobe University's sprawling Bundoora campus want CCTV cameras installed at surrounding bus and tram stops following the horrific killing of international student Aiia Maasarwe.
Ms Maasarwe, 21, got off the Route 86 tram on the corner of Plenty Road and Main Drive near the Polaris shopping centre in Melbourne's outer-north just after midnight on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people gathered in tribute to La Trobe student Aiia Masaarwe in the Agora courtyard at the Bundoora campus on Friday.Credit:Rachael Dexter
She was about to walk the one kilometre to Kingsbury Gardens, her student housing on the campus, when she was attacked. Her walk home was via a long stretch of road, heavily lined by trees, alongside large areas of grass and bushland and with no visible street lighting.
La Trobe Vice Chancellor John Dewar vowed to hundreds of students who gathered at the university for a vigil on Friday that Ms Maasarwe's death would be the last at the campus.
"I am absolutely determined that the La Trobe community will do everything in our power to ensure this never happens again," Mr Dewar said.
"We will do everything we can to make sure that happens, that's my promise to you."
Ms Maasarwe's friends huddled together at the vigil, at the foot of a makeshift shrine, but were too grief-stricken to speak publicly.
Fellow student Ashleigh Brandse, 21, said she was attacked at the same tram stop in 2016 by a woman she did not know, in broad daylight.
She said she was punched in the head and spat at in the face. Her account was verified by Victoria Police.
A group of LaTrobe University students and teachers have paid tribute Aiia Masarwe by laying flowers where body was found on Wednesday in Bundoora.Credit:Paul Jeffers
"What happened to me was nowhere near as bad, of course, but I just feel like if more was done about these little things that these bigger incidences could be prevented ... there needs to be cameras at tram stops and bus stops," she said.
"If they could have helped me more, something like this could have been prevented".
Ms Brandse has not caught public transport since her attack.
Honours student Lauren McNabb, 25, said security had increased during the four years she had been studying at Bundoora, but she was still wary about travelling home at night.
"I used to take public transport, and I would always make a concerted effort to leave before it got dark," she said.
"The 86 tram has some questionable characters on it too, that was another reason."
Data analyst Elizabeth Hornsby, who studied at the university before taking up a job there, said she felt safe, but ask her colleagues to accompany her to the car park.
"I've heard stories about creepy people hanging in the car parks, but nothing has ever happened to me before," she said.
"This week is a bit of a reminder that this could happen anywhere".
La Trobe's free Glider shuttle bus takes students around the Bundoora campus, and also picks-up and drops-off from the Polaris shopping centre where Ms Maasarwe was found.
But the service only runs until 9.30pm and only during semester, meaning it is currently out of operation.
On Friday, a La Trobe spokeswoman said students could request a "UNI-safe escort service" between buildings, car parks and public transport stops outside the semester period.
The university also announced it would introduce 24/7 patrols, lighting upgrades, more cameras and 24-hour support for residential students .
The security measures were enough to reassure some of students, but not Ms Brandse.
"I don't care how much it costs to drive everywhere, but I make sure I drive everywhere from now on," she said.
"Nothing like this should ever have happened, she should have been able to go home to her family, she should have been able to complete her studies here".
Related Article The flower tram, for Aiia. The flower tram for Aiia Maasarwe: From Bourke St to Bundoora
Related Article Saeed Maasarwe with more than 1000 people on the steps of Parliament House. 'I have many dreams to be with her but I cannot now': Father of Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe makes heartbreaking visit to the scene of her death
<www.watoday.com.au/national/victoria/fearful-uni-students-want-more-cameras-at-tram-stops-in-wake-of-aiia-maasarwe-s-death-20190118-p50sb4.html>

<www.theage.com.au/federal-election-2019/emissions-from-big-polluters-will-fully-erode-the-benefits-of-coalition-s-climate-policy-20190501-p51j1o.html>
Brisbane train line reopens after fatal incident May 1, 2019
A male pedestrian has died in Brisbane's north-east on Wednesday.
Shorncliffe trains were suspended in both directions between Shorncliffe and Northgate station during most of the morning peak but the line has since reopened.
TransLink used buses to replace affected trains and help clear the commuter backlog. (File image)Credit:Alamy
TransLink said trains resumed about 8.15am and the backlog of commuters was cleared by 9.15am.
Even after services resumed on the affected stretch of the Shorncliffe line, Translink warned commuters to expect up to 60 minutes of delays while buses and trains cleared the backlog.
Police were called to the incident about 4.40am near Deagon station, 19 kilometres north of Brisbane CBD.
Commuters were earlier facing up to 90 minutes of delays, but this was revised to an hour about 6.50am.
Police investigations were ongoing.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-commuters-face-delays-trains-suspended-after-police-incident-20190501-p51ito.html>