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Subject: Tues.28.5.19 daily digest

Roderick

190528Tu Melbourne 'Herald Sun':- letters (budget, road).- state budget.
190528Tu Melbourne 'Age' - state budget.
190528Tu Metro Twitter - Reservoir.
Electrification centenary Tuesday ch 7 clip: <www.facebook.com/7NEWSMelbourne/videos/vb.363623854300/659751234464019>
Tues.28.5.19 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains Sandringham - City until 7.00 Sun 9 Jun (tunnel work).
- Today was the centenary of Melbourne's electric trains: the official train ran Melbourne - Essendon - Sandringham - Melbourne on 28.5.1919.  Public trains started next day.  Historians had to travel by bus.  Metro couldn't even run a train from Elsternwick.
The citybound left-turn lanes from High Street across the Reservoir line are closed until the end of the year. Detour via Keon Parade and Cheddar Road, or Uturn at Edwardes Street, then make a right-hand turn.
14.38 Sunbury line: Minor delays (police near Sunshine). Trains will be held.
- 14.53 clearing.
15.53 Citybound delays (a vandalised train at Belgrave).
- 16.02 clearing.
16.08 The 16.58 Melbourne Southern Cross - Traralgon will not run. Passengers board the 17.07 Pakenham from pfm 12, connecting at Pakenham with buses.
- VLine really should not be expecting people to travel on Pakenham trains in peak hour. They are full enough without extra passengers.
17.02 Craigieburn line: Minor delays clearing after police at Essendon earlier.
20.14 Sandringham line: Minor delays after police attended to a trespasser near Flinders Street.
Sunbury/Craigieburn/Upfield lines: All trains will run direct from/to North Melbourne via from 21.00 (works).  From loop stations, take a Flinders St train from pfm 1 and change.
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: All trains will run direct Flinders St - Richmond from 21.00 (maintenance works).

Melbourne Express, Tuesday, May 28, 2019
9.09 tramTRACKER is working again.
8.15 There are major delays on the Hurstbridge line and minor hiccups for Sunbury commuters.
6.47 YT is experiencing issues with tramTRACKER this morning. Please refer to the timetables at stops or via our website.  We will continue to publish disruption updates via twitter.
The bill is in, the brakes are on: Victorian state budget.  The Andrews Labor government has put the brakes on big new spending and building initiatives in its fifth budget as it begins the task of keeping its campaign promises and paying for the huge policy agenda it took to last year’s election.
A safety upgrade of Melbourne’s City Loop that was meant to cost $43 million has blown out to cost more than three times its original estimate, the state budget has revealed.
5.52 Looking good on the trains so far, except Sandringham where they're still on the buses due to Metro Tunnel works.
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-express-tuesday-may-28-2019-20190528-p51rs3.html>

Lord Mayor reveals plan to transform Adelaide Street May 28, 2019
A new vision for Brisbane's Adelaide Street will see the street turned into a "gateway" into the city centre, with a new walkable boulevard and pocket park, and a tunnel for Brisbane Metro.
The primary city street will see significant change when the Brisbane Metro tunnel connecting North Quay to the King George Square Bus Station is built, with Brisbane City Council planning a complete overhaul of Adelaide Street to coincide with the major project.
The Brisbane Metro project will see a 200-metre bus tunnel constructed under Adelaide Street.
Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner released the draft Adelaide Street vision for community consultation on Tuesday morning.
"As part of this, the King George Square Station will be a new front door for many commuters coming into the city, [and] we're going to make sure that is a world-class arrival experience in Adelaide Street and a much more pleasant environment, a safer environment, for pedestrians as well."
Cr Schrinner said when Brisbane Metro was completed, there would be 50 fewer buses in peak hour on Adelaide Street as they would go underground alongside the Metro vehicles.
He said a priority for the council was also to "declutter" Adelaide Street by removing and streamlining the numerous bus stops along the road.
Visitation to Brisbane is predicted to increase by 30 per cent next year, primarily from domestic tourism visitors, with international visitors also contributing.
Cr Schrinner said the goal was for Adelaide Street to become a world-class entry to the city with a focus on pedestrian safety and amenity.
Plans for the construction and development of the street are still being considered, he said, and this  could include closing the street on one side at a time for months.
He said the council was trying to limit the impact on street users as the tunnel construction begins next year.
The council is still waiting for the state government to sign off on final approvals before construction on the $944 million Brisbane Metro can begin.
The latest design image for Brisbane Metro.Credit:Brisbane City Council
"Just in recent days we had a really constructive meeting with the state government talking about the way forward," Cr Schrinner said.
"Council has done everything that it needs to do to get this project up and running; it's fully funded, we are now waiting on two things to happen.
"Firstly, state government approvals, and secondly the tender process which is now under way to come to a conclusion.
"We need to start making decisions from the middle of the year on the tender process ... we can get cracking on this project later this year."
He said the meetings with the state government revolved around the Cultural Centre precinct and the designs currently under tender.
Brisbane residents can provide feedback on the draft Adelaide Street vision until June 24, after which the council will begin working on the "ultimate" vision coinciding with Brisbane Metro's construction timeline.
Related Article A new pedestrian crossing is being built in Adelaide Street.. New city road crossing after nine pedestrians hit in five years
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/lord-mayor-reveals-plan-to-transform-adelaide-street-20190528-p51rso.html>

Andrews Government’s rail network upgrades on track to $15 billion bill
Herald Sun May 28, 2019.
Removal of level crossings and railway station upgrades across Melbourne are set to cost the Andrews Government almost $15 billion over a decade.
video: Demolition of Reservoir train station at the High St level crossing in Reservoir April 4, 2019
The Andrews Government is set to spend almost $15 billion over a decade on its signature policy of removing level crossings and upgrading railway stations across Melbourne.
Labor initially promised to remove 50 level crossings by 2022, at a cost of $5-6 billion — a budget that was quickly blown once station upgrades were added to the project.
In November, the program was expanded to include an extra 25 grade separations, with a new finish date of 2025.
The Herald Sun can reveal that the budgets for the two phases of the project will be merged.
This means $6.6 billion in this week’s state Budget for the new 25 crossings will be added to the $8.1 billion already spent or allocated for the original 50 — a total of $14.7 billion.
The Andrews Government is set to spend almost $15 billion over a decade to remove level crossings and upgrade railway stations across Melbourne. Picture: Tony Gough
The decade-long project has been viewed as a political winner by the Labor Party because it removed local road blocks while also boosting public transport.
But Opposition transport spokesman David Davis said there were serious questions to be asked about taxpayer value for money.
“We still don’t have detailed costings for the level crossings that have been completed, despite repeated requests,” Mr Davis said. “The government needs to be transparent with the $6.6 billion in extra funds in this Budget, because it looks for all the world like backfill for their cost overruns.”
The government says the scope of the original project had been continually expanded, and that a business case for the original 50 removals and associated network upgrades showed value for money.
A spokeswoman said added extras included “building new stations or parkland, or upgrading power and signalling”.
“This year’s investment is for much more than 25 more level crossing removals — this funding also includes new stations and other works to modernise the network,” she said.
Treasurer Tim Pallas told an event hosted by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday that Victoria could not slow down its infrastructure build, and rejected criticism of tax hikes, such as on expensive cars.
When asked about people who might have been saving 20 years for a LandCruiser and would now be whacked with a bigger tax, Mr Pallas joked that they might need to “get a life”.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/andrews-governments-rail-network-upgrades-on-track-to-15billion-bill/news-story/f4c43a86a8dd62be9cee1f5120170d06>