To:australiantransportnews@... australiantransportnews@...>
Sent: Sunday, 20 September 2020, 05:28:39 pm AEST
Subject: Tues.23.6.20 daily digest

Roderick

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 "181130-MetroTwitter-1972-schoolbuses(PROV.VPRS12903P1).jpg"  with ATN

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New Metro trains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf4Jm05Z7FA ; [as Shakespeare said: much ado about nothing.  Of course adding a seventh carriage adds 11% capacity.  The naysayers re double deck trains claimed wrongly that  the system couldn't fit them without expensive rebuilding.  These new incompatible trains have required a far greater engineering cost than that, for far less benefit].

23.6.20 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains on sections of the Frankston line and to Stony Point until the last train of Sun 26 Jul (level-crossing works).
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Major delays for some citybound trains now clearing through Dandenong after an earlier faulty goods train.
Altona Loop: Major delays due to an equipment fault near Newport. Select trains may run direct Newport - Laverton, not via Westona. Werribee express services are running as timetabled.
Buses replace trains Dandenong - Pakenham from 20.10 until the last train (works).
Buses replace trains Parliament - Sandringham from 20.15 until the last train (maintenance works).
Pakenham/Cranbourne/Frankston lines: All trains will originate/terminate at Richmond from 20.50 until the last train (maintenance works). From Flinders St [and loop stations?], take a Lilydale/Belgrave/Glen Waverley train and change at Richmond.
Werribee line: All trains will terminate/originate at Southern Cross from 21.00 until the last train (maintenance works). From Flinders St, take trains from pfm 1, 2 or 3 and change at Southern Cross.
Buses replace trains Newport - Werribee from 22.55 until the last train (works).

JUNE 23 2020 Coronavirus: New data tracks Canberrans' slow return to normal life
Movement on public transport has decreased 40 per cent due to the coronavirus pandemic. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong
As coronavirus shut down measures are incrementally lifted, Canberrans are tentatively moving back to normal life, but while movement in workplaces is rising many people are still avoiding public transport.
Google's Community Mobility Report has been tracking public movement throughout the coronavirus pandemic since stay at home rules were imposed in March.
At the height of shut down in the ACT in March, movement in retail areas fell 40 per cent and public transport use plummeted 52 per cent compared to baseline levels in January and February.
Data to June 14 shows retail movement had improved, but remained 13 per cent below the same period.
Public transport use has remained a fraction of what it was before the pandemic, with a 41 per cent dip in human traffic.
In a sign people are slowly returning to the office, workplace movement was down nine per cent mid-June compared to a decline of 31 per cent in March.
Unsurprisingly, people have been spending more time at home, with an increase of 5 per cent from January, although almost twice that many people were staying home in March.
Canberrans have been enjoying parks and reserves throughout the start of winter, with a 27 per cent increase on January numbers.
On a national level however, public movement at parks and beaches has decreased 18 per cent.
Retail is making a slow and steady return to normal across the country. Movement in retail areas is down 16 per cent on baseline figures but up from a 40 per cent drop off in May.
Northern Territory was the only jurisdiction to record an increase in retail movements, of 6 per cent, compared with a 22 per cent decrease in Victoria and 14 per cent decline in NSW.
However, Google said figures between states and territories shouldn't be used as a direct comparison as location accuracy and the categorisation of public places differed.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6801231/canberrans-slowly-return-to-the-office-but-avoid-public-transport-new-data-shows>

SA restrictions eased on footy this weekend and venues from Monday, as more resources sent to secure Victorian border [with ATN]
Adelaide 'Advertiser' June 23, 2020
<www.adelaidenow.com.au/coronavirus/restrictions-eased-on-footy-this-weekend-and-venues-from-monday-in-sa-as-more-resources-are-sent-to-secure-vic-border/news-story/3b0c461f9cefdb9f3153ab358d64daea>

Coles worker tests positive to coronavirus as pop-up testing sites overwhelmed [with ATN]
Herald Sun June 23, 2020
<www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/victorians-given-clarification-on-travel-restrictions/news-story/1f033c178e53d9bf8a2f45231ad848aa>

Cut-price deals to lure Aussie domestic travellers [with ATN]
News Corp Australia Network June 23, 2020
<www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/australians-urged-to-travel-at-home-to-boost-economic-fallout-from-coronavirus/news-story/ba32f9c1b4c8bf025a62e139e735196f>

VLine workers score new pay deal
Herald Sun June 23, 2020
Despite the state being in a coronavirus-induced recession, the good times continue to roll for public sector workers, with V/Line staff winning a costly new pay deal.
VLine staff will receive a one-off payment of $2000 and a pay rise of 5.5 per cent this year under a deal with the state government that will increase their wages by 11 per cent over the next three years.
In a sign the good times continue for public sector workers despite the state being in a coronavirus-induced recession, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union has won annual pay rises of 2.75 per cent a year over the life of the four-year agreement which will be backdated to July 1 last year.
The Andrews’ Government’s wages policy declares “increases in wages and conditions will be capped at a rate of growth of 2 per cent per annum over the life of the agreement”.
But while pay deals for workers at the government-owned regional rail carrier may be above the targets in the government’s public sector pay policy, they are nowhere near as good as the increases won by their counterparts at Metro Trains.
Earlier this year Metro staff won a 3.5 per cent a year pay rise. Picture: Tony Gough
That deal, which was signed in April as the state was going into lockdown, will give workers at Metro Trains an extra 3.5 per cent a year and a similar increase in allowances.
Under the VLine wages deal, workers have also won an extra two weeks parental leave for the primary carer and another week for the secondary carer.
VLine workers have also been granted “public holiday credits”, which give them the option of working on a public holiday for 250 per cent of their normal wage or 150 per cent plus an extra day’s ­holiday.
RTBU boss Luba Grigorovitch said the deal was a fair deal for her members.
“My members do a tough job day in, day out and deserve the job security which comes with this EA,” she said.
RTBU boss Luba Grigorovitch said the deal was fair.
But Opposition transport spokesman David Davis slammed the deal.
“This is far beyond what the community expects at this time of crisis and far beyond what the average worker is getting,” he said. “This is Melissa Horne’s departing present for the Victorian taxpayer — there appear to be few productivity improvements or offsets if any — and this all delivered in a context of appalling punctuality and reliability failure.”
A government spokeswoman said V/Line staff had done an exceptional job in keeping people moving during this pandemic, and the government was pleased that an agreement had been reached.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/vline-workers-score-new-pay-deal/news-story/bb8fd77d95837661dd80c2a18bce10bd>

Tues.23.6.20 Melbourne 'Herald Sun' letters:
* WELL done to all the selfish city folks on keeping the hotels and restaurants closed due to your ignorance and failure to selfisolate.
* SO NSW is considering closing borders because of the increased COVID-19 cases in Victoria. Pity your borders weren’t closed when 2500 passengers disembarked the Ruby Princess and scattered all over Australia.
* ALL that exercising I did during the lockdown must have worked. Since the cafes reopened, two waitresses have asked me for my name and phone number.