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Subject: Mon.12.10.20 daily digest

Roderick

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The full set of silos with murals: www.australiansiloarttrail.com

Mon.12.10.20 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains on sections of the Upfield line until the last train of Sun 15 Nov (level-crossing works at Coburg and Moreland).
7.54 Belgrave line: Buses will replace trains between Upper Ferntree Gully and Ringwood (a track fault near Bayswater). Buses have been ordered, but may take over an hour to arrive.  Consider alternatives.
- 8.21 Buses have been dispatched, but may take over 30 minutes to arrive.
- 8.30 Five buses are in operation, with a further seven enroute.
- 9.30 Journey time extended by approximately 30 minutes.
- 9.42 Trains are resuming.
10.02 Frankston line: Buses will replace trains between Caulfield and Moorabbin (a person hit by a train). Buses have been ordered, but may take over an hour to arrive.  Consider alternatives.
- 10.30 Anticipate buses to be in operation until at least 1pm.
- 10.50 Additional buses are enroute.  Journey time extended by approx. 30 minutes.
- 12.17 Trains have resumed, with minor delays.
This photo of Collins St was submitted for Melbourne's bid to host the 1956 Olympics: 'Looking westwards along Collins Street from Melbourne's eastern boundary, the home of leading doctors and dentists, clubs and fashionable shops.' Photo: PROV.
We're taking a bus ride around Melbourne and suburbs in 1934.  View these bus routes in high resolution here: https://bit.ly/34Q6adk
video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1315438872071790592
See the new North Williamstown Station designs. We heard the community wanted the station to reflect the local area so the design has plenty of garden spaces, red brick and bluestone.
The Ferguson St level crossing will be gone for good in 2022. More: http://bit.ly/NorthWilliamstownStation
Buses replace trains Newport - Werribee from 19.00 until the last train tonight (works).
Hurstbridge line: Buses replace trains Clifton Hill - Macleod from 20.30 until the last train (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains Epping - Mernda from 20.50 until the last train (works). [probably testing signalling, not doing any work at all]
Buses replace trains Dandenong - Pakenham from 21.10 until the last train (works).

COVID-19 IN AUSTRALIA Data updated 19.34 on Oct 12, 2020
23 New cases nationally(Oct 12)    10.3 14-day average (Vic new cases, Oct 12)    302 Active cases    898 Deaths.

Wed.27.3.19 Metro Twitter
Buses replace trains Cranbourne/Pakenham - Westall until last service, Thursday 28 March (major project works). Buses extend Cranbourne/Pakenham - Caulfield from 20.00 until the last service.
- Do you know how much pressure this will put on the road network? Monash car park will be stuffed for 2 days and 3 weeks in April.
- Are you running only one bus every 10 minutes in peak hours?
- The notices at Dandenong station say buses replace from 18.30 Wed. Who is correct?
- It says that bus headways are 20 min to 5.30, but then it doesn't go on to say what the headways are until 19.54.
- As seen here, I can't see any other "to Cranbourne" notices besides the circled that let us know what's happening between 5.30 & 19.54.  Every 10mins? 20? 30?
- We have been waiting at Springvale from 4.40 until now; there were no buses coming. I need to get to Elsternwick by 6, so I got up so early, and it’s still a poor effort. I pay Myki pass and Uber to there. Wtf.
- I got on Uber at 5.17; bus was still not coming, I paid 30 bucks on Uber just because you made a shit.
- So you post various links and we don't know head or tails as to which is correct? So simply, will there be express buses as per this or only stopping all stations as per your latest links in the web pages ( both metro and ptv)
- Clearly "every 8 min" on the Cranbourne line means something completely different to Metro.  Already (6.30) not enough buses.
- I finally got on a bus, but the bus driver doesn't know where to go! We are going round in circles.
- Are trains running according to the current time table or an altered timetable? The link doesn't indicate express buses so does that mean that we have to take stopping all stations?
- I agree, the documentation contradicts each other with respect to express buses.
- Got to work late according to PTV. Metro sent only one bus to replace ~five carriages.  That's embarassing. I suppose we're lucky it wasn't raining.   Are the drivers competent? Replacement drivers seem to love slamming brakes,
continually.
- Do we get more than one bus?
- It's first day running westall-Pake/Cranb, but I believe it’s not very first day u do the replacement bus service, and this issues should not be happening on the early morning, 4.50?  No traffic jam so Please be no excuses to get
delayed!
- Not enough buses, long queue of 50 people at Sandown park station with only a few people able to get on.
- Worst service ever!
- I'd say more than 50 people at Narre now and only had 2 stopping all stations buses in that time. Where's the express bus? Everyone's getting angry.
- As per usual on the first day of bus replacements the express to westall from pakenham was late and we all stood around for 25 minutes. Your meant to learn from your mistakes not repeat them
- We learn faster from their mistakes. I don't arrive early anymore for the express replacement bus on the first day.How  stupid it is to think there will be more passengers for stopping all stations bus just because it covers more
stops?
- They never learn. They still get fat bonus from the government. No wonder the Victoria Transport Minister not on Twitter
- Are there going to be express buses Berwick to Westall?
- Why you organise more stopping all bus than the express bus? Been waiting for more than 30 minutes for the express bus. 3 stopping all station bus left Narre Warren empty
- 5.16 There's over 30 people at Dandenong waiting for an express bus to Westall.  Meanwhile two buses have left for Pakenham. Get your act together.
- 6.17 Where are the buses ? One bus in the last 10 mins and only 8 people got on and there are atleast 50 people waiting at Hallam station
- 6.36 Buses are coming all the time, are you on a bus now? we have checked and currently minimal passengers are waiting at Hallam.
- Are you on the station? Don't tell people crap
- 6.53 That can't be when there's still 20+ people at Narre and multiple full express buses have come by that couldn't fit anyone.
- 7.12 Where are your buses?  Cranbourne. Buses arrived after 20min
- We are following up with the bus supervisor.
- 7.15 I was waiting at Hallam bus stop. Two buses full , first one took around 8-10 people and 2nd one was full all the way to the driver's door. Have reached Westall now. On the train.
- If I failed so often at my job, I would be fired. I’m yet to see all services run without cancellation during peak our on the Frankston line this year. It’s not a train schedule it’s a roulette wheel
- Can VicRoads review the traffic light sequence on Dandenong Road/Princes HWY to accommodate the extra traffic heading into the city?
- Nice,  8 hours work...5 hours travelling. April sucks.
- Allowed time and got to work ten minutes late. Thanks for keeping me informed of the works. I’m back on public transport after many years and I am arriving at work not stressed from the traffic.
- Travel time from Dandenong to Pakenham in the morning is 1 h 25 min. That doesn't include the waiting time in Pakenham station. Do we still need to top in/out our myki?
- PLEASE allocate enough buses for replacement, took me an hour to wait for the bus!
- I've been standing in the line for 30mins, only 1 bus and 10 people got on. Not enough buses allocated for the volume of people.
- I took the bus: an hour 15 standing, to get from Berwick to Westall, on the freeway then through Police Rd. That’s after waiting 15mins for a bus. They all arrived packed from Pakenham!
- Just clocked an hour waiting in Springvale. Heading out to Yarraman to try my luck.
- Where's the coordination at Cardinia road? No signage, no people and one bus in the last 30 minutes.
- Are additional trains being added to the Belgrave line for the surge in passenger numbers during this time?
- I believe you guys have more experiences about the replacement buses from last year, but why not increase more buses at early morning time, don’t you ever think there are still many people working at early morning time? Such pathetic service ever!
- 15.00 Anyone back there actually watching the twitter page? Or am I going to have to call to find out who’s dropping the ball here?
- 15.36 A rail replacement bus has just arrived at Cardinia Road.
- Which direction are you heading towards, and are you waiting at the designated bus stop?
- 15.39 No, it hasn’t. Im going inbound. No bus has shown up for half an hour now. I’ve ended up jumping on a route bus outbound to Pakenham to maybe increase my chances of actually getting home today.
- As I mentioned before: no signage,  AT ALL. So I went to the standard designated bus stop every other time. So unless you guys switched sides without telling us.
- We're following up with our planned works team regarding the location of the rail replacement bus stop and signage at Cardinia Road station.
- If your people could know what bus is departing from what bay it would be super helpful. I asked four different people what bay the express to Pakenham was leaving from and was told a different number each time
- Can you please have people at Westall saying what each Bay is for? Easy to lose your place in the queue when the line for one bay is really long and it isn't clear which bus it's for.
- The bus situation today at Westall at approx 18.30 was the worst-planned bus replacement experience I've had in the past few years. Also this morning at 6am at noble Park. Waiting 15-20min+ for one bus to come for a whole train of people is frustrating beyond belief.
- Normally planned bus replacements have been quite an okay experience for me but today both trips ballooned well past the expected length of trip, despite only having to be on the bus for a stop or three.
- Kudos to the staff on hand for being very calm despite the frustrated and angry commuters though.

Bus passengers told to isolate as Labor seeks mandatory masks for commuters Josh Dye and Pallavi Singhal. October 11, 2020. 33 comments
NSW Health has instructed all passengers on a Sydney bus last weekend to self-isolate as NSW Labor renews its call for mandatory masks on public transport and the state recorded five new cases of COVID-19.
One of the cases remains under investigation while the other two new local cases are linked to known cases, with one connected to the Liverpool private clinic cluster and one a social contact of a previous case with an unknown source.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Health Brad Hazzard.CREDIT:LOUISE KENNERLEY
The remaining two cases were returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.
Opposition transport spokesman Chris Minns repeated Labor's calls from August for face masks to become compulsory for commuters as the school holidays end.
"Wearing masks on public transport will help us to stop the spread, save lives, save jobs and keep our economy going during this difficult time," Mr Minns said.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said last week that mask use on the public transport network was in decline as complacency crept across the city.
On Sunday, Mr Constance declined to answer whether the government would reconsider its approach and make masks compulsory for commuters.
video Coronavirus: Victoria records 12 cases overnight Sunday October 11: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has revealed that Victoria has recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19 overnight, two of which are linked to known outbreaks and 10 are being investigated by the state's public health team.
"We ask everybody using public transport to wear a mask, in addition to practising good personal hygiene, physical distancing and not travelling if you’re feeling unwell," he said. "Also if you see a crowded service, please wait for the next one."
Labor's health spokesman Ryan Park said mandatory masks should be extended to include shopping centres and places of worship because the government's recommendation for commuters to wear masks "doesn't convey the severity of the situation".
On Sunday, NSW Health updated its advice for passengers on a train replacement bus last weekend that departed Central at 11.48pm on October 4 and arrived at Strathfield at 12.15am on October 5.
The passengers, who were previously considered casual contacts of a case, are now considered close contacts and must immediately get tested and self-isolate for 14 days from the time of travel on the bus service.
NSW Health also issued alerts for shoppers at five businesses in Sydney's south-west after contact tracers identified some of the positive cases reported on Saturday attended the venues last week.
Anyone who attended the following venues is considered a casual contact and should monitor for symptoms and get tested if they develop.
Big W at Carnes Hill on October 4 between 3pm and 4.30pm
Aldi at Edmondson Park on October 4 between 6.30pm and 7pm
Chemist Warehouse at Casula on October 6 between 12.30pm and 1pm
Bunnings Crossroads on October 7 between 2pm and 3pm
Costco at Casula on October 9 between 3pm and 3:30pm
Anyone who was at Lakemba Radiology from midday to 2.30pm on October 1 is also considered a casual contact.
A previously reported case was excluded after further investigation, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in NSW to 4088.
Only one of the 55 COVID-19 patients being treated by NSW Health is in the intensive care unit and 48 people are in non-acute out of hospital care.
The state recorded 12 consecutive days without new cases of community transmission before a spate of local cases beginning on October 7 broke the streak.
There were 12,823 tests conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, down from 15,439 in the previous 24-hour period.
Victoria reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 and one death on Sunday morning. Premier Daniel Andrews said the planned easing of some restrictions next week was likely to be less far-reaching than he had hoped, as new cases of community transmission and cases with an unknown source of infection continue to emerge.
"The tail of this second wave was always going to be stubborn and that’s exactly the way it is panning out," Mr Andrews said.
RELATED ARTICLE Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has encouraged Australians to help "fill the void" of the international tourism market. Rising COVID cases take Europe and US off the travel list for next year
RELATED ARTICLE Melburnians picnic at the Botanical Gardens on Saturday. As it happened: Victoria records 12 new COVID-19 cases, one death for Sunday; NSW, Qld continue border quibbles; Australian death toll hits 898
RELATED ARTICLE Traffic congestion has stoked voter anger. But  COVID-19 has changed population politics. Careful what you wish for: COVID-19 transforms population politics
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw-records-five-new-cases-of-covid-19-late-night-bus-passengers-are-now-close-contacts-20201011-p563yk.html>

$1 billion pumped hydro scheme would open up NSW grid, backers say. Peter Hannam. October 12, 2020
<www.theage.com.au/environment/sustainability/1-billion-pumped-hydro-scheme-would-open-up-nsw-grid-backers-say-20201012-p5645s.html>

Labor promises to make 50 per cent of Gabba train site into parkland. Tony Moore October 12, 2020
A re-elected Labor government would convert 50 per cent of the open area over the underground Woolloongabba railway station into public parkland, MP Jackie Trad said on Monday.
Ms Trad, the former minister responsible for Cross River Rail, said the community would be able to co-design the space over the station at the Gabba if her party was successful at the October 31 poll.
Labor has promised that 50 per cent of this Woolloongabba site where the underground Cross River Rail station is being built will be public parkland.CREDIT:TONY MOORE
"This promise has been approved by the government," she said.
"So a re-elected Labor would implement this promise to deliver parkland on the site. It is a government election commitment."
Ms Trad’s announcement follows a call in August for a dramatic rethink of the site – known as the Woolloongabba GoPrint site – by South Brisbane’s Greens councillor Jonathan Sri.
Last month the Greens unveiled a suite of ideas for the site including sports fields, an Olympic-standard swimming pool, farmers' markets, recording studios and workshops, with offices and units on a five-hectare park opposite the Gabba stadium.
“The state government hasn’t been very open or transparent about its plans for the Gabba train station site," Cr Sri said in August.
"But their Interim Land Use Plan and the video released in March suggest that they intend to sell off private development rights for up to 12 high-rise towers up to 30 storeys tall.”
Work is under way at the site to build the train station and the tunnel to the Brisbane CBD as part of the Cross River Rail project.
Ms Trad also promised to include affordable housing, with her spokeswoman saying “build to rent schemes” would be included in the future design of the site.
Ms Trad said six principles would guide the design of the Woolloongabba station precinct.
“I’ve released these principles for the future of the site so everyone knows what I will deliver, including no less than 50 per cent of the site as new public parkland.
“I know that public parkland is something our community feels very strongly about.”
Until last month, the future of the site has not been publicly discussed since Ms Trad announced plans in August 2018 to revamp the Gabba’s entranceway.
The original 2011 Brisbane City Council plans for the site have been scrapped and it was declared a state government Priority Development Area on April 3, 2020.
The Greens raised concerns about those proposals in August.
Labor's principles to guide the Gabba train station redevelopment
No less than 50 per cent of the site reserved for public parkland
Community input, including a co-design of the site
Affordable housing for key workers – nurses, teachers and other frontline workers – as well as social housing
Better connectivity between the precinct and the community
More trade for local Gabba small businesses
A legacy public benefit outcome for the community
Ms Trad acknowledged that the community expected consultation to be genuine.
“This precinct is so important to our local area and that’s why I will deliver a genuine community co-design process,” she said.
“Since consultation commenced on the concept uses of this site almost two years ago, many different ideas have been put forward.
“But, overwhelmingly, people want an outcome that will be a great public legacy for our community.”
Struggling Woolloongabba businesses hoped for better times ahead when the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project contract was signed.
Ms Trad said she understood the need to provide affordable housing close to the hospitals and hospitality areas around the Gabba.
“This site is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver parkland – something council has failed to provide – to improve the connectivity of our community, to provide affordable housing for key workers like nurses and teachers, to increase social housing stock and generate additional customers to support our local Gabba small businesses.”
RELATED ARTICLE Emerging from the dark at Woolloongabba's proposed underground rail station. Woolloongabba smiles as contracts signed on $5.4 billion underground rail
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/labor-promises-to-make-50-per-cent-of-gabba-train-site-into-parkland-20201012-p564av.html>
* It doesn’t make sense to have a park there, right on top of a new high frequency train station. Areas close to the city with good transport are ideal for residences and commercial uses to slow down the destruction of the environment on the urban fringe. The site could be a showcase of excellent urban design
* A bit worried about the Greens in Sth Brisbane are we?
* Increasing public parkland is essential as very few dwelling today have sufficient outdoor space, essential in our climate, for residents to relax, exercise and socialise.
* Given that the state is spending billions on CRR and the 'Gabba is prime for a high-density inner-city living space, towers ahead of "public space" would, for the most part, make more sense and allow for a better partial off-set on the taxpayers massive investment.
* Labor's 6 principles for the Gabba redevelopment are laudable, but not comprehensive. They've missed out the single most important principle, which would apply to any major public transport hub: the ability for passengers to change from one route to another as easily as possible - "seamlessly", in transport planning jargon. The Gabba train station will be an important place for inbound passengers to transfer from train to bus to gain access to any part of the City - or should be. But, as usual with any transport infrastructure in this State, this station (and indeed Cross River Rail) is being introduced not as a component of a highly connected public transport network, but as an isolated component, with other public transport services to be adjusted to fit (or not) as second thoughts. I am in complete agreement that CRR is (unlike the so-called metro as planned) desperately needed, but if the Gabba station is not closely integrated with a bus station that allows easy transfers between bus and train, then a great opportunity will have been lost.
* So after 7 years of planning Cross River Rail - and no, at the death, with the Greens in with a real chance to take South Brisbane - only now does labor have a plan.
* I just can't bring myself to trust Jackie Trad!

Airport link worker 'abandoned' after suffering chemical burns from toxic slurry. Gary Adshead. October 12, 2020
<www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/airport-link-worker-abandoned-after-suffering-chemical-burns-from-toxic-slurry-20201012-p564ge.html>