----- Forwarded message -----

To:australiantransportnews@... australiantransportnews@...>
Sent: Friday, 16 April 2021, 04:17:49 pm AEST
Subject: Tues.5.1.21 daily digest

Roderick

Never posted at the time:
"190709Tu-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-MaribyrnongRd-ss-forATN.jpg" 
[Moonee Valley Council supports petition to make Maribyrnong Rd safer https://tdu.to/m/260014]

210105-MetroTwitter-Craigieburn.line.jpg

Tues.5.1.20 Metro Twitter
Bridge Road renewal works, 11pm Sunday 3 January to 5am Saturday 16 January
12.13 Buses replace trains Frankston - Stony Point (a train fault). Journey time extended by approximately 25min.
- 16.00  Buses will replace trains until the last train tonight.
16.05  Craigieburn line: Buses to replace trains Essendon - Broadmeadows (a person hit by a train).  Buses have been dispatched but may take up to 60 min to arrive. Consider alternatives via the PTV journey planner.
- 16.15 One bus in operation, with a further 11 enroute.
- 16.25 & 16.35 Four buses in operation, with a further eight enroute.
- 16.32 Gaffney Street, Pascoe Vale, is closed to traffic in both directions near the level crossing.  Use Devon Road, Glenroy Road or Bell Street and Pascoe Vale Road. Avoid the area.
- 16.45 All 12 buses are in operation. Journey time extended by approximately 40 minutes.
- 16.47 Trains are resuming, with minor delays.   First trains: 16.27 ex Flinders St; 16.50 ex Craigieburn.
Buses replace trains South Yarra - Sandringham from 20.25 until the last train (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Upfield from 20.30 until the last train (maintenance works).
Sunbury line: Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Sunshine from 20.40 until the last train (maintenance works).
Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: All trains direct to/from Flinders St from 21.00 until the last train (maintenance works). From Southern Cross and loop stations, take a Burnley group train to Richmond.
Werribee/Sunbury/Craigieburn/Upfield lines: All trains terminate/originate at Southern Cross from 21.00 until the last train (works).  From loop stations, take a city circle train from pfm 1 to connect. [poor Sunbury: get to SC, then train to NM, then bus to Sunshine]

'Absolute urgency' needed to stop grid failure as renewables take off. Mike Foley January 5, 2021. 232 comments
<www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/absolute-urgency-needed-to-stop-grid-failure-as-renewables-take-off-20210104-p56rmo.html>

Planned 91-storey CBD tower tries to navigate Cross River Rail headache. Lucy Stone. January 5, 2021. 29 comments [mainly anti high rise 'destroying Brisbane'
Developers have asked Brisbane City Council to give them more time to begin work on a 91-storey apartment tower on Albert Street, despite earlier concerns that it would impinge on the Cross River Rail tunnel.
The planned 857-apartment and retail tower at 30 Albert Street, close to the Botanic Gardens, was approved by council in 2016, but delays have meant construction is yet to begin.
The 2016 development application, approved by Brisbane City Council, would see a skyscraper as tall as Skytower rise up over the city.
With the current permit to begin building work set to expire in June 2021, developers WCL (QLD) Albert Street Pty Ltd have asked council to give them more time by extending all the approvals needed until 2024.
The project hit problems in 2018 when a request to increase the number of basement carpark levels put the tower's foundations in the Cross River Rail tunnel envelope, which did not exist when the tower was first approved.
The difficulty continued in 2019 when the developers asked council to give them an extension on the development approval to 2023.
The state government's development assessment department wrote to the council at the time saying the tower would "present an unreasonable risk" to the underground railway.
But council approved the extension request, giving WCL until December 2023 to begin construction.
In December 2020, the developers lodged another request to extend a separate building work permit for the site, which was set to expire in June this year.
"As a consequence of the technical details associated with the interface between the approved basement and the Cross River Rail tunnel, it has slowed down the ability for the applicant to commence construction," a letter submitted to council on December 3 says.
The letter, by Mewing Planning Consultants on behalf of WCL, notes the developers submitted a building work application to the State Assessment and Referral Agency to resolve the conflict between the Cross River Rail and the tower's foundations.
"It is understood that a structural solution can be developed to manage any potential impact on the tunnel, and this will be suitably resolved through the building work application process," the letter says.
A Department of State Development spokesperson said an application seeking approval for building works associated with the proposed tower's basement was lodged with the State Assessment and Referral Agency in October 2019.
"SARA is a referral agency for the application and is working together with the applicant, the Cross River Rail Development Authority and the Department of Transport and Main Roads to agree on an appropriate and safe interface with the adjoining Cross River Rail tunnel," the spokesperson said.
A Cross River Rail Development Authority spokesman said the "volumetric land required to construct Cross River Rail, including that of 30 Albert Street, has been acquired in line with the Acquisition of Land Act 1967".
"The proponents seeking to develop 30 Albert Street will need to take the Cross River Rail project into account with any proposal it puts forward for the site," he said.
Council has not yet responded to the application. WCL was contacted for comment.
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/planned-91-storey-cbd-tower-tries-to-navigate-cross-river-rail-headache-20210105-p56rx5.html>

Tues.5.1.21 Melbourne 'Herald Sun' Disruptions on Craigieburn line
LEVEL-CROSSING work in Melbourne’s north is set to disrupt journeys into the city.
Buses will replace trains on sections of the Craigeburn line from 10pm Thursday. Coaches will replace trains on Seymour and Shepparton services.
The changes, to take effect until January 16, will clear the way for the removal of the Glenroy level crossing.
Glenroy Road will be closed at the level crossing from Thursday until February 28.
More than 19,000 drivers travel over the crossing every day. Boom gates are down for more than 40 per cent of the two-hour morning peak.
The work will involve demolition of the Glenroy Station buildings and temporary facilities in their place.
Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said a new station was expected to be ready for 2022.
“We haven’t wasted a minute removing level crossings — with 44 already gone, this year we’ll remove a crossing on average every four weeks,” Ms Allan said.
“We encourage people to plan ahead and allow extra time while we get on with delivering the big projects our state’s transport system needs.”

Tues.5.1.21 Melbourne 'Herald Sun' Coal-fired plants face early end. Renewables spark price drop.  NICK EVANS [with ATN]