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

To:australiantransportnews@... australiantransportnews@...>
Sent: Thursday, 25 November 2021, 10:51:07 pm AEDT
Subject: Wed.25.8.21 daily digest

Roderick

210825W-Metro-Twitter-Coburg.elevation-dead.shrubs-a-ss.jpg" 
"210825W-Metro-Twitter-Coburg.elevation-dead.shrubs-b-ss.jpg" 
"210825W-Metro-Twitter-Coburg.elevation-dead.shrubs-c-ss.jpg"
"210825W-Metro-Twitter-Coburg.elevation-dead.shrubs-d-ss.jpg" 
"210825W-Metro-Twitter-Coburg.elevation-dead.shrubs-e-ss.jpg" 

Wed.25.8.21 Metro Twitter
Aircraft: No ramp access to platforms until late 2021 (pedestrian-underpass works).
Flinders St: still with a lane closed for tunnel works.
Mooroolbark: Station closed until late-2021 (level-crossing removal). A shuttle bus will operate Croydon - Mooroolbark - Lilydale, connecting with trains. There will be no access to station platforms or facilities during this time.
Edithvale/Chelsea/Bonbeach: Stations closed until late 2021 (level-crossing removal). A shuttle bus will operate Mordialloc - Carrum, connecting with trains. There will be no access to station platforms or facilities during this time.
The level crossings at Argyle Avenue, Bondi Road and Edithvale Road are closed until early-October.  Chelsea Road is closed permanently. See http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/projects/chelsea-road-chelsea
Until Wednesday 25 August the Royal Parade southbound service lane will be closed north of the Grattan Street intersection, adjacent to the Metro Tunnel Project site.   For more information on transport changes in this area, visit: https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/construction/parkville/changes-to-grattan-street
Buses replace trains between Newport and Williamstown until the last train of Friday 12 November (level-crossing removal).
7.30 Buses replace trains between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave (an equipment fault near Upwey). Buses have been ordered but may take over an hour to arrive. Consider local bus 693.
- 8.06 Buses are replacing trains, adding ~20 minutes. Anticipate buses to be in operation until at least 10.00.
- 9.45 Anticipate buses to be in operation until at least 11.00.
- 11.05 Anticipate buses to be in operation until at least 12.00.
- 12.17 Trains will resume, with minor delays while. First trains: 11.26 ex Flinders Street; 12.47 ex Belgrave.
Is there a plan to replace the dead trees, preferably before we head into warmer months?
- we have agreements in place with contractors to replace the affected trees, and this process is currently underway. We’ll continue to monitor the health of all the trees planted by the project.
- What, no speed humps? How very un-Brunswick.
- These pathways are great. So hoping you’re putting one from Cranbourne to Dandenong. I just want my kid to have a livable world
- So cool. Wish we could have had this in Willi.
- Can't wait to try after lockdown
- Looks like people can't read the bikes only sign
- It's very nice. Why are we only allowed nice bikeways as an artefact of major infrastructure. Such greenways should be everywhere. They should replace car-dominated roads.
- A reminder that the stated reason for LXR was due to 'dangerous and congested' crossings. An unstated reason was stimulating the construction industry. A bikeway was never the 1' reason. Melb will be car-centric until this culture changes.
- Further exemplified by the order in which modes were opened at Upfield: Automobilefirst, Station second. Man biking & Woman walkinglast. This is the Melbourne priority.
- Nevertheless the Upfield path is much improved, and it even has bike priority at one of the four crossings.

People arriving in Queensland after snap two-week ban must buy return tickets. Felicity Caldwell August 25, 2021. 34 comments
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/people-arriving-in-queensland-after-snap-two-week-ban-must-buy-return-tickets-20210825-p58luz.html>

‘Stretched’ system forces Queensland to block interstate arrivals for two weeks Felicity Caldwell August 25, 2021
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/stretched-system-forces-queensland-to-block-interstate-arrivals-for-two-weeks-20210825-p58loz.html>

AUGUST 25 2021 Green hydrogen for transport industry is due in early 2022 Sam Hollier
An announcement in August 2021 said that green hydrogen is coming to the NSW transport sector.
Well, the availability of it is. But a steady supply will also mean transport operators at least have the option of using it when they update the buses and trucks in their fleets.
A new agreement has been signed between energy infrastructure company Jemena and gas supply company Coregas.
A green hydrogen supply is coming for the transport industry. Photo: Supplied.
"Under the new agreement, Jemena will produce and supply green hydrogen from its Western Sydney plant for use by transport and industrial customers from early 2022. This is the first time the New South Wales transport industry will have access to green hydrogen," a statement from Jemena said.
The reason they make the distinction about green hydrogen is the only way it can be considered green is if it was produced by a process called electrolysis, and the electricity for that process was produced by some form of renewable energy like wind or solar.
When it's used in a fuel cell to produce electricity in a vehicle, the only emission is gaseous H2O (water vapour), so no problems there when it comes to the air that we need to breathe just to keep on living.
"The green hydrogen will be produced at Jemena's $15 million Western Sydney Green Gas Project. Co-funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the Power-to-Gas project is converting renewable electricity to hydrogen gas which can be blended and stored in Jemena's gas distribution network to supply New South Wales homes and businesses," the statement said.
So they do specify renewable electricity (specifically, it's wind and solar sources in other locations), which is great because otherwise NSW still burns an astonishing amount of coal for its electricity production (about 80 percent of the electricity used in NSW according to fairly recent figures).
The plant is located in Horsley Park, and it uses a 500 kilowatt electrolyser purchased from Belgium-Canadian firm Hydrogenics. And as the quote above indicates, aside from the co-funding from ARENA the other thing making the project viable is their integration of hydrogen into the domestic gas they supply to partially replace the fossil sources currently in use there.
As for vehicles, I mentioned in a story a while back that I felt hydrogen was a more likely, even preferable, source of energy storage compared to using electrical energy from batteries.
I said that for a few reasons. First, it's certainly more convenient to refill a hydrogen tank than to recharge a battery.
"Hydrogen fuel cells are particularly well suited to long distance heavy haulage trucking requirements based on their comparatively light weight and fast refuelling times which can be just a matter of minutes," said Jemena's general manager for renewable gas, Gabrielle Sycamore.
Secondly, for any size of vehicle, purchasers can only really buy what is available. You can have something custom made, sure, but given the cost of a battery-electric conversion that almost never makes financial sense. And while there are certainly battery powered, and battery-supplemented vehicles of various sizes available, hydrogen fuel cells seem to be gaining more prominence around the world as manufacturers make them available in vehicles of various sizes.
Thirdly, it's way easier for governments to charge for road usage through taxing a fuel by volume or weight than it is by kilowatt hours (people whinge about any tax, but the finances for road infrastructure need to come from multiple sources, and there's already an annual $23.8 billion shortfall compared to what is collected from road users now).
One other difference Ms Sycamore hinted at, and most noticeable in light vehicles, is batteries are also quite heavy and don't get any lighter as the charge level comes down.
Batteries also require various materials to be mined and shipped long distances to make them in the first place. Recycling them then requires an industry all of its own, and while that could present an economic opportunity for a while that also means there's not many places around the world that can do it at all, let alone at scale. So I still think hydrogen is where we are actually heading.
<www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7384255/green-hydrogen-for-transport-industry-is-due-in-early-2022>

Wed.25.8.21 Melbourne 'Herald Sun' New trams & depot.  TESS IKONOMOU
A NEW $367m tram maintenance facility will be built in Melbourne’s west to service the public transport network’s next-generation fleet.
The centre will be built in Maidstone on a vacant site near Highpoint Shopping Centre, where it will house the 100 new trams as existing depots around the city hit capacity.
About 280 jobs will be created during construction and for ongoing maintenance, with the upgraded fleet to also service this area of Melbourne.
The new trams will make travelling more accessible for passengers, with low floors and more space than the network’s current high—floor trams.
Public Transport Minister Carroll said that the total $l.85bn project would boost the state’s economy.
“We are leading the nation in tram and train manufacturing, and this project will support hundreds of skilled jobs,” he said.
The project to build the facility also comes with a minimum 65 per cent contract quota to support local jobs.
The contract to design, build and maintain the trams which also include on-board energy storage to increase efficiency and reduce network costs, will be awarded in early 2022 following a tender process.
The new trams,  alongside the 50 E-class trams, will gradually replace the city’s high-floor trams. The Andrews government has invested $7.5bn in infrastructure and rollingstock since 2015.