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Subject: Mon.27.9.21 daily digest

Roderick

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Mon.27.9.21 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
Buses replace trains on sections of the Frankston/Stony Point lines until the last train of Sun 31 Oct (level-crossing works).
Buses replace trains between Newport and Williamstown until the last train of Friday 12 November (level-crossing removal).
Maroondah Highway, Lilydale closed in both directions at the train line for one month, as level-crossing work ramps up on Friday night. John Street will also be closed at this time. See http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/disruptions/maroondah-highway-and-john-street-lilydale-road-closure. ; Buses will replace trains for 6 weeks.
Buses replace trains Ringwood - Lilydale until the last train of Sun 24 Oct (level-crossing works).  Opening the new Mooroolbark and Lilydale stations on Monday 25 October
7.17 Major delays Craigieburn - North Melbourne (a power fault).
- 7.40 Buses to replace trains Broadmeadows - Essendon.  buses may take up to 60min to arrive; consider alternatives.
- 8.10 buses may take up to 10min to arrive.
- 8.20  Buses are replacing trains, adding 30 min travel time.
- 8.56 Passengers to/from Pascoe Vale: Buses are operating from the corner of Gaffney St & McCracken Ave (approx. 60m west of the station) instead of the normal train-replacement bus stop.
- 10.10 Sunbury & Upfield lines trains havde major delays because of trouble on the Craigieburn line.
- 14.21 Trains resume First trains: 13.54 ex Flinders St; 14.14 ex Craigieburn.
7.29 Frankston line: Buses replace trains Mordialloc - Moorabbin (a track-equipment fault at Moorabbin). Replacement buses have been ordered, but will take over 45 min to arrive.
- 7.38  Buses ETA 45min.  Consider alternatives.
- 8.06 Buses operating, adding 45min.
10.49 Hurstbridge line.  Buses to replace trains Greensborough - Eltham (an equipment fault near Montmorency). buses may take up to 60min to arrive; consider alternatives.
- 11.00 buses may take up to 30min to arrive.
- 11.59 Buses operating, adding 20min.
- 12.14 Trains resume, with minor delays.  First trains: 11.19 ex Flinders St; 12.04 ex Hurstbridge.
16.54 Craigieburn line: Major delays (an equipment fault near Broadmeadows). trains may terminate/originate at Broadmeadows. Consider route 532 buses for local trips between Broadmeadows and Craigieburn.
- 16.58 clearing
Buses replace trains Clifton Hill - Mernda from 20.10 until the last train (maintenance works).
Pakenham/Cranbournelines: Buses replace trains Caulfield - Westall from 20.40 until the last train (works).

COVID-19 IN AUSTRALIA Sep 27
Victoria: 47.7% fully vaccinated; 77.9% first dose
National: 51.8% fully vaccinated; 76.1% first dose
New locally acquired cases:  705 in Victoria; 1511 nationally

27.9.21 Power shift: The Latrobe Valley looks for a new future, again.  Miki Perkins
<www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/power-shift-the-latrobe-valley-looks-for-a-new-future-again-20210923-p58u7i.html>

Entire NSW rail network to halt amid industrial dispute.  Tom Rabe September 27, 2021
The NSW public rail network will halt for several hours on Tuesday when transport workers strike amid an ongoing industrial dispute with the state government, prompting warnings of mass service disruptions.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union on Monday confirmed train staff would stop work on the regional and city rail networks between 9am and 1pm.
The entire NSW public train network will halt between 9am and 1pm on Tuesday.CREDIT:EDWINA PICKLES
Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins warned the thousands of essential workers still using the train network to avoid public transport on Tuesday if they could or expect significant delays for much of the day.
“Those essential people who are travelling tomorrow, either you travel very early in the morning, expect some disruption around 7am, if not please find alternative means to travel,” he said.
“Tomorrow, if you can, please avoid using public transport for the majority of the day.”
RTBU general secretary Alex Claassens said Tuesday’s network stoppage was the culmination of weeks of industrial action, sparked by disputes over pay and workplace safety with the NSW government.
“We don’t want to have to take action at all, but we’ve been left with no choice,” he said.
“We can’t sit back and let the safety of workers and the community be put at risk, nor can we allow the disrespect of members to continue.”
The state government and the union have been at loggerheads for years over the rollout of the new, multibillion-dollar intercity train fleet and its potential impact on train guard jobs.
The trains, which were meant to enter service in 2019, can technically operate with a driver and no guard, instead using CCTV cameras to monitor platforms. However, rail workers say it’s unsafe to remove the worker monitoring the platform on approach and departing the station.
RTBU wants the government to make a software change to the new trains, allowing the guard doors to open when they approach and depart stations.
The union is also calling for a 3.5 per cent pay increase, while the government is offering 0.3 per cent in the first year of the new deal, and 2.5 per cent thereafter.
The industrial action will impact the Blue Mountains line, Bathurst services, the Central Coast and Newcastle line, South Coast line, Southern Highland line, Hunter line as well as all regional and city services.
While rail replacement buses will be in operation across Sydney during the industrial action, NSW Trains chief executive Dale Merrick warned train cancellations would begin during the morning peak and last “well into the evening”.
While patronage has been about 80 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels, about 300,000 daily trips have been taken on the network.
RELATED ARTICLE The Rail, Tram and Bus Union says its members will strike next Tuesday. Union plans train strike across NSW as industrial dispute intensifies
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/entire-nsw-rail-network-to-halt-amid-industrial-dispute-20210927-p58v6l.html>
* I don't understand. After all these years, decades actually, NSW rail is still struggling to keep running without interruptions, either by strikes or equipment/track failure. I don't know immediately of any industrialised country where a big part of the rail network is shut down in the weekend, like in NSW, for track and/or other maintenance.
* Yes, let's have human guards on trains. We shouldn't rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI). It will be a human with a paying job too!
* Good on the rail workers. It shouldn't have to come to an industrial dispute to protect the travelling public. A driver with CCTV cameras to monitor people on the platform and the computer has the guards' doors locked?! Glad I'm working from home.
* The union is trying to protect jobs that have been made obsolete by technology. Candlestick makers, wagon wheel repairers, intercity train guards. The world moves on, despite the union's attempts to stop it.