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Sent: Monday, 13 March 2023 at 12:46:12 pm AEDT
Subject: Sat.11.6.22 daily digest

Roderick

220911Sa-channnel9-Sydney-emu-ss.jpg

Sat.11.6.22 Metro Twitter
Flinders St: still with a lane closed for tunnel works? [reopened by July?  Closed again by Nov.]
Campbell Arcade (Flinders St station) is closed until 2024. The exit from the Myki gates within the subway will  also be closed. No pedestrian access between the arcade & Flinders St. Use Elizabeth & Swanston St entry/exits. Platform  interchange via that subway will be available until mid 2022.
Mernda line: Trains will run to an altered timetable until Sep 2022 (works).  Trains operate on a single track Thornbury - Regent, and trains will not stop at Bell or Preston.  Shuttle buses operate Thornbury - Bell - Preston - Regent - Reservoir. No access to station facilities during this time.
Buses replace trains Sunshine - Sunbury until the last train of Wed 29 Jun (works).
10.58 Major delays Belgrave - Ringwood (a trespasser).
- 11.12 clearing
- 12.03 Minor and clearing.
We have finished works upgrading the 100 year-old rail bridge linking Flinders St and Southern Cross stations.  Come train or shine, the new bridge can safely host the hundreds of trains that use it each day for years to come.
3.20 Sun. Cranbourne/Pakenham Lines- Major Delays (a trespasser near Dandenong).
- 3.47 clearing.

Long talked about NSW fast rail plans finally receive funding.  Savannah Meacham Jun 11, 2022
video: Long talked about NSW fast rail plans finally receive fundingNOW
The New South Wales government has announced $500 million toward constructing a fast rail line between Newcastle, the Central Coast, and Sydney in the upcoming budget.
The plans for fast rail lines have long been touted by the state government to decrease travel times between Sydney and regional areas like Newcastle and Wollongong.
However, Premier Dominic Perrottet said the difference in today's announcement is funding.
Premier Dominic Perrottet announces funding for fast rail project. (9News)
"It's been talked about for a long time but no one has brought money to the table," Perrottet said.
"You can't set up a vision for your state if you don't come with the funding that's required."
The $500 million investment means planning for upgrading the rail lines between Sydney and the Central Coast later this year.
Perrottet did not confirm when the fast rail would be completed.
He did however say the funding would go towards new electrified rail tracks on the Central Coast, platform and station upgrades at Wyong and Tuggerah and "starting" fast rail connections between Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast.
"The commencement of construction of ancillary infrastructure will make sure faster rail can become a reality," he said.
A busy Sydney train
The fast rail will significantly reduce travel times between regional areas and Sydney. (AAP)
Fast rail promises travel time between Newcastle and Sydney to be cut from two hours to an hour, between the Central Coast and Sydney in just 25 minutes and between Wollongong and Sydney in 45 minutes.
Minister for Planning Rob Stokes added the investment in fast rail will "transform accessibility" to the Central Coast.
Committee's CEO Gabriel Metcalf said the long-talked about plans for faster rail are beginning to pick up speed and welcomed the state government's funding.
"Better connections across this region, south to Wollongong, north to the Central Coast and Newcastle, and linking into Sydney's west, means we will effectively work like a bigger global city, with more economic gravitational pull," Metcalf said.
"It will give people more choice about where they work, where they live, and how they get around."
The federal government will match the state government investment in fast rail meaning the total funding for fast rail will be $1 billion.
READ MORE:
Is it legal for a shop to charge a surcharge for card transactions?
Car caught charging from public power. The reason this electric car owner was fined $500 View Gallery
<www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-government-announces-half-a-billion-dollars-to-set-up-fast-rail-between-newcastle-and-sydney/7d4da9a5-71b0-4b06-a90c-036e2e610b01>

Sat.11.6.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Letters.
* THE more bike lanes you get in the CBD, the more obvious it is that registration should be reduced for vehicles. Bikes use the road but don't pay a cent for registration] insurance. lt'sjust not cricket.
* I HAVE watched the Melbourne CBD decline - slowly at first and now rapidly - for 70 years. First City Square and the famed yellow structure. Then the mall. Now the bike lanes. It will become a wasteland like downtown LA thanks to Clown Hall. It is not a bike city. I don't go anywhere near it now.