Re: Regarding Z3 230.Nth.Fitzroy.
IS Edit
Sunday, February 17, 2002 7:27 PM
Hi, Peter.
I can't remember when the St Kilda light rail line
was put in, but the decision to do so was reached after the "Lonie
Report".
The background on this "light rail" line is that it
was a short heavy rail line on Melbourne's suburban rail system.
The St Kilda and Port Melbourne train lines headed
off from Flinders Street Station Platform 9, across an interesting iron bridge
that still runs across the Yarra River at an angle aimed directly at the Crown
Casino. The bridge now ends in a scar at the southbank of the
Yarra.
The problem at the time was that both lines were
very short and had a limited passenger catchment area and it was felt (wrongly
that the areas they served had too many public transport lines.
They were not, in fact, economically feasible as
heavy rail lines.
I was secretary of the Tram and Bus Travellers
Association at the time and was also a member of the Town and Country Planning
Association. We got wind of the fact they were going to recommend the lines be
closed.
Ivan Powell, an independent Melbourne City
Councillor (like a Supervisor in SF) and I (for T&BTA) proposed that they
convert the heavy rail lines to light rail to retain use of the private rights
of way and increase the passenger catchment area by putting in more closely
spaced stops thus increasing the number of the people that would walk to the
line from their homes. We knew that the industrial rust belt waterfront at the
Port Melbourne was going to be redone as a medium/heavy density yuppie enclave
and that the direct passenger catchment area of that line would undergo huge,
passenger generating redevelopment. We were also aware that if we lost that
right of way, that the Government was considering putting in a multi-lane road
down the rail line to cater for the afore-mentioned yuppies.
We also proposed that the St Kilda line be extended
southwards (you couldn't have done that with heavy rail because of the hill and
the fact that it is now far too built up to have a rail right of way) over Grey
Street to Barkly Street and then down to Elwood, retracing the old VicRail
tram line that used to terminate at St Kilda Railway Station. That, too, would
have drastically increased the direct passenger catchment area (by a factor of
three).
We proposed that both light rail lines continue to
use the Yarra River bridge and end at Platform 9 in Flinders Street Station
because that would put them all the way into the heart of the city on limited
right of way, so they would be immune from traffic jams.
What happened in St Kilda is that the line
connected into the St Kilda tram line on Fitzroy Street heading West and then
into the St Kilda Esplanade and then into Acland Street terminating at Barkly
Street. That is unfortunate because it duplicated coverage of the outer end of
the existing line but good in that at least more people could catch it and it
was faster into town because of the ROW.
On the city end, they decided to bring the trams
off the rail line and connect them into the rest of the tram network on
Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. Their reasoning was that the light rail lines
would go to the centre of the CBD and that would be the same running time as
private ROW to Flinders Street Station and then walk up to Collins Street or
Bourke Street which are big time streets for shopping and the finance
district.
Also, by doing that they could through route
several tram lines servicing the northern suburbs to St Kilda and Port Melbourne
and avoid having the terminii in the City with all the delays that using a
switchback occasioned in the vicinity of Spencer Street Station.
When I was working on the TBTA light rail
submission the head engineer of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board
told me regauging it from 5'3" to 4'8.5" would cost $200,000 per
kilometre.
The lines work OK but it's too bad about the
bridge. That would have been a good option to retain the connection to Flinders
Street Station which is the hub of the suburban rail network.
Cheers,
Bob Murphy
----- Original Message -----From: Peter D. EhrlichSent: Monday, February 18, 2002 12:22 AMSubject: [TramsDownUnder] Regarding Z3 230.Nth.Fitzroy.In a message dated 17 Feb 2002 @ 0337 PST, "Graeme" <[email protected]>
wrote:
<[snipped]>
>
> As for the year these transferres of trams took place it was
> just prior to the opening of the light rail.there was an initial
> transfere of A class for driver familiarization,then on the last
> weekend the rest of the z 3's were transfered over the
> weekend.
But what year did this light rail line open? Us non-Down Under enquiring
minds want to know!!!
Milantram
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