Melbourne tram works this weekend: observations
Paul Nicholson
Saturday, November 23, 2002 8:34 AM
Had a look at the tram work and bus replacement services this
morning.
Domain Road interchange was rather confused with many [private] bus
drivers not "knowing the road" and either taking the normal roadway
or continuing on along St Kilda Road to Toorak Road.
I noticed several passengers for route 8 left behind by three buses
in a row.
Raised this with the officer in charge at St Kilda Junction where the
transfer from buses to trams was taking place. I was told there was
no overall co-ordination of the day with no available communication
between M>Tram and the private bus operators. However, he said he
would make mention of my observations about the Domain Road
interchange on his report to be submitted at the end of the day.
I believe a major interchange such as Domain Road should have been
attended with knowledgeable staff to assist passengers at a time of
major disruption to normal services.
The work at Domain Road interchange was postponed but condition of
the trackwork at the junction appeared be deplorable to this non-
techncical correspondent. There was evidence of the recent
derailments at this spot.
Near Union Street approaching St Kilda Junction I noticed the section
of track from the 1950s construction that has "Brisbane" style plain
railway rail in concrete on the down track and standard MMTB groove
rail of the up track. I had not previously observed this little
tramway oddity. Reliable information received from Brisbane this
afternoon indicated that the reason for this was that Sir Robert
Risson wanted to demonstrate the different methods of track
construction used in the Sunshine State.
Buses appeared to be running fairly smoothly on the northern section
of route 69 with passengers trasferring to and from buses at Malvern
Depot.
Access was provided to all shops, etc., at the intersection of
Malvern and Glenferrie Roads although business was very quiet! But te
arrangements made it easy to have a good look at the construction
work.
A second set of curves is being provided to eliminate the reversal
for Malvern cars running to and from route 72.
For the record buses observed were from Broadmeadows, Dyson,
Melbourne Bus Link, Mountdandybus, National, Reseroir, Sita and
Ventura.
Paul in Melbourne
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
·FREE Health Insurance Quotes-eHealthInsurance.com
http://us.click.yahoo.com/1.voSB/RnFFAA/46VHAA/DiTxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
morning.
Domain Road interchange was rather confused with many [private] bus
drivers not "knowing the road" and either taking the normal roadway
or continuing on along St Kilda Road to Toorak Road.
I noticed several passengers for route 8 left behind by three buses
in a row.
Raised this with the officer in charge at St Kilda Junction where the
transfer from buses to trams was taking place. I was told there was
no overall co-ordination of the day with no available communication
between M>Tram and the private bus operators. However, he said he
would make mention of my observations about the Domain Road
interchange on his report to be submitted at the end of the day.
I believe a major interchange such as Domain Road should have been
attended with knowledgeable staff to assist passengers at a time of
major disruption to normal services.
The work at Domain Road interchange was postponed but condition of
the trackwork at the junction appeared be deplorable to this non-
techncical correspondent. There was evidence of the recent
derailments at this spot.
Near Union Street approaching St Kilda Junction I noticed the section
of track from the 1950s construction that has "Brisbane" style plain
railway rail in concrete on the down track and standard MMTB groove
rail of the up track. I had not previously observed this little
tramway oddity. Reliable information received from Brisbane this
afternoon indicated that the reason for this was that Sir Robert
Risson wanted to demonstrate the different methods of track
construction used in the Sunshine State.
Buses appeared to be running fairly smoothly on the northern section
of route 69 with passengers trasferring to and from buses at Malvern
Depot.
Access was provided to all shops, etc., at the intersection of
Malvern and Glenferrie Roads although business was very quiet! But te
arrangements made it easy to have a good look at the construction
work.
A second set of curves is being provided to eliminate the reversal
for Malvern cars running to and from route 72.
For the record buses observed were from Broadmeadows, Dyson,
Melbourne Bus Link, Mountdandybus, National, Reseroir, Sita and
Ventura.
Paul in Melbourne
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
·FREE Health Insurance Quotes-eHealthInsurance.com
http://us.click.yahoo.com/1.voSB/RnFFAA/46VHAA/DiTxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/