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City rail network in meltdown

pahoffm

No one player is bigger than the club.
Mar 24, 2004
21,145
2
If its not Water, if it's not Public Transport, can this Victorian Government do anything right?
It seems to make more excuses than anything else.


City rail network in meltdown
Jason Dowling
June 19, 2008
http://www.theage.com.au/national/city-rail-network-in-meltdown-20080618-2swn.html?page=-1

MELBOURNE public transport commuters face up to three years of worsening congestion as some of the city's busiest train lines reach capacity long before planned upgrades are delivered.

In an ominous warning to already pressed commuters, the head of Connex has warned the Sydenham line will reach capacity this year, while eight other lines to the city's north, west and south will hit capacity by 2013.

The Epping and Hurstbridge lines are also said by Connex to be approaching capacity - the point at which they are unable to cope with additional services.

Major rail upgrades proposed in Sir Rod Eddington's transport study will not be delivered before 2016 - provided the Government gives the go-ahead for a $7 billion rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield and a new $1.5 billion rail line from Werribee to Deer Park.

Connex has attributed a massive 33% jump in patronage since 2005 to soaring petrol prices and a big growth in activity in the middle of the city.

As unleaded petrol in Melbourne yesterday broke through $1.70 a litre for the first time, Connex chief executive Bruce Hughes predicted the growth in public transport use to continue.

"Train patronage took off at about the same time petrol broke through the $1-a-litre barrier," Mr Hughes told a lunch organised by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.

Recent passenger counts on trains indicate 193 million passenger journeys a year, or about 330,000 journeys on an average weekday.

Mr Hughes said increased congestion caused by more trains on the tracks and more people on the platforms had led to a fall in train punctuality from 97% in 2001 to 92% this year and commuters were unhappy with late services.

Sir Rod Eddington recently predicted that even if recent patronage growth on the trains slowed, "moderate levels of growth will lead to systemic failures in the rail network with more overcrowding and a further decline in reliability on the busiest lines".

He said the "failure to tackle this problem means the city's busiest rail lines will hit the wall, with demand outstripping available capacity some time in the next 10 years".

Mr Hughes warned that the centre of Melbourne would soon be unable to take any more trains. "The crucial capacity constraints will soon become the core of the network," he said.

Mr Hughes backed the Eddington plan's proposal for an underground rail link between Footscray and Caulfield. "There's no doubt if you stand still you will just go backwards, so we can't and we are not waiting and we are getting on with it," he said.

Now was the time for public transport investment. "The planets are aligned for public transport, petrol prices are high, climate change is leading to a shift in how people travel, more services are being provided and as a result patronage is growing," he said. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, let's not bugger it up."

Metlink Boss Bernie Carolan, in a speech to be delivered today, will also call on the Government to commit to the Caulfield-Footscray tunnel, saying it would at least double the effective capacity of the northern train lines and the Caulfield lines, with at least 40,000 extra passengers per hour in peak times.

Stephen Moynihan, spokesman for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, said the Government was making multimillion-dollar investments in Melbourne's rail infrastructure, including adding tracks at Westall on the Dandenong Line and Laverton on the Werribee Line, and duplicating the rail bridge at Clifton Hill to remove a bottleneck.

"The Government believes it should eliminate bottlenecks on the rail network to allow for future extensions of the rail system. We have 18 new trains on order and we are always constantly trying to add more services to the timetable," Mr Moynihan said.

Daniel Bowen, of the Public Transport Users Association, said the system was in crisis. "Everyone knows that peak-hour trains are the fullest they have been in decades. There is a clear need for more trains on the network," he said.

But he warned that "it would be a mistake to put all our eggs in one basket and pour billions of dollars into public transport projects that would only address inner-city rail capacity - especially when more can be squeezed out of the current infrastructure".

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the public transport system was in meltdown. "We believe the Government has the option to buy another 20 trains and they haven't exercised that option," he said. "Given the lead time from order to delivery they need to explain why given these dire predictions," he said.

Meanwhile, the price of unleaded petrol in Melbourne has broken through the $1.70 barrier for the first time, hitting 171.9 cents late yesterday at a BP service station on Kings Way. As news of the record spread, the station eased the price to 169.9 cents a litre.

RACV spokesman David Cumming expressed shock at the record. "It's an excessive price and its about 10 cents a litre over the wholesale price," he said.

Other major brand stations also lifted prices to 169.9 cents, while independent outlets remained slightly below that.

CommSec chief economist Craig James predicted another week of pain, with prices peaking at $1.75 a litre as the impact of full impact of recent global price changes for oil was felt. "But there are some signs of light … with the fact that prices in the Asia region have come down off their high over the past weeks," Mr James said.

However, some experts say prices could go higher still. The Age yesterday reported predictions that petrol could go close to $1.90 a litre this year, based on Reserve Bank inflation forecasts.
 
Idiots keep voting these fools into office...so what do you expect, Phantom?

You only need to read things like this to see they have no idea:

Recyled trains: coming to a station near you
April 23, 2007
KERRY Packer reportedly said you only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime. Trainspotter and savvy businessman John Horne must think the same about the Bracks Government.
In 2002, it decided to scrap and sell its ageing Hitachi train fleet. Mr Horne picked up half for the bargain price of $2600 per carriage. Last November he sold three carriages back to the State Government for $60,000, a profit of more than 700 per cent.
At his property in Molong, three hours west of Sydney, Mr Horne has dozens of Hitachi carriages lined up in a paddock. He has two six-carriage Hitachis ready for service. "If the Government is fair dinkum about getting more trains, then I can provide them," he said.


http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/04/22/1177180483892.html


and:


No transports of delight in myki's soaring cost
The card is myki. Its existence, when it becomes a fact of commuter life, will be testament not to smooth, efficient process, but to the very opposite. It is difficult to summon an example to better serve the label of "monumental blunder" in the implementation of a new service than in the myki fiasco. Its carriage from its first announcement to the world in 2003 by the then transport minister Peter Batchelor to the present under the guardianship of Lynne Kosky has been a journey littered with budget blow-outs, rescheduling on the time of arrival and blood on the tracks. Still, the State Government keeps faith in it, and asks the public to do the same. The Government can hardly do otherwise; it has invested too much time and money to pull the pin on the sorry affair.
The latest instalment, published in The Age yesterday, revealed the Government's optimism in myki, if nothing else. A $400,000 advertising campaign for the card has been sitting on the shelf for almost 12 months. The advertising agency Clemenger Harvey Edge, which is based in Brisbane, completed 10 commercials last year to be used with the card's introduction. The campaign was called The Blue Line. Given the delays plaguing myki, it is as well the ads are being held back. It would be too much to ask of people to recall what they have been shown, three or four years hence.
In May, government contracts for the card showed that its introduction may not occur until 2012. Ms Kosky, however, maintains it will be operational in 2010. Its starting date was supposed to be last year. It was supposed to cost $300 million. That was when it was first proposed. Since then the cost has ballooned to $850 million, with an estimated annual running cost of $55 million. State cabinet was forced last month to dip into the coffers and pull out an extra $350 million for the project. Ms Kosky, while being "incredibly frustrated" at delays, indicated that the Government had underestimated how complex the new system would be to introduce. One month before that, the person given the responsibility for myki, the chief of the Transport Ticketing Authority, Vivian Miners, suddenly departed. It is believed he had lost the confidence of Premier John Brumby and Ms Kosky.
The Government, however, is taking no chances when it comes to not losing the confidence of the public and not underestimating the backlash from commuters; it is keeping the Metcard ticketing system running — at a cost of more than $200 million — in tandem for 18 months when myki is introduced. This is no coincidence. A state election is due in 2010. The Government would be aware, and if it is not it should be, of market research done in 2005 and 2006 that revealed commuters would much rather have a better public transport system, than a new ticketing system.


http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/no-transports-of-delight-in-mykis-soaring-cost-20080617-2s5f.html?page=-1


So a new ticketing system that will border on costing us $1-billion....how about a new train line and some new trains first? :spin
 
With the overcrowding, is there any reason the Government (besides being incompetent schmucks) don't head down the path of getting double decker train carriages, ala Sydney's train system?

Anyone?
 
K3 said:
With the overcrowding, is there any reason the Government (besides being incompetent schmucks) don't head down the path of getting double decker train carriages, ala Sydney's train system?

Anyone?
Yeah I've being inside those and they provide more seating compared to the dud trains we've always had with people just standing around for most of the trip.
 
K3 said:
With the overcrowding, is there any reason the Government (besides being incompetent schmucks) don't head down the path of getting double decker train carriages, ala Sydney's train system?

Anyone?

This was tried on the Lilydale line years ago, the cost of raising the bridges to allow for the extra height of the trains was prohibitive.

On the congestion, I understand a big factor is that you can only throw so many more trains at the system because of the issue of the hub arrangement of our network (everything gets clogged in the loop).

This is why the PT peoples are desperate for the Footscray/Caulfield tunnel, so get a bypass effectively for this bottleneck.

Personally I think we have to invest the $10b+ and 10+ years to convert the rail network from a hub system to a metro system. Problem is the cost (financially, and politically because of house loses) is so high most poli's would be too gutless to do it.

On the ticket system, this all comes back to the stupid universal ticketing arrangement we have, and the same price within zones. Big issues with this Myki thing because of the variable power issues on trams and buses, and the need for all three networks to talk to each other. Why not do what they do OS, and you simply pay for your trip, with the charge variable based upon the distance travelled? Go from Flinders to Richmond - one small charge. Go from Richmond down Swan Street - one small charge. The universal thing makes our system more complicated and messy, with the zones further complicating it.

This is what I loved about the train network in HK. Pay, jump on, jump off, done. And if you want to travel further, you pay extra within the barrier zone (unlike here where the train nazi's hit you).
 
K3 said:
With the overcrowding, is there any reason the Government (besides being incompetent schmucks) don't head down the path of getting double decker train carriages, ala Sydney's train system?
Anyone?

I don't think we can, can we?...with the bridges, electrical lines above the carriages, and tunnels already there...? ???

The funny thing is that with petrol rising, people would be more than happy to catch public transport if the services were adequate enough to use.
With train cancellations, lateness, overcrowding, etc then people use their cars out of necessity....so what does the Government do?

Instead of spending the Myki money and the Eastlink money (as well as wasting money on proposals for tunnels going everywhere under the city)....if they spent all that on upgrading and extending the public transport system, then more people would go back to pubic transport.

Surely that would be good for the environment and the petrol prices rising wouldn't be as important as it is now either.

So much for looking after 'working families'...
 
Liverpool said:
I don't think we can, can we?...with the bridges, electrical lines above the carriages, and tunnels already there...? ???
I could be wrong but I think the double deckers are the same height as our trains. The bottom section seats are at a lower level than the platforms at the stations.
 
TigerForce said:
I could be wrong but I think the double deckers are the same height as our trains. The bottom section seats are at a lower level than the platforms at the stations.

They are still unfortunately higher.

They tried running them with the power things lower, but apparently most the bridges over rainlines in Melb are pretty snug.

They even mothballed the dual ones for Lilydale when the private operators took over, they had no interest in using them, and wanted uniform rolling stock on all lines.
 
Missing33 said:
I've found train travellers on the whole to be whingers.

Try commuting to town from Lilydale every day. About as much fun as burying your dead goldfish :pullhair
 
Hartbalme said:
Try commuting to town from Lilydale every day. About as much fun as burying your dead goldfish :pullhair

You want to try the peak hour Geelong to Southern Cross. Now that's a challenge!
 
Have we any evidence that the plan to have a direct rail link from Caulfield to Footscray will signifantly reduce the number of trips through the city? No doubt it will be used but by how many people? I have a gut feel it is a white elephant.

They tell us "the Hurstbridge line will soon be at capacity". Really? Try and catch a train Sunday afternoon to the city. There's one train every 40 minutes. I could almost run faster!

IMO public transport will only be effective if it is a combination of trains, trams and buses. And of these the quickest and simplest to implement is buses. $20 million will buy an extra 200 buses and if you give them priority on the freeways (along with taxis); more park 'n ride facilities like the Doncaster/Eastern Fwy; then you start to have an impact. Make them electric and everyone's happy.

If you take the environment on board in this debate, then making all public transport free would have a massive impact on road congestion and CO2 emmissions.
 
TigerForce said:
It all depends on where you live evo. I'll assume you're an inner suburb bloke. ;D

It doesn’t matter whether you live in the inner or outer suburbs. Its bad either way.

In fact, it could be considered that its worse for inner suburbanites because when it comes to getting into the city, by the time a train gets to their station, its usually full. Sometimes to the point where you simply can’t get on. Ditto with trams.

If it isnt already, public transport in this city is becoming a disaster.
 
Redford said:
It doesn’t matter whether you live in the inner or outer suburbs. Its bad either way.

In fact, it could be considered that its worse for inner suburbanites because when it comes to getting into the city, by the time a train gets to their station, its usually full. Sometimes to the point where you simply can’t get on. Ditto with trams.

If it isnt already, public transport in this city is becoming a disaster.

True, but an advantage for the inners is that there are more trains from other lines arriving (eg. if you pick up the train at Caulfield or South Yarra)