New timetables in May
A few details have come out about the next lot of Metro train timetables, and there’s some big changes for some lines, as the process of completely re-writing them continues.
Here is a summary based on some notes I saw the other day, and my initial thoughts. My assumption is these notes apply on weekdays only. If there are queries, leave a comment, but note that the full timetables have not yet been made available, and any incorrect information here is probably caused by my misinterpretation as I summarised.
Timing adjustments to reflect current timings; trips up to 3 mins longer (eg Frankston line)
Hmm, perhaps there really is no end in sight to the Siemens brake issue, which means speed restrictions approaching stations with a level crossing. I’m also told the Comeng trains can’t keep up with the timetable in peak hours due to heavy loads. Maybe us passengers need to go on diets.
Big changes to (most of) the Northern Group will wait for Sunbury electrification (expected 2012). Changes for Clifton Hill will wait for South Morang (expected late 2012).
Fair enough, that makes sense, particularly as South Morang includes a bunch of other upgrades to make both Clifton Hill lines run better.
Frankston — current peak pattern to be extended for longer. Off-peak all trains will run direct to Flinders St/Sthn Cross. Minor infrastructure changes to improve things eg Frankston platform extension to cater for terminating trains from City and Stony Point simultaneously
Extending the peak pattern makes sense. At the moment they have this neat pattern which (to the observer) appears quite efficient and consistent, but varies and disappears during the peak shoulder period. Off-peak all running direct to Flinders St — well, people will need to get used to that, but at least the confusing half-and-half pattern now will be made more consistent. It would help if the Dandenong line was a matching 10-minute frequency, so plenty of loop trains were available, but the notes don’t say if that’s happening. Which I’m guessing means it’s not.
Werribee – complete re-write of the timetable. Trains from Werribee every 11 mins in peak, running direct Laverton to Newport (allowing 3 more trains in peak). Laverton to City via Altona Loop trains every 22 mins in peak. Williamstown to City every 22 mins in peak.
Aye carumba! Re-write for consistency is good. More frequent trains from Werribee is good (the current 4-20 minute gaps are bound to lead to overcrowding on some trains), and all running via the direct line is good.
But trains for Altona/Westona and Williamstown every 22 minutes in peak? Seriously? A long wait between trains, and how’s anybody meant to remember that timetable? Is that the best they could do, after spending $92.6 million on the Laverton rail upgrade? Obviously it’s linked to the Werribee trains running every 11 minutes, but surely they could have tweaked/upgraded the signalling to make it an even 20/10 minutes.
Werribee off-peak: no loop (all direct, then to Frankston). Werribee to Laverton reduced to every 20 mins, all express via direct line. Laverton to Newport via Altona Loop shuttle every 20 mins. Williamstown – off-peak trains every 20 mins all the way to Flinders St (eg combined with Werribee, every 10 mins Newport to City)
OK. The Altona/Westona people aren’t going to like it, but it does make sense for their trains to be the shuttles instead of Williamstown, because Williamstown has double-track, so delays are less likely to cascade. This also fixes the inconsistent 4-16 minute gaps in off-peak now between Newport and the City.
But halving frequencies between Laverton and Werribee? Why on earth did they give them 10ish minute frequencies in 2009, if only to take them away again? And what happened to the idea of the whole network having frequent services all day? I know operationally it’s a little difficult at Newport, but I suppose I’m surprised they’re back-pedalling on this.
Sandringham – fully separated from Caulfield loop. Services upped to every 8 mins in peak
Cool.
Ringwood, Blackburn, Box Hill stopper trains to run to City Loop in AM. Additional Blackburn to City services during off-peak (implied to be full interpeak). PM will run direct from Flinders St
Alamein to run to City Loop in AM; direct from FSS in PM. Implied to be some extra off-peak services (into city), but not certain.
Glen Waverley to run direct to FSS in AM; around loop in PM. Frequency upgraded to average 7.5 mins.
Okay, I see what they’re doing here. Ringwood line stoppers and Alameins will use the loop in the morning, but not in the afternoon. Glen Waverley will use the loop in the afternoon, but not in the morning. Arguably this means all those passengers will be treated equally, each having to change trains once a day, but of course it’s confusing, and this kind of change will probably mean everybody’s unhappy…
I’m told it’s apparently being done to get around issues with Metrol, involving the handover between two controllers as trains move between sectors, which can cause delays. Another case of a weakness in the infrastructure?
Will it work?
So why are they doing all this? To better fit the extra services possible with the bigger fleet, and even out loads, and improve reliability. All admirable goals. The question will be whether or not it works.
And the complexity for passengers — some dealing with odd frequencies like every 22 minutes, and some will need to change trains on the way to work but not the way home, or vice versa — surely will lead to some confusion.
Tags: Metro, trains
33 comments
Spotted
Spotted around the RACV centre in Bourke Street…
I’m not sure what these things are called. They’re from the days before traffic lights — before my time. The only problem with these ones is that two directions are getting a green signal at once, which would result in a crash.
This street sign looks a little different. Ah, you see the footnote on it? “Private lane”. Presumably this is because it leads only to the RACV’s carpark, and is on RACV property. But it may have legal implications as well — at a conventional street corner, traffic coming into the side street needs to give way to pedestrians crossing it, but coming out doesn’t. I reckon if it’s a private lane, then like at a car park entrance, traffic needs to give way in both directions.
Tags: RACV, traffic, traffic lights
15 comments
Myki on buses
Two weeks ago I noted that Myki mostly works. In most cases the charging is fine. The readers seem more reliable and mostly fairly responsive (and faster than inserting a Metcard into a slot and waiting for it to come out again).
What doesn’t work? Well buses in particular have issues, it seems. As this video shows, some readers don’t beep loudly enough or are silent, one bus got the zone wrong, and we found one dead reader.
The zone problem
The zone problem is partly due to the prolonged transition between Metcard and Myki. In my case it caused a $1.10 overcharge (instead of a $5.88 Zone 1 daily fare, I ended up with a $4.04 Zone 2 daily fare, plus a $2.94 Zone 1 two-hour fare), and I requested a refund. When it was granted, it was accompanied by this explanation in the email:
As we move to a new ticketing system, Metcard and myki will operate alongside each other for a period of time and this is the case on all buses. Because buses don’t have all of the myki equipment just yet, the system can’t pick up a bus’s location as accurately as it will be able to when everything is installed and as a result of this a bus can sometimes charge a different fare.
To be precise, the bus driver is unable to enter the route and direction, which would give the equipment a little more information to be able to correctly detect which zone it’s in.
This is very rare and is only expected to impact people who travel near zone boundaries and overlap zones and in most cases you will be charged a lower fare. We are working to rectify this issue as soon as possible but in the mean time, we do request that you contact us to organise any reimbursements that may be needed.
This issue was first found on the very first day of Myki operation on buses. I have noticed it is occurring less frequently than it was back then, but it’s still a problem, and it means people like me who use buses near the zone boundaries need to watch carefully for it until it’s properly fixed — or, in all likelihood, until the Metcard equipment is gone… if it happens, of course. I’m just glad I’m not a very frequent bus user in this area… I usually walk to the station. It would be a pain if it was part of your daily commute.
Other issues
Dead readers are still around, but I would say becoming less common. But there are reports of some (brand new?) buses out in service with no Myki readers at all.
Beeps not being loud enough (and being the same for both touch-on and touch-off) is something that’s been highlighted for months now, but still not fixed.
So does it work?
As I said earlier, it mostly works. The zone problem is peculiar to buses near zone boundaries (and the Transport Ticketing Authority must be cursing the fact that I live near a zone boundary).
It’s probably worth noting that Commuter Club Yearly tickets have already made the switch to Myki, and periodicals like this are the least likely to have issues, particularly for people who never catch buses near zone boundaries. Even forgetting to touch-off isn’t a problem, as periodicals do not incur a default (“we assume you went to the end of the line”) fare like Myki Money (pay as you go) users do.
As it happens, Marita’s Yearly ticket (which she started using in December) stopped working last week. Will be interested to see if it is replaced with a Myki.
Tags: buses, Myki, public transport
15 comments
Brickvention 2009
I’m hearing that there are incredibly long queues for Brickvention today at Melbourne Town Hall. Shame… when we went in 2009, the queues weren’t too bad. Perhaps they’ve become a bigger event than they realise.
(According to the web site 1000 members of the public attended in 2009, and 2700 in 2010. Clearly it’s growing.)
I realised I never blogged the pictures and video from 2009, so here they are now.
Lego city
Spirit of Progress
Swanston Street/Flinders Street corner, including Flinders Street Station and Federation Square
Shrine of Remembrance
Gothic church
Space Shuttle
There are heaps more pictures from 2009 and from other years on the Brickvention web site.
Tags: Brickvention, Lego, Melbourne
9 comments
New drains
This week’s events in Queensland are a reminder that precautions need to be taken to minimise the possibility and effects of flooding. So it’s good to see around my neck of the woods that the drains are being upgraded. These huge Lego-like pipe sections have appeared in some streets.
Presumably they’re big enough to cope with any foreseeable water flow. Certainly big enough to allow a dorky photo of oneself inside one.
Of course the installation is causing some disruption to traffic. I believe my street was done just before we moved in, which was a stroke of luck. But hopefully most people would appreciate how important it is.
Franco Cozzo
If you’re ever at Footscray Station on the footbridge (the one they’re going to have to knock down extend, even though they just built it), and you look towards the east, you’ll see something from a bygone era.
You might just be able to make out the words “Franco Cozzo” on an off-white building in the distance.
Yes, Franco Cozzo still exists, in Brunswick and Footscray, but the perhaps once-grand building (at least in Footscray, where it is called “Franco Cozzo House”, no less) is looking a bit the worse for wear.
It’s not in a great location, either — a bit distant from everything else in Footscray, and on a traffic sewer, with no passing pedestrians and no parking. When I’ve been going past, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a soul going in.
And I haven’t had a look inside myself, as I must confess, that style of furniture just doesn’t appeal to me.
Judging from what can be seen in the window, it’s the same stuff as in the old adverts, which have surfaced on Youtube:
And the man himself (at least as recently as 2006) can still do the spiel:
Queensland floods
I’m not going to name names, but two people remarked to me last week that the Queensland floods wouldn’t be that bad, because all the houses have stilts, so everyone up there would be fine.
I wasn’t about to get into an argument about it, but at the time I had my doubts. I suspect the people involved (both a generation older than me) have in their minds that the whole state is filled with “traditional” architecture of the Queenslander style — in particular those with stumps/stilts that let’s the house sit above ground level.
I may not have been to Queensland for twenty years, but I know it’s simply not true. As in any modern urban area, places like Brisbane (under threat now from floods) and the many regional cities have a wide variety of architecture, and traditional structures like stilts may or may not be integrated into modern designs, particularly as local drainage systems improved and the risk of termites and other pests (a reason for the stilts) may have been less prominent.
In any case, in the last day or two the flooding has got significantly worse. This video from Toowoomba shows just how quickly it can develop from a mere raging torrent into a dangerous situation where cars are thrown about like toys.
A number of people are confirmed dead, and many more are missing from places like Toowoomba.
Two-thirds of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone, and for those outside Australia trying to judge how big the problem is, the flooded areas are said to be about the size of France and Germany combined, or for our American friends, the size of Texas and Oklahoma combined.
Brisbane is now under threat, with some of the images yesterday of thousands fleeing central Brisbane reminiscent of disaster movies — proving yet again that freeways are no good for moving large numbers of people at once (but if you’ve driven in, and you can’t get back home any other way, what choice do you have?).
[Pic at right: Riverside Expressway, from Queensland government traffic camera, 1:36pm AEST Tuesday]
My uncle lives in Gordon Park, in inner-suburban Brisbane. Thankfully his suburb is not on the list of those likely to be affected by the river breaking its banks, and the excellent flood maps prepared by Brisbane City Council show that even if local flooding occurs, his street (which is on a hill above a park and a creek) should be safe. My sister rang him last night to check on him — he’s doing fine so far.
A lot of areas will not be so lucky though, and one can only offer best wishes to those caught up in the flooding.
Retired
The other day I retired one of my oldest web pages, an FAQ on Melbourne public transport.
It started life (I think around 1993, before the Web was around) as a Usenet FAQ for the misc.transport.urban-transit group.
In 1994 it was posted (with an incomplete attempt to convert it to HTML) on Railpage — where unfortunately it is still online, as I haven’t been able to find someone who can remove it.
When I wrote it, there was little information available online about public transport. But from about the late-90s, official sources of information on public transport became more prevalent online (and in the last few years, more accurate and useful), so now keeping a separate FAQ is largely pointless, and potentially confusing, so I’ve taken it offline, though it lives-on in the Internet Archive.
The page had a slightly awkward format (designed by someone on the Usenet group) to allow better comparisons between cities, but (like this old video) some of the detail means it is something of a time capsule.
Fare procedures: Tram: pay conductor (or show valid ticket). On Z class trams, when paying, place your money in the tray in front of the conductor. On driver only trams, pay the driver. Exact change is not required, although large notes may not be accepted. Keep your ticket as proof of payment until you alight.
Here, just for laughs, is the old FAQ’s rail map (remember, it was originally posted on Usenet, which takes plain text only).
MELBOURNE METROPOLITAN TRAIN SYSTEM
-----------------------------------
ZONE 2 .
*Epping .
ZONE 2 | *Hurstbridge . ZONE 3
Broad- * .....|....... / .
meadows| *Upfield. | ________*Eltham .
| ...|...... | / . .
ZONE 2 .|. | ZONE 1 |/ .. . *Lilydale
. \ | *Clifton .. . /
St Albans* . \ | Nth |Hill ..Box Hill . /
.\ \ | Melb | .. *_______*Ringwood
. \__*__\_\_*___*_*_ | Camberwell. / . \
Footscray/ | 3 4 | | *_______/ . \
. | 2* 5* |Richmond / \ . ZONE 2 . \
______*Newport \_*__|_/__*______*/ | . . *Belgrave
/. | 1 \Burnley\ *Alamein .
/ . * ~~~~~~~~ |\ \ .. .
* . Williamstown~~ ZONE 1 | \ \______*Glen Waverley
Werribee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | \ . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | *Caulfield ..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |\ . ..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..|...|.\.. ZONE 2 ..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sandringham* | \ ..... ZONE 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | .\...
CITY LOOP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...|.. *Dandenong
1 Flinders St~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | \
2 Spencer St~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Frankston* \
3 Flagstaff~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | *Pakenham
4 Museum~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
5 Parliament~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Stony Point*
\___ Rail lines
__*_ Major stations
.... Fare zone boundaries; overlaps generally apply over 2-3 stations
~~~~ Port Phillip Bay
