Bushwalking
I had intended for us to do regular bush walks this year, as part of getting fitter and burning off some flab. We did one, at the You Yangs, in January.
We did the walk up to Flinders Peak to admire the view and get the heart pumping.
Turns out the park was damaged during floods in February, and it’s all closed at the moment.
Must try and do some more bushwalking at other nearby parks… perhaps one every month or so would be good.
Tags: bushwalking, You Yangs
4 comments
Quick review of the new Metro timetables
So, the new Metro timetables are out, and those of us with geeky tendencies have been poring over them.
(As one journo commented, it must take a special kind of person to work on these things for months on end.)
Here’s my summary:
In the west
Altona Loop trains originate at Laverton, meaning a lot more space, more likelihood of getting a seat.
Altona Loop and Williamstown trains drop from every 20 minutes in peak to every 22 minutes. To be useable, timetables need to be either frequent or memorable. This is neither, and it calls into question why something wasn’t done during the $90+ million Laverton Turnback to ensure 20 minute services could continue to run.
Werribee trains more frequent and regular in peak, about every 11 minutes, and all bypass Altona Loop.
Altona Loop passengers have to change at Newport outside peak hours. And again at North Melbourne or Southern Cross if they want a Loop station. It might be the first time that (Stony Point line excepted) passengers have had to change trains twice to reach some City Loop stations.
Williamstown passengers will no longer have to change at Newport outside peak hours — the flip side of the Altona change.
Stations between South Kensington and Newport get more consistent services, every 10 minutes interpeak and every 11 minutes during peak.
Werribee and Williamstown trains upgraded to every 20 minutes on weekday evenings until about 10pm (then every half-hour).
…but they won’t run through the loop, so some people may have to wait up to 30 minutes at North Melbourne.
Burnley group
Belgrave/Lilydale line more AM weekday services after peak, including lots of expresses for people beyond Box Hill.
Glen Waverley direct to Flinders Street on weekday mornings, and more frequent in peak hour. Cross-platform interchange at Richmond. Alamein/Blackburn trains will run via the Loop instead. This should cut delays to Burnley group lines (as well as the Dandenong line), as it reduces conflicting movements.
In the afternoon, Glen Waverleys run via the Loop, whereas Alamein/Blackburn trains run direct from Flinders Street. It’s probably fairer, but is it also more confusing?
Note 7/5/2011: When I wrote this post I didn’t notice the reduction in trains stopping at Laburnum, Camberwell and Glenferrie.
The southeast
Dandenong gets trains every twenty minutes on weekday evenings until about 10pm.
Longer trips on the Frankston line, which will have a concentration of Siemens trains (the ones with brake problems and speed limits) to try and get some predictability in the timetables (and improve the punctuality stats). For instance — old timetable 7:21 from Frankston arrives Flinders St 8:34 (73 minutes stopping all stations) — new: 7:20am from Frankston arrives Flinders St 8:36am (76 minutes stopping all stations). I wonder if this’ll work?
Frankston peak expresses extended for longer periods, into the shoulder peak period.
Frankston shoulder-peak services don’t conform to the peak pattern. Very inconsistent and confusing, particularly with regard to loop operation in the PM. So much for the talk of more consistent stopping patterns.
Frankston interpeak services now a regular ten minutes, all direct to/from Flinders Street, and through-routed to Newport (eg Werribee/Williamstown). Less confusing than the current half-Loop/half-direct pattern, and provides a cross-city connection.
Frankston evening services all direct to/from Flinders Street. Only a 20-30 minute frequency, so potentially a change of trains and a long wait for Loop passengers. (Nothing wrong with changing trains, but the frequency has to be good.)
Sandringham gets more peak hour services (to about every 7-8 minutes), including one or two originating at Middle Brighton (actually coming straight out of sidings at Brighton Beach, I assume).
The others
Some other lines have a few extra services, or other minor changes, or no change at all. The Clifton Hill group is likely to get a shake-up when the South Morang extension opens, probably next year.
No weekend changes, despite increasing crowding, such as shown above — that’s the 5:08pm to Pakenham from Sunday afternoon. The Grand Prix was on, but all the fans were already at the track. Football at Etihad had finished, but there didn’t seem to be any fans around; they’d already gone home. The MCG football had just finished, but those fans were waiting for trains at Richmond. This was just a crowd of Melburnians heading home from usual (non-major-event) Central Melbourne activities.
All services to run as six cars rather than three.
Overall
In summary, some good, worthwhile upgrades that will in many cases will cut waiting times, and overcrowding and hopefully improve punctuality, but those at some stations will be left with a bitter taste (yeah the Altona people especially).
Of course it’s just one step in the evolution of the system. Hopefully the next revision won’t be too far off, and will be a clearer step forward for everyone.
Check out the new timetables here.
PS. Myki 28+ day Pass users need to get their February compo claim in today (or possibly tomorrow; it’s unclear). It’s worth two daily fares. Metcard Monthly and longer users have a couple more weeks to claim. Claim forms here.
Tags: Metro, timetables, trains
20 comments
So, apparently Ponting’s stepping down
Not much chance of missing this news.
Tags: cricket, Media, Ricky Ponting
1 comment
Don’t just complain. Take action.
(Pic originally posted in October. Accompanying Facebook group.)
No doubt this will sound familiar to those who are active in voluntary advocacy groups:
“I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY YOUR GROUP OF OVERWORKED VOLUNTEERS, WHICH I AM NOT A MEMBER OF, IS NOT PURSUING MY PERSONAL GRIEVANCE.”
I suspect many people have a genuine grievance, but think that complaining to the advocacy group is going to get action, when in reality they’re already snowed-under.
In many cases there are more appropriate places to direct your complaint. Actions more likely to get a result include (with examples from the public transport sector that I’m most familiar with):
- go to the appropriate/responsible organisation (eg the operator)
- if no response or an inappropriate response, go to the organisation that has review powers (eg the Public Transport Ombudsman)
- particularly for services managed or funded by government, also contact the office of the responsible government minister (eg the Public Transport Minister)
- contact the media: the local newspaper or (for anything likely to be a systemic problem thus will get coverage) the daily newspapers. This might mean contacting a journalist, or just writing to the paper. Radio and TV can also be good avenues, depending on what the issue is.
There’s any number of avenues to pursue ahead of just whinging to an advocacy group which probably has lots of other higher priorities to pursue, limited resources, and overworked volunteers.
By all means copy those groups on your correspondence, so they know your issue is happening (and may see patterns or a wider problem emerging, and perhaps even be able to run with it), but don’t assume they have the time and resources to do much with it… if YOU care about it, YOU need to get the ball rolling.
Why yes, my neighbours are Magpies supporters
Why yes, my neighbours are Magpies supporters.
Footy’s back. I got 7/8 for round 1… hopefully I can keep it up and win back the ugly trophy.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-26
- Nice that Webber observed Bolte Bridge speed limits, but surely driving the wrong way on it was a much bigger no-no? #
- They say the supermoon is only 1% bigger in southern hemisphere. I reckon that might be right. Big, but not spectacularly so. #
- Gosh, how exciting. Letter says they're filming a soap powder commercial nearby this coming week. #
Tags: Twitter digest
4 comments
There’s at least a dozen ways to save our petrol
Marita was telling me about an ad from the 70s telling people to save petrol. I had absolutely no recollection of it, but sure enough, Mr Youtube had it…
What a cracker! I couldn’t figure out why they made the cartoon people nude, but a comment suggested it was to grab people’s attention.
Perhaps I just never took any notice because such concepts were irrelevant in my family.
I assume it was devised in the wake of the 70s oil shocks.
Despite the jingle, I only count six ways of saving petrol noted in the ad (and it mentions carpooling twice). Maybe there were others quoted in print or other complementary advertising.
Tags: advertising, petrol
9 comments
At last, escalator signage
Years ago there were “Stand on left / Walk on right” signs on the escalators at Melbourne’s underground stations.
They disappeared about ten years ago. While regulars know the etiquette, newbies and occasional users don’t, which causes frustration for those in a rush, particularly outside peak hours when the escalators (for some reason) run at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Now, at last, some action from Metro. Spotted at Flagstaff this morning:
The next step, hopefully, is signage on the escalators themselves, where they’ll get noticed by the newbies… as well as perhaps something a little clearer in its intent.
It’s only a little thing, but it makes a big difference to regular train users.
