While some are hailing the government’s plan (backed by Labor) to apply zone 1 fares (as a maximum) right across Melbourne, I thought it might be worth looking at the per kilometre cost for various trips — including some V/Line trips. The table below shows a sample of trips, both with the current fares, and ... [More]
Month: March 2014
Sorry, no time to do a proper blog post, so here’s a photo of a rainbow I snapped in Bentleigh on Monday, as dark clouds loomed:
The Herald Sun reports the government is planning big changes to Melbourne public transport fares: The radical changes, being unveiled today ahead of the State Budget, would cap maximum daily fares at the Zone 1 rate across Melbourne’s entire tram, rail and bus network. And CBD and Docklands trams would be free under the changes, ... [More]
The Steamrail Open Day a couple of weeks ago was good fun, though in some ways very similar to the previous one in 2012… But I’ll post some pics anyway. This is a Tait train (“Red rattler”) — dating back to the 1910s, and very common when I was growing up, but phased-out in the ... [More]
PTV’s plan for a frequent network
We could have a vastly more usable PT network; PTV has a plan. It just needs funding.
I was thinking the government ads about transport upgrades back in 2009-10 (Labor) are pretty similar to 2014 (Coalition). How would it be if I got them both and dubbed the audio of one over the video of another? The 2010 version is mostly about trains; the 2014 one has been chopped a tad to ... [More]
One of the issues in public transport is “dead running“. This blog post cites a local example, but it’s a widespread issue. At various times of day, trams trains and buses move out of service between their runs and their depots or stabling. This is dead running. Sometimes this is taken to extremes. Most route ... [More]
Those Swiss Army knife people certainly know how to make knives. Very sharp knives. While using one of their kitchen knives earlier in the week, I carelessly took a small chunk out of my thumb. Be warned: slightly gory picture ahead.
Photos from March 2004
Continuing my series of ten year old photos… The serene setting of Caulfield South Primary School, where my kids went. Like many schools of that era, the original main building is lovely, and conceals the portable classrooms out the back. The old Elizabeth Street tram stop on Collins Street, westbound. It’s not hard to see ... [More]
To the surprise of many, the state government yesterday announced a major $2 billion upgrade of the Dandenong/Pakenham/Cranbourne lines — they’re saying it’ll be enough to boost capacity by about 30%. The government’s press release is here, or you can watch a video: What’s included? 25 new high-capacity “next-generation” trains. They’ve been talking about this ... [More]
Your guide to meat
M+J were clearing out some old cook books, and found this gem. It’s not dated, but it does have a decimal price, so it must be post-February 1966. Perhaps not far after though, judging from the style. Much of it is in black and white, but here are a few choice colour pages… And one ... [More]
Safety around trams
This short safety video was produced for the new “GoldLinq” light rail system on the Gold Coast, which opens this year… but the tips in it are just as relevant for Melbourne. Of course for our local ads, we’ve got skateboarding rhinos. PS. In light of two newspaper polls over the weekend (they’re like trams/buses, ... [More]