Last the weekend I got to take a quick look at the recently opened new stations at Mentone (opened 20th July) and Cheltenham (opened 16th August). Previously they’d been outside my 5km radius, but that recently lifted to 25km. Click any of these photos to view them larger. Mentone The train line goes under Balcombe ... [More]
Melbourne’s suburban train system was originally steam operated, but was converted to electricity in the 1910s and 1920s. By about 1930 most of the network we know today was in place. My friend Andrew leant me a copy of the suburban 1924 timetable. I’ve also got a PDF of the 1974 timetable. So let’s compare ... [More]
When is a No Through Road sometimes not a No Through Road? When you’re not driving. It’s common to see this signage around the place, but it’s misleading because it often only applies to vehicle access. There are a lot of cases where pedestrian and cyclist access is provided at the end of the street, ... [More]
I was wondering if there was any data on how public transport patronage around Australia had fallen COVID-19 took hold, and how it has recovered in different cities. It turns out most jurisdictions provide month-by-month or even week-by-week patronage data. Here’s how 2020 patronage compares as a percentage of 2019 patronage: Some observations: All these ... [More]
Is it the end of the month already? Here’s another of my monthly posts of photos from ten years ago… and this time they’re pretty much all transport-related. As usual, click the photos to see them larger in Flickr. The top of Swanston Street – the Barak Building is yet to be constructed, and the ... [More]
Remember the talk, almost a year ago now, of a shake-up to train timetables, prompted by the introduction of the new trains? These changes are now expected to take effect in mid-December, following on from minor adjustments made in July. Along the way, there have been some tweaks to the plan, but from what I’m ... [More]
This is a follow-up on my post about the roadmap out of COVID. Now I’m pondering the longer term: after COVID has gone. Assuming a successful vaccine comes in at some point, and things like masks and physical distancing are no longer required, will we all go back to how it was before? There’s been ... [More]
Here’s something I learnt yesterday: There’s a small town called Eucla, WA, near the SA border. Population: 53. Get this: It has its own timezone, which is halfway between Perth and Adelaide time. The timezone abbreviation is ACWST, though it’s usually called Eucla Time. It’s shared with a handful of other nearby small towns. It’s ... [More]
The Victorian Government has released its roadmap out of COVID-19 restrictions. I’ve been pondering what this means for travel demand and public transport in Melbourne, and activity in the CBD, which largely drives PT patronage. The steps in the roadmap (*which are mostly subject to case numbers) start from Sunday night. 1st Step (14th September) ... [More]
It’s the end of the month again, so time to post more ten year old photos. I evidently went for a walk across the Latrobe Street bridge north of Southern Cross station, snapping these photos of V/Line stabling and facilities. As noted last month, Metro was using platform staff with despatch paddles on some CBD ... [More]
Last week Gareth Dennis posted this superb and hilarious thread of British PMs as locomotives. It’s very funny, even if (like me) you’re not much of a Brit trainspotter. A friend asked me to do an Australian version. Initially I said I wasn’t sure if there were enough Australian trains to match the multitude of ... [More]
When I last wrote about COVID-19, it was just before we went into Level 4 restrictions in Melbourne. Level 4 has been harder. While I’m not affected in a financial sense, the further closure of businesses is causing stress for people. There are now severe limits on leaving the house: once per day per household ... [More]