Melbourne’s City Loop is four rail tunnels under the CBD, with three stations (Flagstaff, Melbourne Central and Parliament), adding to the two major ground level stations (Flinders Street and Southern Cross). The Loop was designed to distribute train passengers around the city centre more efficiently. The Loop first opened forty years ago. It’s debatable whether ... [More]
Remember a few months ago when I wrote about the next big train timetable change? That was originally expected in December, but got postponed due to delays completing works on the Ballarat line. Today the State Government has announced the change will happen on 31st January, and naturally being an official release (instead of info ... [More]
A Metro (MTM) proposal has emerged for big changes to the operation of the City Loop for trains running through the Caulfield and Burnley tunnels. The page below is from a document discussing CBD station capacity implications from the introduction of the High Capacity Metro Trains. I’m told the document is genuine. It reveals that ... [More]
This video is inspired partly by a shot in the House Of Cards titles, and partly by something my dad used to tell me — that you could stand at Richmond station in the evening peak and see trains on every track coming out of the city. He may have been exaggerating a tad, but ... [More]
It’s taken me longer than I thought to get this post to something approximating shipshape. I’m not sure it’s perfect yet. Reminder: the views expressed on my personal blog do not necessarily represent the views of the PTUA. Following on from previous posts about the Loop, the next question is: Should the City Loop reverse ... [More]
Reminder: the views expressed on my personal blog do not necessarily represent the views of the PTUA. So, the result of the poll a few days ago was: Run some lines via the Loop, some direct to Flinders St: 129 (66.8%) Run each line half via the Loop, half direct to Flinders St: 57 (29.5%) ... [More]
I ran this poll on an internal PTUA members’ email list. Let’s try it here. Here’s the context: Trains, particularly in peak hour, are packed. More trains are being purchased, but the decision has to be made about how to deploy them. (Even if it’s decided to upgrade infrastructure such as with the proposed new ... [More]
Next Thursday marks 25 years since the completion of the City Loop. Flagstaff Station was the last loop station to open — on the 27th of May 1985. It’s the only station in Melbourne that is closed on weekends — being in the middle of the legal precinct, it’s a bit quiet around there on ... [More]