We’re midway through the state government’s 2018-2022 term, so I thought I’d do an update of the Level Crossing Removal Program status, following on from previous versions in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Like previous lists, this one is derived from a 2008 ALCAM (Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model) study of all level crossings in Victoria ... [More]
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]
I haven’t managed to get to all the newly opened stations, but I did stop past Carrum for a little while on Wednesday night. Carrum opened on Monday, with some hiccups – late completion of testing (apparently due to a police operation) and sign-off of new signalling equipment resulted in a delay to the first ... [More]
I was going to blog a few quick things from the past couple of weeks. That post grew too big, so I’m splitting it up… Bustitution is coming With the number of rail projects underway, it should be no surprise that there seem to be major works happening somewhere, every school holidays. In fact for ... [More]
Sometimes my blog posts are like buses or trams. You wait ages, then two show up in close succession. I wanted to get this out before the election: an update on the level crossing removals, a popular project which brings benefits to motorists, pedestrians and public transport users alike. In 2014, Labor pledged 50 by ... [More]
Things have been busy, so I’m a bit behind on blogging things. A few things in brief, then the big news. Wednesday night delays Last night saw major delays affecting the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines between about 4pm and 5:30pm, impacting peak hour. This was due to a track fault at Flinders Street, and it ... [More]
The new Clayton station opened this morning, and I went down to take a look. The design is very similar to Noble Park, which opened in February. A ramp just west of the station (and Clayton Road) brings the trains up onto the elevated section. From there, the track is entirely elevated as far as ... [More]
Now that the new Noble Park station (aka “Area 3” of the Caulfield to Dandenong “skyrail”) is open, what of the rest of the project? It’s moving fast. “Area 2” in the Clayton area is coming along, and a rail line closure from the 3rd to the 15th of April will allow construction workers to ... [More]
On Wednesday the State Government announced that the first section of “skyrail”, at Noble Park, will open on Thursday 15th February, along with the new station, following a two week disruption to rail services between Westall and Dandenong. This will mark the removal of three level crossings: at Corrigan, Heatherton and Chandler Roads. Trains will ... [More]
Now that we’ve finished talking about names of yet-to-be-built stations, let’s talk about some recently built ones. Last Saturday a steam train ran to celebrate a year (and a bit) since the new Bentleigh/McKinnon/Ormond stations re-opened, following level crossing removals. K153 leads a Steamrail special into McKinnon pic.twitter.com/6XISB3b2t1 — Metro Man (@The_Rail_Life) November 25, 2017 ... [More]