Categories
transport

Some big public transport changes coming on July 27th

The July 27th public transport network changes are pretty big. Some of the information is a bit vague, so here are some points I’ve gleaned from looking around, as well as chatting to Transdev, who run a lot of the bus routes that are changing. V/Line The big thing in rail is V/Line trains from  ... [More]

Categories
Photos from ten years ago

Some of my photos from April 2004 – You won’t BELIEVE how similar everything was #clickbait

Continuing my series of posting ten-year-old photos, I was struck by the fact that many of the photos from April 2004 show some things have changed very little. Traffic in Collins Street, creeping into the tram lanes. Just recently more visible dividers have been added… I suspect they help, but don’t completely prevent cars on  ... [More]

Categories
Photos from ten years ago

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]

Categories
transport

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]

Categories
transport

A look inside the new E-class trams

Melbourne’s first new trams in years — and the first Australian-built trams in about twenty years — were officially launched yesterday, after months of testing around the network. The first two “E-class” trams, numbered 6001 and 6002 started service. I managed to catch one for a ride at lunchtime. As you can see from the  ... [More]

Categories
Culture transport

New sculpture: W-class tram

Speaking of sculpture, there’s a rather splendid new one at the corner of Spencer and Flinders Streets — a full-size replica of a W-class tram. Officially titled “Raising the Rattler Pole – The Last of the Connies”, it was installed last week, and when I went by a day or two later, appeared to be  ... [More]

Categories
Morons on the road transport

Elizabeth Street tram works / #RoadMorons invade the Bourke Street Mall

Works on the new Elizabeth Street tram platform stops are going full steam ahead. This is significant, because with the rollout of the new E-class trams onto route 96, it’s expected some low-floor trams will be available for the first time on Elizabeth Street, at last providing accessible services from the CBD to the Hospital  ... [More]

Categories
Photos from ten years ago

Photos from ten years ago – October 2003

Here is another in my series of old photos from when I first got a digital camera. M>Train (which came after Bayside trains, and before Connex) had a rather nice livery and logo. Here’s a Comeng train heading towards the city on the outer stretches of the Upfield line. Myself and Peter, another PTUA bod,  ... [More]

Categories
Morons on the road

#RoadMorons Award Of The Week goes to…

…this person, who ignored the convention to keep left of the white line in Flinders Lane, and came up against this tram coming around the corner. The tram actually had a fair pace making the turn — luckily it stopped in time to prevent a collision. The motorist backed out of the lane, and hopefully  ... [More]

Categories
transport

#Myki topups coming soon to buses (but will they avoid the issues of slow transactions and security?)

Leader Newspapers is reporting that Myki topups will be allowed on buses from next month. A maximum of $20 will apply. Well, that’s about time. This is good news for passengers. Firstly, it means the Myki consoles will be activated, with Metcard equipment removed. The coexistence of the two systems has caused a lot of  ... [More]

Categories
Melbourne transport

How Yarra Trams cleans up the wrong types of leaves

There’s a legendary excuse for late-running trains in Britain called the wrong type of snow (fallen on railway lines). Apparently the wrong leaves are also blamed sometimes. I recall a Yarra Trams person telling me that while they love Melbourne’s leafy streets, some of our local trees drop the wrong leaves (I’m paraphrasing mind you,  ... [More]

Categories
transport

What are the load standards for the different types of trams?

A while back I was talking about train load standards, which as you’ll recall is 798 per train (or 133 per carriage). Similar desired load standards exist for trams, but they vary much more widely because the tram fleet is much more diverse in size. These are found in volume 2 of the tram contract,  ... [More]