Archive for May, 2016

Cardinia Road’s new level crossing

With a program of 50 level crossing removals planned for Melbourne, with many of them already underway, one would assume that the last thing that the government would be doing is building NEW level crossings. But yet again, a lack of planning is seeing money go down the drain – this time at Cardinia Road on the Pakenham line.

Siemens 791M  and 787M cross Cardinia Road, bound for the city

V/Line’s vandalism problem at Albury

Vandalism is a problem that rail operators across Victoria have to deal with, but the spate of graffiti attacks on V/Line trains at Albury station take the cake. Browsing the archives of The Border Mail shows the extent of the problem.

N464 ready to lead the train back south from Albury

Secrecy and Victorian public transport projects

There are many things wrong with transport planning in Victoria, but today I’m going to look at a new theme – the way that the general public are drip fed information about new public transport projects.

Crane finished putting the new footbridge span into place

Then and now on the Western Ring Road

Today it is hard to imagine getting around the western suburbs of Melbourne without the Western Ring Road, but there was a time it didn’t exist – with the first stage opened in 1992.

New signage citybound on the Tullamarine Freeway at the Western Ring Road

Esoteric upgrades to the Ballarat railway line

In the 2016/17 Victoria Budget, the State Government has allocated $518 million for upgrade works on the Ballarat line, making the railway system more reliable and marking room for more train services. Track duplication and building additional crossing loops is simple, but some components of the upgrade are a little esoteric.

VLocity 3VL38 departs Ballarat on the down