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kuldalai
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jan 14, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 30, 2008
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:34 pm
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For the financial year 2007/08 V/Line patronage hit an all time high of 12 million rail pax journeys (a 23 % increase on 2006/07.)
Line wise Geelong carried 3.1 m (+20 %); Ballarat 2.5m (+26 %); Bendigo 3.0m (+25 %); Seymour 1.4m ( + 5 %); Traralgon 1.7m (+42 %).
(The Seymour increase at 5 % does not reflect the true increase as during the year Craigieburn pax previously travelling on VLP services in 2006/07 transferred to their own Connex electric services in 2007/08 . )
No wonder VLP needs every carriage and DMU it can lay it's hands on .
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mjja
Sir Nigel Gresley
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 21, 2008
Location: Mount Waverley, Melbourne
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:15 pm
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23%! That means that for every set of six facing seats that had one seat unoccupied, it is now filled. Every set of seats. Every carriage. Every train. Every service.
Any business that can grow its revenue by over 20% in a year is obviously providing what its customers want.
Brumby/Kosky, do you hear that? The people of Victoria want to ride on trains! Bring on those 28 extra V/Lo carriages, and tell Bombadier to wait beside the phone for another order!
Happy Gunzelling and remember, "Go by rail!"
Michael Angelico
President, Smart Passengers Inc
(My opinions are my own unless specifically stated.)
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alstom_888m
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Aug 26, 2007
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
Location: Craigieburn Suburban Railway Line, Melbourne
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:25 pm
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And we want an InterCity VLocity too, with McDonalds onboard!
And an Electric-Suburban VLocity, with cool noises like the pommy 323!
And bring back the Tulloch DRC's, I like them...
...Actually that last one makes sense! 
Reliable, Economical, Safe, By Rail.
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dalts 1985
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jul 29, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 30, 2008
Location: Warrnambool by the sea on the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:48 pm
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| alstom_888m wrote: | And bring back the Tulloch DRC's, I like them...
...Actually that last one makes sense! |
Trust me, you don't want Tulloch DRC's re-entering service...
They spent more time out of service then they did in revenue-earning service... & they (were) highly unreliable...
2 survive in preservation (where they rightfully belong: 1 at SRHC, other with DSCR) & 2 others are stored in the East Block Newport W/shops owned by a bank/Investm't company or other...
Althrough if VLP were alsolutely destitute, they could buy these two DRC's stabled in East Block Newport if they could find out their current owners & use them in place of the sprinters (this freeing up those 2 units for use else where on the system) on "The Feral Flyer" 
 It's not like the local inhabitants are seriously going to notice the "downgrade" in service quality or anything... 
"A vote for Labor means no more of Howard's bullsh*t
Last edited by dalts 1985 on Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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alstom_888m
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Aug 26, 2007
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
Location: Craigieburn Suburban Railway Line, Melbourne
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:52 pm
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Are you referring to Stony Point?
I thought the reliability issues were only early on (glares at Siemens) and that they were fixed by the late 80s.
Reliable, Economical, Safe, By Rail.
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Deanodriver
Junior Train Controller
Joined: Mar 27, 2008
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:20 pm
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Aren't most of the Hitachis scrapped by now? I've wondered before that, if V/Line were absolutely desperate for rollingstock, they could buy some of the old Hitachis and convert them for use as loco-hauled carriages. Highly unlikely though.
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GeoffreyHansen
Minister for Railways
Joined: Apr 13, 2004
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
Location: Waiting for the next commuter service to Bathurst
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:37 pm
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| Deanodriver wrote: | | Aren't most of the Hitachis scrapped by now? I've wondered before that, if V/Line were absolutely desperate for rollingstock, they could buy some of the old Hitachis and convert them for use as loco-hauled carriages. Highly unlikely though. |
Even though V/Line may be desperate for rollingstock they would probably need to have rollingstock of intercity/interurban standard so as not to lose any new customers.
Bring the 3900s back to Brisbane
Bring Karlsruhe Tramtrains to Australian cities
Extend the proposed Metro to Taylor Square
Extend the Gold Coast line to the Tweed
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Deanodriver
Junior Train Controller
Joined: Mar 27, 2008
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:54 pm
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| GeoffreyHansen wrote: | | Deanodriver wrote: | | Aren't most of the Hitachis scrapped by now? I've wondered before that, if V/Line were absolutely desperate for rollingstock, they could buy some of the old Hitachis and convert them for use as loco-hauled carriages. Highly unlikely though. |
Even though V/Line may be desperate for rollingstock they would probably need to have rollingstock of intercity/interurban standard so as not to lose any new customers. |
And since Connex is also short on rollingstock, I imagine they would have considered that option also.
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dalts 1985
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jul 29, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 30, 2008
Location: Warrnambool by the sea on the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:00 am
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| alstom_888m wrote: | Are you referring to Stony Point  |
Yes hence the common nickname of "The Feral Flyer" (more so common name to the ol' A Class & MTH Cars roster, prior to the sprinters taking over this year)
| alstom_888m wrote: | | I thought the reliability issues were only early on (glares at Siemens) & that they were fixed by the late 80s. |
Ahhh, what exactly, are you on about in regards Siemens & fixed in the '80's
United Goninan (as it was known prior to the sell off by the Alstom Group of its Australian Subsidurary Company: Alstom Aust, from it's french-owned parent company: Alstom Group Ltd, with United Group beimg the successful bidder to buy Alstom Aust's Operations, then subseqently merging it with United Goninan to become United Group Rail - UGR) built the sprinters in 1993 for the then Victorian PTC...
The DRC's were built fresh for the then NSWGR by Tulloch Engineering at the Rhodes NSW Facility, then eventually (some) after the NSWGR were finished with them, were onsold to VicRail ...
This Siemens has (had) nothing to do with the Tulloch DRC's (to my knowledge anyway)...
"A vote for Labor means no more of Howard's bullsh*t |
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kuldalai
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jan 14, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 30, 2008
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:04 pm
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VR bought firstly two (2) Tulloch DRC for Ararat - Portland line. Then SRA bought more for Riverina Express to Albury & Griffith and had Vicrail take two (2) more so as to achieve economy of scale. So Vicrail ended up with four .
Despite repeated re-engineering they were inherently un-reliable especially on outer suburban stop/start running . In the end at VLP we ran them as coupled pairs with an MTH sandwiched in the middle with through cabling on the MTH to carry the driving control cable .
As soon as the Sprinters arrived VLP was glad to see the end of them .
VLP's more recent purchases in DRC's in both Sprinters and Vlocities have proved far more reliable and have become the absolute work horses of the current fleet .
The Vlocity was planned to have 1 x major fault every 25,000 kms that would prevent the trip being run/completed. In reality over 50,000kms is being achieved which is outstanding reliability .
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alstom_888m
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Aug 26, 2007
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
Location: Craigieburn Suburban Railway Line, Melbourne
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:01 pm
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| Daylesford Country Spa Railway website wrote: | | By the early 1990s they had become one of the most reliable vehicles operated by V/Line, 20 years after being introduced. They were however destined to run for only another few years as they were replaced by the 22 new Sprinter railcars then entering service. All 4 DRCs were withdrawn in June 1995. |
I'm reading they fixed them. What were the actual problems with the DRC's anyway?
Reliable, Economical, Safe, By Rail.
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mjja
Sir Nigel Gresley
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 21, 2008
Location: Mount Waverley, Melbourne
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:04 pm
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You only have to read the Newsrails of the late 80s/early 90s to know how completely unreliable the DRCs were.
Happy Gunzelling and remember, "Go by rail!"
Michael Angelico
President, Smart Passengers Inc
(My opinions are my own unless specifically stated.)
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thadocta
Chief Train Controller
Joined: Apr 18, 2004
Last Visited: Dec 2, 2008
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:26 am
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| kuldalai wrote: | | VR bought firstly two (2) Tulloch DRC for Ararat - Portland line. Then SRA bought more for Riverina Express to Albury & Griffith and had Vicrail take two (2) more so as to achieve economy of scale. So Vicrail ended up with four . |
Almost, but no cigar.
NSW ordered 10 (seven PCH and three PCR cars), and VR tacked on an order for two (same layout as the PCH cars, but single class), to make 12. NSW sold two of the PCH cars to Victoria when it became apparent that the concept envisaged for the Riverina Express was not going to work. These two cars were refitted out to the same interior specifications as the existing VR cars and then joined the VR fleet, to make four cars.
To repeat, there were only ever 12 cars built.
(I have just confirmed this with what is considered to be the definitive source WRT NSW railcars, "Railmotors and XPT's").
Dave
Dave
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wongm
Minister for Railways
Joined: May 26, 2005
Last Visited: Nov 26, 2008
Location: Geelong, Victoria
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 1:36 pm
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| mjja wrote: | | You only have to read the Newsrails of the late 80s/early 90s to know how completely unreliable the DRCs were. |
The usual 2 car consists - DRC and MTH behind a third series T class in blue and gold.
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wongm
Minister for Railways
Joined: May 26, 2005
Last Visited: Nov 26, 2008
Location: Geelong, Victoria
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:05 pm
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A few weeks back V/Line was doing some trials on the 0717 up South Geelong train, which usually has 100 or so standees on board. The plan fell apart only a few minutes into the journey...
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