Edited 23 Oct 2018 03:59, 3 years ago, edited by Radioman

Why do we not build a standard suburban car capable of use on all lines and just adjust the number of cars for the so called HC trains?

because that does not make a good political statement ! ( The VR Tait and Swing Door sets were mechanically and electrically standardised , as were their intended replacement Blue Harris sets. )

The Comings should have been the new standard fleet  , but privatisation required NON compatible train sets , which we got .

We even upgraded the Comeng fleet to be deliberately non standard with each other. ( NX & Connex )

To improve flexibility , a lot of money was then spent to again modify the Comeng fleet to be standard with each other again , though I have forgotten the Project name now , it struck me at the time that real life again beat satire !

Both the Siemens Nexus ( NX ) and Alsthom Xtrapolis ( Connex ) sets were built to a very tight budget , and both were paid for , and owned by , the State Government .

In both cases the passenger seating is appalling , especially when compared to Sydney .

A previous contributor suggested that the Xtrapolis II sets should be 6 car sets with only two driving cabs , which is sensible in light of trains now running as 6 car sets on most services, the Alamein and Williamstown shuttles excepted.

The current Comeng LEP should see the existing AC units replaced , but bear in mind these AC units are probably over 10 years old now , and prior to now , the current AC units are all replacement units , the originals are long gone.

Also , as I have said previously , the recent seating re arrangements and additional hand grabs , and additional provision for more wheel chairs has made the modified units better at handling peak hour passenger loads , and enabled quicker ingress and egress with wheel chairs , as well as giving Mums with prams an easier time , so clearly someone is putting a lot of effort into making the floor plans more user friendly now than they were previously .

A pet hate is the new Victorian train system map . No , it is not a map of trains , but a map of a railway on which trains travel . Whoever designed the map , besides demonstrating their poor English language skills , has also designed a map that is hard to read , and includes destinations that Suburban Electric trains do not service .

The whole point of a map in a suburban train is to show the passenger where the suburban trains will take you . Important that V/Line trains are , they are not generally relevant to the suburban traveller. It is also noticeable that railway stations are not provided with a map , which one would assume would be of interest to an intending passenger .

Furthermore , the tradition of putting up wall time tables that are difficult to read with 20/20 vision , let alone for the visually impaired , is continuing . The theory seems to be that each time table must fit onto one broadsheet (one for week day , and one for week ends ) whilst readability is of little consequence , I know that Platform 1 usually has the time of departures for UP trains , which is good , but Platform 2 rarely has a similar sheet for Down departures .

There seems to be little thought given to what information should be displayed , there appears to be no consistent pattern of display, and there appears to be no thought given to safety advise poster displays either .

Regards, Radioman.