I was there today, (Thursday) for what is most likely my last trip, and it was made up of A60 - MTH 103 - MTH 104.

Sprinter 7003 was in a siding at Frankston.

Dear All

Got these shots of the final loco transfer today just after 11am:


A60 heads through Seaford on the down


A60 heads through Seaford on the down


A62 heads through Seaford on the up

Kind Regards


Craig

Went down there today for a ride and back, photos can be viewed here:http://www.alexstraingallery.fotopic.net/c1437943_37.html

Official Connex notices have been sticky-taped inside the doors of the MTH cars tonight advising that "tickets must be pre-purchased" and listing the outlets where this might be done.

Confirming what Gwiwer has stated, this is on the Metlink site at:
http://tinyurl.com/5dgzws

From Sunday 27 April Connex is adding 30 new weekly services to the Stony Point line to improve service frequency.

In addition to the timetable changes, newer trains will be introduced on the Stony Point line.

These trains will not have ticket and validation machines on board. So tickets must be pre-purchased and validated at Frankston Station.

Customers travelling from Stony Point to Frankston must validate their tickets on the Frankston Station platform in the special area provided.

Customers travelling from Frankston towards Stony Point must validate their ticket at Frankston Station.

Tickets can be pre-purchased at:

   * ticket machines where available at stations
   * the customer service centre at any Premium Station
   * online
   * the Metcard helpline 1800 652 313
   * the MetShop at Melbourne Town Hall

Or from the following local Metcard retailers:

7-Eleven Frankston Corner Beach and Finlay Streets, Frankston
Somerville Newsagency Shop 24 Somerville Plaza, Eramosa Road West, Somerville
Langwarrin Authorised Agency 119 Cranbourne Road, Langwarrin
Karingal Hub Newsagency Shop 1C Karingal S/C, 330 Cranbourne Road, Frankston
Hastings Newsagency 56 High Street, Hastings
Foot Street News & Lotto 47 Foot Street, Frankston
Frankston Rail Kiosk Frankston Station, Frankston
Baxter Post Office 72 Baxter-Tooradin Road, Baxter

For timetable information use the online journey planner or visit the timetables section.

so lets say i'm traveling from Crib point to Hastings Do i need to get a ticket? or can i Legally Fare evade?

Nice photos Craig.

I was about to say Seaford Station looks identical to Croydon Station, except the people on the platform don't look stoned enough...

I have to say the Sprinters are going to look so much better running that line, the A class is looking a pretty outdated these days.

It looks like as long as you have a pre-purchased metcard on you for zone 2, you don't even have to validate it which means you will only need to buy one 2 hour ticket to use forever if you use the Stony Point Line for any station except Frankston. They have not thought this through for the short term. Maybe they should have waited until myki was up and running before switching to sprinter trains. Perhaps Revenue could fill us in with all the details (if any)?

so lets say i'm traveling from Crib point to Hastings Do i need to get a ticket? or can i Legally Fare evade?

You need a ticket; intentional fare evading is not legal .

One reason there has been a major presence of ticket inspectors at Frankston recently is to ensure that everyone travelling has tickets.  Tonight they were even checking tickets held by passengers transferring between trains.

Based on that you can expect there will be every effort made to "persuade" people to prepurchase tickets.

The law remains unaltered and states that tickets "must be purchased at the earliest reasonable opportunity either before or failing that during or failing that after your journey".  The definition of "reasonable" is open to interpretation and we shall have to wait and see how the DoI views this new situation where ticketing is not available either at stations or on the trains.

I would consider that of the options presented by Connex in their statement (quoted above) that "Metlink Shop" is entirely unreasonable for the Stony Point line.  It has been established already that since there is no requirement for anyone to hold a credit card that "Online" or "Metcard Helpline" will be unreasonable for some people.  

Not all stations on the Stony Point line have a retail outlet within reasonable distance, nor even within the same suburb, and those which exist are not open during all train operating hours.

Therefore it would appear, in my personal opinion, that to travel towards Frankston it should be perfectly reasonable to be permitted to purchase a ticket upon arrival there without question provided that it is immediately validated.

For all other intermediate journeys, of which a large number is made daily,there is no ticketing option.  Even if you have a prepurchased ticket you have no opportunity to validate it.  That however does not obviate the requirement to hold a ticket where possible and to pay for your journey at the earliest opportunity.

There have been cases (not necessarily on the Stony Point line) of passengers who challenged fines and whose travel habits were determined by the DoI upon investigation to be "regular" and who were therefore deemed to be aware of the ticketing system and the options available to them.

Thus if you make the same journey daily, or even once a week every week, it is considered "reasonable" for you to have purchased a ticket in advance from a suitable sales point since you would be reasonably anticipating that you would travel.  Fines have not been waived in these cases.  Only if you can satisfy the DoI that your journey was, on the balance of probability, unplanned and not a part of a regular travel pattern might a fine be withdrawn.

Tickets can be pre-purchased at:

* ticket machines where available at stations

It is interesting to note that despite the apparent insistence on "prepurchasing" your ticket that Connex themselves acknowledge that "prepurchase" includes using the machines at station where available.  Thus by logic where this is not available (and subject to my comments above) if you have no reasonable prepurchase option then "during the journey" is permitted at the first opportunity, i.e. upon arrival at Frankston

I be down the Stony Point Line tommorrow. If anyone wishes to join me. I be catching the 12pm Frankston train (departure time from Flinders Street.) I be joining the train at Mordialloc Station I be boarding the 1st Carriage of the train. Hope see you guys onboard or Around somewhere along the Line. For those who haven't met me I'll the bloke with the Hitachi Hat (with Train Badges on it) and with a Pentax Digital SLR camera. I don't see you guys tommorrow. I be onboard the offical Last Loco Hauled train

Hope to see you guys out there
Cheers Comeng301M

I'll be along the line tommorow. Going by car again.

I'll be on the last down and the last up

Is today a Saturday or Sunday timetable on Stony Point?

Previous suggestion I thought was Sunday but Connex & VLine websites suggest both running Saturday timetable today.

Correct Saturday T/T

Saturday timetable today and tomorrow, but an extra 6.45am down passenger ran this morning instead of the normal empty cars.  That does NOT run tomorrow - it was an ANZAC Day alteration.

Might try and make a trip just after lunch.

Change in plans means I can't make it tomorrow, instead I'll be farewelling the MTHs this afternoon. If anybody wants to join me, I'll be on the 1505 down from Frankston and 1605 up.

I'm the shortish lad with a Nikon.

Might ride down later today and get some track side pics up the road at Somerville or Tyabb.


Metro II.

Saturday timetable today and tomorrow, but an extra 6.45am down passenger ran this morning instead of the normal empty cars.  That does NOT run tomorrow - it was an ANZAC Day alteration.

The 06:45 Frankston - Stony Point was added into the normal Saturday timetable as of 30/9/07...it no longer runs as empty cars. Will run at 06:44 under the new timetable.

Nothing to do with ANZAC Day.

Kind Regards


Craig

I'm toying with the idea of going -- I went not too long ago but I'm kinda a bit neutral at the moment -- I feel I should be there as it's my duty as a gunzel but I've been and done the service so many times I'm kinda over it.

I feel that perhaps I should come and go line-side or something

I havn't been really keeping track of this thread because of certain 2 members but I digress -- Has anyone planned any general get-together?

I'm toying with the idea of going -- I went not too long ago but I'm kinda a bit neutral at the moment -- I feel I should be there as it's my duty as a gunzel but I've been and done the service so many times I'm kinda over it.

I feel that perhaps I should come and go line-side or something

I havn't been really keeping track of this thread because of certain 2 members but I digress -- Has anyone planned any general get-together?

I think if you go down there you'll bump into someone along the way.


Metro II.

I'm toying with the idea of going -- I went not too long ago but I'm kinda a bit neutral at the moment -- I feel I should be there as it's my duty as a gunzel but I've been and done the service so many times I'm kinda over it.

I feel that perhaps I should come and go line-side or something

I havn't been really keeping track of this thread because of certain 2 members but I digress -- Has anyone planned any general get-together?

I think if you go down there you'll bump into someone along the way.


Metro II.

That does not worry me, I'm old enough to look after myself and smart enough to let sleeping dogs lie.

Edit - Though evidently not smart enough to proof read - Edit

I'm toying with the idea of going -- I went not too long ago but I'm kinda a bit neutral at the moment -- I feel I should be there as it's my duty as a gunzel but I've been and done the service so many times I'm kinda over it.

I feel that perhaps I should come and go line-side or something

I havn't been really keeping track of this thread because of certain 2 members but I digress -- Has anyone planned any general get-together?

I think if you go down there you'll bump into someone along the way.


Metro II.

That does not worry me, I'm old enough to look after myself and smart enough not let sleeping dogs lie.

Hmm, i meant that if you go down there you will meet other gunzels along the way, as there is no official last trip etc.

There are hints of something unpleasant in the last few posts.

If anyone here has issues to settle then the Railpage forums and a public train service are not the places to do it.  

There is no formal event organised.  This is just a turn-up-and-go last chance trip to mark the replacement of the 50-year old rolling stock and the very last locomotive-hauled train on a suburban service anywhere in Australia.

Let's keep it a memorable trip for the right reasons.

There is no formal event organised.  This is just a turn-up-and-go last chance trip to mark the replacement of the 50-year old rolling stock and the very last locomotive-hauled train on a suburban service anywhere in Australia.

I'm thinking I will come, I'm pretty much planning my day now -- I'll just show up, try and get some photos (I'm not entirely interested in photos when everyone else will be out there) I'm happy to just enjoy the ride --

If anyone decides to say ohai to me, I'll happily say ohai back

Why won't the sprinters be fitted with the TVM equipment retired from the MTH carriages? Is it because the sprinters will be more likely to be used on other services and swapped around than the MTHs? In that case, why don't they put single black validators on the intermediate stations? Because there aren't any spare? Well in that case couldn't they install the ones currently in the carriages undercover on the platforms?
Am I answering my own questions?

There are 21 sprinters and four MTH cars; only two sprinters will be allocated to the Stony Point duty each day.  There is no guarantee that these would be the same two (or two from four).

Even if it were possible to shift the ticketing equipment from the MTH cars to sprinters there would be insufficient sets to go around.

There is no room in a Sprinter for a TVM without removal of at least one bay of seats.  Equally there is little space where validators could be fitted.  

The contract with ERG for Metcard ticketing equipment has expired and is being renewed on a short-term basis until a new system is operational.  There are no spare machines and since they are to a design no longer available there can be no new ones obtained.  Even spares for the existing ones are like hen's teeth.

To install validators on platforms will require hard-wiring and connection to the Metcard computer system by some means.  This is impractical.  In relatively quiet locations those machines might easily become the target of vandals and therefore not last long.