Yesterday the 5pm train to Ballarat crawled between Southern Cross and Footscray with two long stops. It seemed much quicker when we stopped at North Melbourne.
Was it on time when it reached BallaratMust admit I did not check the time when I arrived. The service to Melbourne should be much quicker. The Melton section should be electrified allowing all country trains to go express from Sunshine. This should have been done twenty years ago.
I'm just cranky that after all the time and effort and those lovely weeks of buses (sorry "coaches"), the result for us suckers on the Bendigo is really no change.Well you must be having a streak of bad luck because every time I have caught the train I have hardly ever been placed behind a metro train or had s low run into/out of Southern Cross. In fact, I would normally arrive up to 10 minutes early.
Take the 4:57 Bendigo express for example, it crawls its way through the Northern suburbs at a painfully slow pace.Well as I said, I expect that in late April when they put the new track layout at Watergardens into service Bendigo trains will get priority.
Railblogger, call me stupid, but you could add a thousand tracks at Watergardens, but there are still all those metro stations between there and Spencer St, I cannot see this as a solution.The new track layout allows for a V/Line express to overtake the stopping suburban train in front of it, so they could time the V/Line to catch up to the suburban at Watergardens, go past it, then move at a good pace for the rest of the journey through the metro area.
For the umpteenth time wait till all is revealed in the new tt for both VLP and Metro and one will see how it will all work much more smoothly than the current BEST FIT VLP into Metro version.
The new track layout allows for a V/Line express to overtake the stopping suburban train in front of it, so they could time the V/Line to catch up to the suburban at Watergardens, go past it, then move at a good pace for the rest of the journey through the metro area.and outbound? That is my whole point, I always think of the dismal running of the 4:57 Bendigo express. I will wait for April but cannot see how it could possibly be improved.
and outbound? That is my whole point, I always think of the dismal running of the 4:57 Bendigo express. I will wait for April but cannot see how it could possibly be improved.With the ability to now run a VLP through a spark at Watergardens in both direction, here is how it should be timetabled correctly .
Given that one could assume that the line between Footscray and SC is now complete, why is it that the most annoying part of my journey on the Bendigo line is that little trip? We crawl over that stupid flyover, stop now and then and most likely end up at fecking platform one...It is a function of a stub terminus. The same thing happens wherever there is one - eg Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Sydney, London (numerous stations), Paris (numerous stations) etc. It is why cities spend heaps to endeavour to eliminate them e.g Stuttgart. However, since there is only one V/Line service south of the city, it would not be reasonable to spend billions doing it. Locating V/Line services to the west side of SC was a part solution, and those trains which use platforms 15 &16 do not slow any more than suburban trains. But safe working practices will always mean a slower entry and exit from platforms 1 to 8.
Given that one could assume that the line between Footscray and SC is now complete, why is it that the most annoying part of my journey on the Bendigo line is that little trip? We crawl over that stupid flyover, stop now and then and most likely end up at fecking platform one. Oh and the 4:57 so called flagship Bendigo express sucks, nicely scheduled just before a stopping all station Metro.The Down services are a NIGHTMARE as I have written elsewhere however in my experience (only average 2 trips each way per week to Castlemaine) the Up services are pretty good since the RRL opened. Normally 5-10 mins early (with heavily padded timetable of course).
The Down services are a NIGHTMARE as I have written elsewhere however in my experience (only average 2 trips each way per week to Castlemaine) the Up services are pretty good since the RRL opened. Normally 5-10 mins early (with heavily padded timetable of course).As I have written on this thread many times the current trains from Ballarat & Bendigo are really just on the old pre RRL timetable massaged to sorta fit on the RRL track pair between Sunshine and Southern Cross with the added complexity of the Geelongs creating cross moves at South Kensington . With the new RRL tt from April it should be properly platformed at Southern Cross and with realistic timings between Southern Cross and Sunshine . And no cross moves at South Kensington .
The exception is that last few KM approaching Southern Cross where we seem to crawl from around the river crossing, some days slower than others, there is at least a few mins to be picked up there.
I don't know it it is still track bedding in or waiting for a platform to become avl but it doesn't auger well for a future with more services trying to use the same number of slots.
BG
As I have written on this thread many times the current trains from Ballarat & Bendigo are really just on the old pre RRL timetable massaged to sorta fit on the RRL track pair between Sunshine and Southern Cross with the added complexity of the Geelongs creating cross moves at South Kensington . With the new RRL tt from April it should be properly platformed at Southern Cross and with realistic timings between Southern Cross and Sunshine . And no cross moves at South Kensington .Yep, I know you have but do you actually catch any of these services?
... And as I have written before surely someone in the PTV or some other part of the bureaucracy must have been able to foresee what a nightmare this was going to be and at the very least given us a timetable which prioritises a fast train over a slow one.Ah, but you forget that the prime concern of the bureaucracy is "correct procedure" not efficiency, simplicity, or being customer friendly. Doing things in the "designated way" is the principal objective of most bureaucrats.
Ah, but you forget that the prime concern of the bureaucracy is "correct procedure" not efficiency, simplicity, or being customer friendly. Doing things in the "designated way" is the principal objective of most bureaucrats.Ah yes, thanks Bogong, I forgot, I have been working for myself for far too long. As I used to work for Commbank I should have remembered.
I spent seven long years as a bureaucrat and never felt comfortable with the convoluted and apparently inefficient procedures they had. I eventually quit and got a job for a company working in the same industry as the bureaucratic department I'd worked for. It was like a whole new world, they actually asked employees to come up with ways to avoid padding and waste as well as encouraging us to help customers and anticipate their needs.
That is why it is impossible to countenance holding a Down Spark at Sunshine / Albion to let an Express Regional train take the path first - it is not the designated way!That is one reason. I suspect the main reason might be that Metro control the trains in the suburban area, and don't want their trains delayed, as that potentially costs them money in fines for late running. I believe that if it was all one operator (as in VR days) then your idea would have been the norm - give the longer distance trains some priority - but not any more.
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