Railpage

 

Melbourne Metro trains struggling to cope with passenger surge

About this thread
 
    •   Search thread   Image gallery
    Topic moved from News by bevans on 09 Sep 2019 10:12
      bevans Site Admin

    Location: Melbourne, Australia
    How can you say the western rail plan and the metro rail tunnel will ease pressure?  That remains to be seen if the trend continues.  It may not be enough new capacity even then.

    In most respects this is good news but more needs to be done.  Many lines are already over capacity so how bigger could the growth be if the network were run more efficiently and with great diligence?

    Give this story and the new stats why was the decision to pump $3b into the road network over the last 5 years (in the eastern suburbs) prioritised over additional rail network capacity?

    There is no mention of the impact the HMCT will have in capacity which is sure to help?

    Melbourne Metro trains struggling to cope with passenger surge
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:34

    Sponsored advertisement

      potatoinmymouth Chief Commissioner

    This is really weird that the angle everyone is taking on the latest patronage figures is "commuter crush" - it's actually a reasonably susbtantial decline on last year's 240.9 million. That's not good at all, unless I'm missing something.
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:42
      stooge spark Train Controller

    Location: My House
    This is really weird that the angle everyone is taking on the latest patronage figures is "commuter crush" - it's actually a reasonably susbtantial decline on last year's 240.9 million. That's not good at all, unless I'm missing something.
    potatoinmymouth
    I'm pretty sure the term 'commuter crush' has been used to describe every patronage figure for at least 5 years, maybe more.

    As for the decline it's probably because of work ramping up this year, including several total shutdowns of the MATHS corridor (something which I believe didn't happen last year, or at least not the extent of this years shutdowns.)
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:22

    Last edited by stooge spark on 09 Sep 2019 11:22; edited 1 time in total
      Carnot Chief Commissioner

    It seems to me there is still a lot of dragging the chain when it comes to increasing capacity and off-peak frequency.  Werribee line deserves a special mention (where are the extra services promised after RRL???), along with Upfield (especially the Northern half).  

    It's also crazy to have 30+ minutes between trains on many of the lines before 4pm on a weekday - i.e. School departure time.  Belgrave line - I'm looking at you.
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:48
      slowcoach Junior Train Controller

    In the immediate, short-term future, it'll be best to aim for high frequency service rather than high speed using existing infrastructure. Though each would have variable costs and cause inevitable disruption.
    This would require:
    - Extensive maintenance of every single piece of railway infrastructure such as signalling, rail joints, sleepers, rusty overhead stanchions etc.
    - Removal of all level crossings
    - Minimising use of crossover junctions
    - Maintenance of every existing train
    - Hiring and training as many train drivers as possible (and paying them adequately to deliver those extra services)
    - Duplication of every remaining single-track sections such as Dandenong-Cranbourne, Gowrie-Upfield, Newport-Laverton via Altona, Ferntree Gully-Belgrave, Greensborough-Hurstbridge, etc.
    - High-frequency signalling
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 12:36
      bevans Site Admin

    Location: Melbourne, Australia
    This is really weird that the angle everyone is taking on the latest patronage figures is "commuter crush" - it's actually a reasonably susbtantial decline on last year's 240.9 million. That's not good at all, unless I'm missing something.
    potatoinmymouth

    That is great info really.  So in actual fact we may have seen the peak and now we are experiencing the decline in the service patronage as customers enter the period of disillusionment?
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 13:07
      potatoinmymouth Chief Commissioner

    Wouldn’t worry about it too much bevans, saw a number given in the article about 2014 patronage as well, which doesn’t match the PTV report for that year, so probably just a different methodology.
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 16:30
      CraigieburnLineUser Station Master

    Is the report for this data publicly available? If so can someone please post the link
    Posted: 09 Sep 2019 21:01

    Sponsored advertisement

    •   Search thread   Image gallery

    Subscribers: bevans

    Display from: