Also once all the level crossings are removed it hopefully offers the potential for more train services as they no longer have to consider the impact on interrupting traffic.
Dan Andrews AKA Mr. Level Crossing Remover 
Victoria: Getting on with it. As he likes to say.
Same at St. Albans and Ginifer out west, though I donāt know what the future provision is for four tracks (thus seperating Bendigo V/Line and Sunbury Metro trains)
Bell Street is one of Melbourneās busiest roads with tens of thousands of vehicles using the road to go between the airport and the eastern suburbs. Add to that there are apartments on both sides of the railway near the crossing, making a diversion close to impossible.
The Victorian government announced last week that construction of South Morang line extension to Mernda would start early next year. I think the government may use the opportunity to close the line between Bell and South Morang for most of the year while the level crossings at Bell Street and Reservoir (another dangerous crossing) are removed in one go.
Victoria will get a new colour coded railway map next year, combining metropolitan and V/Line services. Premier Daniel Andrews first revealed the map on Reddit last night before it was officially launched this afternoon. It looks great to me.
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Looks more realistic even though itās probably not to scale.
Clearly inspired by Sydney Trains/CityRail.
Melbourne is still the sameā¦ 
People shoving into eachother and pushing into get first on the tramā¦ even when packed
Love it.
The Age reports Melbourneās bus network is set for a shake up with the Victorian Government deciding to open 12 of 13 contracts up for renegotiation, in order to attract more passengers. For those who are wondering, the network is divided into 13 contracts with each company receiving government subsidy to run a number of routes in a particular part of Melbourne (e.g. Ventura Group in eastern suburbs and Mornington Peninsula, Dysons in the north, Sita in the west etc.). Basically the contracts have been rolling over for many years. Under the government plan, existing operators will be given the option of five-year contracts (after which the contract will be open for tender), or ten-year contracts with stricter performance targets.
Hopefully this will lead to new routes in outer suburbs, and more frequent services and better connections with trains.
There was an interesting article in The Age today that the new Melbourne Metro tunnel project may not be able to support a new rail link to Tullamarine Airport due to rapid population growth in Melbourneās north-west. Under the original proposal, airport trains would run via the Metro tunnel some time after it opens in 2026, but the tunnel must also handle booming demand on the Sunbury and Melton lines (the Melton line is currently run by V/Line diesel trains but will be duplicated between Melton and Deer Park, and later electrified between Melton and Sunshine). The most recent service plan for Melbourne Metro, published in the 2016 business case, predicts the tunnel will be used by up to 14 trains an hour to and from Sunbury and nine trains to and from Melton. It will handle 23 trains an hour, which would leave no capacity for an airport line.
I support a rail link to Melbourne Airport but if the Victorian Government is to fund the project, it needs to learn from the mistakes made during the planning for Airport Link in Sydney and Airtrain in Brisbane. I think it has to be a separate line for most of its length, only joining the rest of the railway network at North Melbourne/Southern Cross Station area.
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I daresay the Melbourne Airport Link will be privately funded, it will compete directly with the SkyBus, which costs $18 one way, which is expensive by bus standards.
In Sydney, a train from Central to the Airport is about $15 each way, thatās nearly double what I pay to get from Newcastle to Sydney on the train!
Whatās the actual usage like of the rail airport links though? I hadnāt seen all that many people on it the times Iāve taken it.
I just assume most take taxis/private cars/hotel shuttles regardless.
I think the shuttle bus from Hobart Airport to the Hobart CBD is even more than that.
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Itāll be interesting to see how patronage levels compare once Perthās rail link is done, as it will be accessible with a standard fare ($4.60) and not surcharged in the same way Sydney and Brisbaneās airport links are.
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Itās cheaper for a group of four people to get a taxi to the city from Sydney Airport instead of the train. The train should be cheaper. Keanelly did the right thing dropping the access charge at Mascot and Green Square but she should have also dropped it from the two airport stations.
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$18 using a GoCard to get to Brisbane CBD and $28 to the Gold Coast by train, slightly cheaper if booking online. Last time I took a cab from the CBD to the Airport alone cost closer to $48. Runs less often than Sydney does (once per half hour to the GC thanks to a section of track near the Coast that still is single line with the duplication under construction, or 20 minutes in the peak going CBD only).
$19 for a small bus and harder to book a trip TO the airport than FROM.
QR running reduced seevices this weekend and over the easter long weekend. Absolutely ridiculous! QR need some serious help, and fast
I agree. I think the access charge should be halved or even axed when the Airport Link operators has paid their debt in full.
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Yes I researched that yesterday. I was hoping theyād simply drop a service every hourā¦but no. Lets redesign the timetable and inconvenience everybody