A discussion paper on bus reform, which Infrastructure Victoria will release on Monday (today), identifies a politically risky redesign of the network as one potential solution. It would sacrifice network coverage and many of the bus stops dotted around suburbs in favour of more frequent, direct and faster routes.
The discussion paper is now available to view on Infrastructure Victoria website.
https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/project/making-the-most-of-melbournes-buses/
The Smartbuses work quite well, Iāve used them a few times in Melbourne and found them quite reliable. Canāt say the same for the rest of the network sadly, itās pretty unreliable and too infrequent.
Ultimately what Iād like to see in Melbourne in the long term (Iām talking 15-30 years from now) is to expand the tram network to cover most major roads in the middle and outer suburbs as well (a lot of these roads have plenty of room in the median strip), along with connections to most outer suburban railway stations (ideally to try and reduce the need for parking). The tram network works really well most of the time and getting around the inner suburbs of Melbourne is so much easier than say Sydney as a result and this would provide that quality of service to the outer suburbs as well (and induce patronage).
What I want to see is that, if there is trackwork on a section of a railway line and buses replace trains, then frequencies on existing bus services near the affected line should be strengthened, especially on weekends when there is often only one bus per hour.
That red station design does look good.
At the moment it takes four hours by train from Sydney to Canberra. A high speed rail route could reduce it to around 2 hours and eliminate the 50-minute flights between the two cities as well.
A high speed rail route from Sydney to Wollonong will require extensive tunneling. Due to the presence of Illawarra escarpment, when the rail tunnel emerges in the northern outskirts of Wollongong, it will immediately turn into an elevated viaduct.
A serious game changer, particularly considering Victoria arguably has the best regional rail system of any Australian state without the fare cap!
Lots of investment needed in frequency and ensuring the trains are running full sets, this will cause lots of demand, but many Vline services are already crush loads.
Still kinda crazy though that a trip a few km in the inner city will cost as much as getting to the far reaches of the state.
I wouldnāt have gone as far as the $2 fares proposed by the opposition, but bringing down the difference between the monthly fare pricing and the single day trip fares would be a start. It doesnāt need to be nearly double to encourage people to buy passes.
Especially with growing hybrid work, paying for monthly/yearly passes loses value, but the costs add up quickly with single fares, even with the daily cap.
Definitely a game changer. For only $9.20 I can now travel from Melbourne not only to Geelong, but also Warrnambool, Bairnsdale, Wodonga and even Mildura.
I am a bit worried if the lower fare can cover the cost of diesel fuel though. The Victorian Government will have to provide a bigger subsidy to V/Line.
That is very soon, i thought this might happen after the metro tunnel opens, which frees up a lot of capacity at North Melbourne, Richmond and South Yarra to become stabilising shoulder stations. They will definitely need to add way more services.
I am wanting to go from Geelong to Mildura by V/Line sometime, I think I will wait until after the fare drop
It will be very hard for V/Line to increase the frequency on the Gippsland line, especially with Metro Trainsā Cranbourne and Pakenham services taking most of the capacity on the Caulfield-Dandenong corridor, even with the most advanced signalling system installed.
I reckon some Traralgon trains may have to terminate at (and depart from) Pakenham, forcing passengers to change to suburban trains to travel into Melbourne CBD.
The long term solution for Gippsland trains may be a rail tunnel from Southern Cross to Dandenong, under Queens Road and Dandenong Road.
With the amount of congestion even post-Metro tunnel and Skyrail along that corridor Iām of the view that a second route through the south east suburbs out towards Gippsland would be a wise investment. Perhaps running a rail line alongside the Monash (on one side or the other as thereās not enough median space) between Berwick and East Malvern specifically for Gippsland services and freight (similar to the Albion-Jacana line in the northern suburbs that takes freight services and Albury line trains) would be a potential solution.
Capacity more than frequency - never less than 6 car sets for one, and I believe they could use the 9 car sets on the busier lines. Fast track the investment in the new Vlocities.
The problems will largely be on the Ballarat/Geelong lines, if this drives lots of people newly onto the lines, the trains will be fuller before they get to the major metro areas served by Vline - like Melton, Wyndham Vale, Tarneet, Deer Park, etc.
Those obviously just need separation and electrification so places a few KM from the city arenāt served by the tail end of regional commuter services.
Iāve been on the other side of that a lot - the crush on some services to Geelong after Footscray, then getting a seat after Wyndham Vale.
Thereās enough room for Quad Tracks between Caulfield and Dandenong (and six tracks at Caulfield), but in order to do so, I would rebuild Caulfield, Oakleigh and Huntingdale stations as elevated stations. Remove all the 1960s overpasses at Oakleigh and Huntingdale and return those roads to the ground level - improving local amenity.
Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Hughesdale, Clayton and Noble Park stations would need a minor rebuild to allow for express tracks to run where the current platforms are, and new platforms built on the outside of the current tracks (which would not need to be moved at all, there is enough space in between for a track pair). Clayton rebuild would be different to allow for four platforms and cross platform interchange.
From Caulfield, the second stage of the Metro tunnel would dive and roughly follow the 3 tram (underground) to Balaclava Station, then a station at St Kilda Junction before linking up to the exisiting Metro Tunnel at ANZAC/Domain.
Cranbourne and Rowville trains would stop all stations to Caulfield and travel via the Metro Tunnel to Sunbury/Airport
Pakenham and VLine trains would travel via the exisiting line and terminate at P6/P7 Flinders St (until such a point in time where an additional cross-city connection could be built, ie Metro 3), as well as Freight across the viaducts as needed. These trains would run express South Yarra-Caulfield-(Oakleigh for Rowville connection)-Clayton-Dandenong.