Regional Rail Link - articles discussion etc.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Marcus Wong ‏@aussiewongm 8h

Looking down on the Tarneit station open day held today. #vline

[ozbob]

Excited to be launching Regional Rail Link. Victoria's biggest ever PT infrastructure project. #springst pic.twitter.com/ZMsdBLT5nx

— Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) June 14, 2015

[ozbob]

9 News --> $3.65b Vic rail link complete

[ozbob]

Have established that Tarneit has toilets, still trying to find if Wyndham Vale has or hasn't.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Anthony Albanese ‏@AlboMP 3m

Media Conference on @rrlproject train about need for Fed investment in public transport #nationbuilding

[ozbob]

Twitter

Vicsig ‏@vicsig 17m

The two new stations on RRL have been officially opened, with services starting in a weeks time.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Regional Rail Link ‏@rrlproject 50 seconds ago

@Robert_Dow yes there's toilet facilities in the station building at both Wyndham Vale and Tarneit stations

[ozbob]

https://www.facebook.com/timwattsmp/posts/878188478883705

Anthony Albanese MP Media Release:

REGIONAL RAIL OPENING HIGHLIGHTS ABBOTT'S PUBLIC TRANSPORT BLIND SPOT

The folly of the Abbott Government's refusal to invest in public transport will be underlined today with the opening of congestion-busting Regional Rail Link in Victoria.

The Regional Rail Link, funded by the former Labor federal government and the Victorian State Government, will unscramble rail lines used by Melbourne suburban trains from those used by trains serving regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.

It will add 54,000 passenger seats per day to Victoria's train system, reduce commuting time for hundreds of thousands of travellers and save Victoria $300 million a year by reducing traffic congestion.

These outcomes justify the former Labor Government's decision to invest $3.225 billion in the project – the biggest commonwealth investment in public transport in the nation's history.

In contrast, the Abbott Government refuses to invest a cent in public transport. Since taking office in 2013 it has invested only in new toll roads and scrapped other great public transport projects like the Melbourne Metro and Brisbane's Cross River Rail project.

Tony Abbott does not even believe that Australians use public transport.

In his 2009 political manifesto Battlelines he wrote that:

Mostly there just aren't enough people wanting to go from a particular place to a particular destination at a particular time to justify any vehicle larger than a car and cars need roads.

Despite Mr Abbott's prejudice against public transport, Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss will attend today's opening.

As he seeks to elbow in on the celebration, Mr Truss should explain to Australians how he expects to make any impact on the traffic congestion clogging Australian cities without investing in improved public transport.

Mr Truss should also explain why he cut funding that had been allocated in the federal Budget for the Melbourne Metro project.

This and other cuts have resulted in Victoria receiving just 8 per cent of the national infrastructure budget despite representing 25 percent of the population.

The recently completed Infrastructure Australia national infrastructure audit warned that traffic congestion was costing Australia $13 billion a year and that this figure would rise to $53 billion a year by 2031.

This problem is holding back economic growth and creating the tragic situation whereby many Australians spend more time in their cars travelling to and from work than they spend with their children.

Labor believes in investing in an integrated transport system that involves both road and rail.

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Victoria's new regional rail link opens to cater for busy western suburbs, regional centres

... The project was jointly funded by the Australian Government, which invested $2.7 billion and $931 million from the Victorian Government.

Ms Allan said it was a "shining example" of the sort of "transformational" public transport projects that could be delivered when state and federal governments work together.

"The Melbourne Metro rail project is another one of those transformational projects that I continue to hope the Federal Government will see is the sort of project worthy of investing in," she said.

The Abbott Government has consistently said it would invest in road infrastructure projects but not public transport projects.

[Stillwater]

Victoria is so far ahead of Queensland when it comes to transport planning.  It always has a pipeline of construction activity planned and ready to construct.  Victoria is more agile to take advantage of the political winds federally; grab the money whenever it is on offer and proceed quickly to pouring concrete.  This suits the three-year election cycle federally.  The pollies always want something they have agreed to completed, or substantially under way, just before the next election.  I bet you Warren Truss looked very awkward at the official opening, trying to fend off media questions about why it is not a good idea for the feds to invest in this sort of stuff now.

Governments keep talking about affordable housing, yet much of that is available in outer suburbs, where lies the greatest need to improve public infrastructure.

Contrast this project to CRR-BaT.  Years and years of planning to get it to shovel ready stage, only to have it fall over.  Still it is unresolved.

Thank goodness we have the mock-up models, the drive-through videos and the head-high posters and pictures of what CRR-BAT would have looked like.  They would make for a great display at the Queensland Museum.  Ms Trad could get a photo opportunity handing over junk and clutter to the museum, unlike her Victorian counterpart who gets to stand beside (and ride on) the completed product.

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Victoria's new regional rail link opens to cater for busy western suburbs, regional centres

... The project was jointly funded by the Australian Government, which invested $2.7 billion and $931 million from the Victorian Government.

Ms Allan said it was a "shining example" of the sort of "transformational" public transport projects that could be delivered when state and federal governments work together.

"The Melbourne Metro rail project is another one of those transformational projects that I continue to hope the Federal Government will see is the sort of project worthy of investing in," she said.

The Abbott Government has consistently said it would invest in road infrastructure projects but not public transport projects.

Mr Truss is in deep thought ..   

Abbott's days are numbered ...

[ozbob]

Victoria is so far ahead of Queensland when it comes to transport planning.  It always has a pipeline of construction activity planned and ready to construct.  Victoria is more agile to take advantage of the political winds federally; grab the money whenever it is on offer and proceed quickly to pouring concrete.  This suits the three-year election cycle federally.  The pollies always want something they have agreed to completed, or substantially under way, just before the next election.  I bet you Warren Truss looked very awkward at the official opening, trying to fend off media questions about why it is not a good idea for the feds to invest in this sort of stuff now.

Governments keep talking about affordable housing, yet much of that is available in outer suburbs, where lies the greatest need to improve public infrastructure.

Contrast this project to CRR-BaT.  Years and years of planning to get it to shovel ready stage, only to have it fall over.  Still it is unresolved.

Thank goodness we have the mock-up models, the drive-through videos and the head-high posters and pictures of what CRR-BAT would have looked like.  They would make for a great display at the Queensland Museum.  Ms Trad could get a photo opportunity handing over junk and clutter to the museum, unlike her Victorian counterpart who gets to stand beside (and ride on) the completed product.

Victoria got on with it, in George St Brisbane they played violins ...

[ozbob]

MBRL - 6 new stations, only 2 will have toilets (Kippa Ring and Mango Hill - attended during peaks)

This has been raised at the highest levels - the lack of toilets.  The response ... we will see how it goes ..  FUKWITS!

People will just p%ss all over the place ..

MBRL discussion >> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=7.msg157472#msg157472

[ozbob]

Twitter

V/Line ‏@VLine 57m

Geelong @rrlproject officially opened yesterday. Regular trains begin this Sunday. Details - http://bit.ly/RRLlaunch 

[ozbob]

Twitter

Regional Rail Link ‏@rrlproject 6m

Come alone to the Wyndham Vale station open day tomorrow, 10am to midday.
Details here: http://ptv.vic.gov.au/june21timetablechanges/wyndham-vale-station-open-day/ ...

[colinw]

\
Thank goodness we have the mock-up models, the drive-through videos and the head-high posters and pictures of what CRR-BAT would have looked like.  They would make for a great display at the Queensland Museum.  Ms Trad could get a photo opportunity handing over junk and clutter to the museum, unlike her Victorian counterpart who gets to stand beside (and ride on) the completed product.

You might want to include Newman & Emerson in that too - after all they knocked back the Federal funding on offer for CRR.

I think you will find Palasczuk understands these points quite well, she was after all a part of the Government that got Springfield underway, and signed up three-tier funding for both the Gold Coast light rail and the MBRL.

I nearly choked at the thought of that twerp Emerson being at the openings of Springfield and G:Link, as it is a matter of record that the previous Governement was in no way supportive of any of those project, and looked hard at wriggling out of both MBRL and G:Link at the time of the Costello Commission of Audit.  At the time, Costello singled out the light rail as being the project he most wanted to be able to get rid of.

[colinw]

Victoria is so far ahead of Queensland when it comes to transport planning.  It always has a pipeline of construction activity planned and ready to construct. 

In recent years, yes.  They seem to have learned the lessons that QLD & NSW are still struggling with.

But even then, RRL has some features that make me suspect they hired someone from QLD Transport.  It is not future-proof enough when, inevitably, there comes pressure to electrify to Melton.  Capacity problems will arise due to undercooking of the junction after Deer Park.

It also severs connection between the Werribee line and Geelong services - the Werribee line almost but not quite makes it through to connecting.  Geelong to Melbourne commuters win, Geelong to Werribee line commuters lose, as do reverse commuters going toward Geelong.  I suspect V/Line will end up having to put on a handful of Geelong via Werribee services, or even put in a Werribee to Geelong shuttle.

Going back further, not so much.  Took years to get a simple 3km extension to South Morang up, and there has been edless faffing around with the Metro tunnel.  Extensions beyond South Morang, and the fabled Doncaster line, both remain in the same category as the MBRL was for a long time.  Dandenong / Pakenham line problems are legion, and Melbourne has a worse problem with level crossings than even Brisbane.

I think we are at times too negative about QLD.  Yes, CRR is a shambles, but in the last few years we have had two suburban rail lines and a light rail system built.  By Australian standards, we're doing OK.

But need to keep it going - with some concrete on CRR, but more importantly with reform of service delivery (buses in particular).

[ozbob]

Twitter

CDC Victoria ‏@CDCVictoria

More frequent buses to meet every #RRL @vline_geelong, @vline_ballarat line from 21 June.Visit http://ptv.vic.gov.au/June21timetablechanges/ ...

[ozbob]

Twitter

Daniel Bowen ‏@danielbowen 6 minutes ago

Plenty of interest in the Wyndham Vale station open day!

[ozbob]

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V/Line ‏@VLine 18 minutes ago

Thanks to everyone who joined us at Wyndham Vale Station earlier today! Regular trains begin tomorrow morning.

[ozbob]

It's open!!

VLine: New timetable from Sunday 21 June 2015 --> http://www.vline.com.au/home/news/alllines/1106838929/article.aspx

[ozbob]

Twitter

The myki User. ‏@themykiuser 1h

Here we go

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 1m

The best I can do here today at Inala  is my @VLine hat!  Later this week.. Ha!

[ozbob]

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Regional Rail Link ‏@rrlproject 1m

With the Regional Rail Link project now complete, we take a look at back at what we have delivered:
https://youtu.be/MgVBBuBcYhY

[ozbob]

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V/Line ‏@VLine 2m

Our #CatsSpecial has just hit the new tracks leaving Sunshine Station. Guest star Half Cat reported to be 'thrilled'!

[ozbob]

The @WyndhamLeader is live-tweeting first peak hour of Regional Rail Link this morning. http://t.co/J2DaQZOX8J https://t.co/exgYsosR9C #RRL

— PTUA (@ptua) June 21, 2015

[ozbob]

Twitter

Wyndham Leader ‏@WyndhamLeader 10m

Beautiful sunrise at Tarneit station as people waited for the 7.22am train #RRL  #Tarneit

[colinw]

Way to go Victoria! 

Meanwhile, in Gatton .... 22 years and counting since the last diesel commuter train.    These rails are for carrying the black stuff.

[ozbob]

The Guardian --> There's more to transport than roads. What does this government have against trains?

Anyone who wonders whether governments should invest in public transport in this country should take a ride on Victoria's new Regional Rail Link, which began services on Sunday.

This fantastic public transport project, expected to deliver the state's economy $300m a year in productivity gains, should also cause the commonwealth government to seriously reconsider its stubborn refusal to get behind Victorian premier Daniel Andrews' plan to build the Melbourne Metro.

Australian cities are creaking under the weight of population growth and urban sprawl.

Road networks with limited capacity are struggling to cope.

Earlier this month Infrastructure Australia released an updated National Infrastructure Audit which warned traffic congestion would cost the nation $53bn a year by 2031 unless action was taken.

In that context, traffic congestion should be seen as one of the nation's greatest economic and social challenges – one that requires genuine commitment from all levels of government.

However, despite the clear imperative for action, public transport represents one of the great policy divides in Australian politics.

While the former Labor government invested more in public transport than all previous governments combined since Federation, the current government has made it clear it will invest only in roads and withdrew the funding that had been allocated to Melbourne Metro after its election in 2013.

This explains why the current government has instead sought to invest in the East-West Link, which would return a paltry 45 cents in public benefit for every dollar invested.

The commonwealth's withdrawal of support for the Metro is one of the reasons why Victoria is receiving just 8% of the current national infrastructure budget despite representing 25% of the population ...

[ozbob]

The Leader West --> Trains start rolling through Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations as part of $3.65 billion Regional Rail Link

[ozbob]

Daniel Bowen --> Flat junctions cause problems, but so does poor timetabling

[pandmaster]

I went on the RRL for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I nearly missed out though, as the train was delayed departing Southern Cross due to a medical incident at Footscray. Eventually it was announced that the train would travel via Werribee with buses to convey passengers to Tarneit and Wyndham Vale. After rolling out of the station and stopping for a while it was announced we would use the RRL after all.

Unfortunately I did not get to experience the full speed of the line as the service (departing around 1930 on a Monday night) was operated by a loco-hauled train. This seems to be timetabled as the travel times are relatively quite slow. I understand perhaps they need to move the train for operational reasons, though given the limited number of Geelong services at that time surely they can put on a VLocity.

Overall the RRL seems to have delivered on its promise of reliability. I caught many trains to/from Bendigo while I was there and once to Geelong, all of them on time or early (save for the medical incident).

[ozbob]

Twitter

Marcus Wong ‏@aussiewongm 2m

Today saw the first heritage train on Regional Rail Link tracks - RM58 on a charter to Colac for the National Party

[ozbob]

http://vicsig.net/photo/19942



Y112 (steam) running light from Ballarat to Newport at Wyndham Vale

Saturday, 7th November 2015
Photo: Ian Green

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> V/Line crisis began with Regional Rail Link cutbacks five years ago

The public servant overseeing the Andrews government's record $20 billion public transport agenda made a series of cuts to the Regional Rail Link project that have contributed to V/Line's current crisis.

Corey Hannett is Co-ordinator General of Labor's major transport infrastructure program, with oversight of the $11 billion Melbourne Metro rail tunnel, the $6 billion level crossing removal scheme and the upgrade of the congested Dandenong rail corridor.

He was promoted to the most critical position in Victoria's transport department after successfully steering through to completion the 48-kilometre Regional Rail Link between Southern Cross Station and West Werribee, which opened in June.

But a series of "scope adjustments" Mr Hannett made to the landmark project more than five years ago to cut costs have reduced the benefit of the rail line through Melbourne's west and tarnished the public's view of the biggest expansion to Melbourne's rail network in 100 years.

Rail experts also fear the same compromised outcome is possible with the rail projects Mr Hannett co-ordinates now, in which prudent forward planning is sacrificed to the short-term imperative to complete work on time and within budget.

Key cost-cutting changes to the original Regional Rail Link design overseen by Mr Hannett, that have since backfired, include:

    The decision to use an existing rail flyover at North Melbourne instead of building a new one. The flyover's tight curves are suspected of contributing to the excessive wheel wear that has grounded one-third of V/Line's VLocity carriages and crippled country rail services for several weeks.

    Removing plans for a rail flyover in Deer Park, thereby creating a conflict point between Geelong and Ballarat line trains. The choke point contributed to a dramatic collapse in performance on the Ballarat line after the Regional Rail Link opened, and will add many millions to the cost of future plans to boost rail services to Melton.

    Leaving in place three level crossings in Deer Park, which have created heavy road congestion since June.

The "scope adjustments" were made in 2010 when Attorney-General Martin Pakula​ was public transport minister in the former Brumby government, and signed off by former Baillieu government transport minister Terry Mulder in April 2011, documents released to The Age under freedom-of-information laws show ...

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/vline-crisis-began-with-regional-rail-link-cutbacks-five-years-ago-20160202-gmjsen.html

[ozbob]

Sadly, not confined to Victoria this ....

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> V/Line crisis: Tracks on $3.65b Regional Rail Link to be torn up this weekend

Hundreds of metres of railway track laid just two years ago as part of the most expensive public transport project in Victoria's history will be ripped up and replaced over the weekend because it is damaged and has damaged the wheels of V/Line trains.

The track replacement work will require the shutdown of part of the $3.65 billion Regional Rail Link, which has been in full service for less than seven months.

Eight hundred metres of rail on the tightly curved flyover between North Melbourne and Southern Cross stations will be replaced this weekend. 

The root cause of the wheel damage is still being investigated by Monash University rail experts, who are due to report on the issue in March, but the decision to replace the tracks on the rail flyover effectively confirms it is one of the chief causes of accelerated wheel wear on V/Line's VLocity trains.
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The wheel wear and an unrelated boom gate failure in Dandenong last month have crippled V/Line rail services for weeks and cost the state tens of millions of dollars.

At the peak of the crisis as many as 70 services a day were cancelled and replaced by coach, prompting former V/Line chief Theo Taifalos to resign under intense pressure from the Andrews government.

The flyover will be closed from Friday night until Monday morning. Albury line trains will be replaced by buses between Southern Cross and Broadmeadows stations and Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat line trains will use metropolitan tracks through the city.

Damaged track on the Geelong and Ballarat lines will be replaced in coming weeks, V/Line said.

North Melbourne residents who live near the flyover have been warned to expect disturbance from construction work this weekend.

The long list of expenses from the V/Line crisis includes hundreds of new steel wheels for VLocity trains, hundreds of replacement buses each day, more than two weeks of free travel statewide, compensation for myki pass holders, new axle counters at dozens of level crossings and track renewals.

VLocity trains are still barred from the Pakenham line until axle counters are installed at 21 level crossings on the line. Most Gippsland services have been replaced by coach, and from next week there will be four extra peak-hour Metro services between Pakenham and the city, so Gippsland commuters can switch to a train for part of their journey.

The government says V/Line services will return to normal in June.

The North Melbourne rail flyover was not part of the original design of the Regional Rail Link, but was included after it was judged that building a new flyover would be too expensive and disruptive.

V/Line's new acting chief executive Gary Liddle said the wheel wear problem was being managed.

"Already our regime of extra track lubrication right across the network, and some temporary speed restrictions have reduced the rate of wheel wear on the VLocity fleet," he said.

"At the same time, the investigation into the root cause of the issue continues. With a new delivery of wheels last weekend, our maintenance teams continue to make progress with the wheel replacement program."

More --> http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/vline-crisis-tracks-on-365b-regional-rail-link-to-be-torn-up-this-weekend-20160212-gmsude.html

[ozbob]

The Courier ( Ballarat ) --> Regional Rail Link hits one-year anniversary

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Regional Rail Link 'fails' to deliver on extra train services, watchdog says

Three years after one of Victoria's largest and most expensive rail projects opened, the Regional Rail Link has failed to deliver all the extra train services initially promised, the state's financial watchdog says.

Commuters were promised 10 extra morning peak-hour services after the $3.65 billion Regional Rail Link opened in mid-2015.

But three years on, only half of the extra services are running, the Victorian Auditor General said in a report handed down yesterday.

The five missing peak-hour services could carry about 4500 passengers, easing over-crowding on other services.

In all, 11 new services have been added, including five on the Craigieburn, Sunbury, Werribee and Williamstown lines, and six on the regional network, the report found.

The Regional Rail Link, funded in 2009 under the Brumby government, created a high-speed corridor for V/Line trains to Southern Cross, untangling western and north-western regional and metropolitan lines.

The auditor said the project had reduced bottlenecks on the regional line and freed up capacity on the metro network.

"Since its official opening in mid‐2015, the Regional Rail Link has transformed public transport
journeys in key growth corridors to the west of Melbourne," auditor Andrew Greaves said.

But it lags behind a longer-term target to add 33 services in the morning peak, including 23 metropolitan and 10 regional services.

"The project has not yet fully realised some specific benefits," Mr Greaves said.

"The current 11 service increase in the two‐hour morning peak since 2012 means that the RRL has not reached its expected capacity."

Population growth in the north and west is set to triple demand for the Regional Rail Link, Mr Greaves said, and there are already signs that sections of the service "are reaching a point of saturation".

Higher capacity trains must be ordered, station sizes increased and the rail line to Melton electrified, he said.

The Andrews government invested $50 million in planning a high-speed rail linking Melbourne and Geelong to cater for growth in the west, but there are urgent calls to boost existing peak-hour services.

Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch said there was capacity to run an extra one or two peak-hour trains on the Werribee line, but the remaining lines in the north and the west had already reached capacity.

Electrifying the train line to Wyndham Vale and Melton must be done "as early as possible", Mr Hearsch said, to allow for faster, nine-carriage trains.

"We're seeing a problem where all the people from the Wyndham area are flooding onto the Geelong trains, and people are unhappy because the service was never designed to cope with these numbers," he said.

The auditor also found that despite the high cost of the project, the Regional Rail Link was not backed up by a business case.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the report showed that the Regional Rail Link was a "transformative" public transport project, enabling "the addition of significant extra capacity" to the country and suburban lines.

Opposition public transport spokesman David Davis said despite the multi-billion investment, performance on the Geelong line had "declined under Labor, with cancellations rising from 9 in November 2014 to 69 in March 2018".

Greens transport spokesman Sam Hibbins said it was "appalling" that services promised as part of the Regional Rail Link were not delivered, and warned of a "real risk the same problem will occur with the Melbourne Metro Rail Project".