Honestly Kuldalai they LOST the election, your side WON, so you can stop trolling and slagging them off now!![]()
There's no doubt the former Baillieu/Napthine administration put their stamp on the RRL project **FOR THE WORSE**.True. And then again you could blame Bracksy for singling most of the Bendigo line North of Kyneton...
It's as though many aspects of the project were dumbed down so they could bleat about it being brought in under time and under budget. Yes of course the project was finished ahead of time when several vital pieces are missing from the finished project, particularly the flyover west of Sunshine, so there would be no conflict between up Bendigo's and down sparks.
Many of the missing pieces will need to be addressed before too long anyway.
Mike.
The trouble with the Bendigo v. Metro on the Sunbury route is that even with optimal timetabling on a 20 minute frequency a VLP is always going to catch up with the preceding spark . What is really needed is a third track from Sunshine out as far as Ginifer so VLP can run through Metro . If the track layouts at Sunshine and Watergardens are used properly in the new tt then many VLP run throughs are possible in both directions with good timetabling at Sunshine and Watergardens .Bear with me here as Maths was never my strong point. Looking at the Sunbury Metro timetable it seems that a Down Sunbury stopping all stations service takes around 30 minutes from Tottenham to Sunbury. A Vline service is timetabled anywhere from 20 odd to 30 odd minutes to run the section Footscray to Sunbury.
On yesterday morning's UP flagship service from Eaglehawk/Bendigo, the 4 car set couldn't seat everyone after Gisborne - several people had to sit or stand elsewhere. The train from Wendouree that pulls in to SCS a few minutes later likewise looked packed.I expect that with the current order of Vlocities this will be increased to six cars either before year's end or early next year.
Now that holidays are over, this will be par-for-the-course until more services or V/lo sets are commissioned. Even lower petrol prices can't keep a lid on V/Line passenger numbers. Probably because road traffic at peak times is so bad atm.
Another issue that will exacerbate Geelong Line overcrowding is that with VLP currently locked into 3 car VL sets the 7 car sets currently used will dissapear with a maximum train size of 6 cars.If I remember correctly that is not correct. The Vlocities are being altered so that more than 8 cars can be used together, and Footscray (and I think Sunshines as well) has had platforms 3 and 4 lengthed to take 9 car trains.
If I remember correctly that is not correct. The Vlocities are being altered so that more than 8 cars can be used together, and Footscray (and I think Sunshines as well) has had platforms 3 and 4 lengthed to take 9 car trains.Yes a 9 car VL set could be operated but a very expensive way to run a railway . The RRL platforms at Footscray, Sunshine, Tarneit and Wyndamvale have been built to hold 8 car Sets NOT 9 . No other Geelong line platforms are long enough for a 9 car set.
Bear with me here as Maths was never my strong point. Looking at the Sunbury Metro timetable it seems that a Down Sunbury stopping all stations service takes around 30 minutes from Tottenham to Sunbury. A Vline service is timetabled anywhere from 20 odd to 30 odd minutes to run the section Footscray to Sunbury.Story of my life here, the 4:57 so called flagship service is a joke.
By my calculations that means that on a 20 minute frequency if the V line gets priority at Sunshine then it should not run into the proceeding service - if the Vline got to Sunshine 5 minutes ahead of the next Metro the proceeding Metro would already be 15 minutes up the line and half way to Sunbury. As mentioned many of the services on this line terminate at WG anyway.
However looking at the timetable there are times when services are far more frequent. When the 4.57 down Bendigo flagship is running for instance there is a Metro service running every 7 or 8 minutes so it is basically a no brainer that the Vline will be stuck behind one or another of them.
BTW Saturdays 1.36pm Up Bendigo fairly flew until we hit the area around Keilor Plains where we slowed to a crawl. Still arrived only a couple of minutes late in the Maine but it is oh-so-frustrating sitting in that carriage while you stop-start along when you should be doing over 100km/h!
BG
Yes a 9 car VL set could be operated but a very expensive way to run a railway . The RRL platforms at Footscray, Sunshine, Tarneit and Wyndamvale have been built to hold 8 car Sets NOT 9 . No other Geelong line platforms are long enough for a 9 car set.The only trains that are likely to run as 9 cars are the Geelong flaghips. These will run express between Sunshine and North Geelong, so extending the platforms at Little River and the like is totally irrellevant.
Extension to 9 cars at Little River would be difficult with a lx at one end and river at the other. Lara and Corio could be extended at Up end with signalling, lx implications. North Shore at Up end. North Geelong at Down end. Geelong only at Up end involves signalling issues. South Geelong and Marshall would require extensive signalling and lx issues. Waurn Ponds in an Up direction .
The intention medium term is to acquire a new fleet of high capacity DMU trains in 4 car consists with 3 power cars and a trailer car for use on the Geelong line. In the Off Peak as 4 car sets and at Peak times as 8 car sets. That is why the new RRL pltaforms have been built to a 220m length to hold an 8 car DMU consist in future. (If it were planned that 9 car sets would be operated then the RRL platforms would have been built for 9 cars.)
So one will progressively see Geelong line platforms extended to hold 8 DMU cars but not 9 .
Story of my life here, the 4:57 so called flagship service is a joke.Yep. I've caught both the 4.57 and 5.31 Down Bendigo a couple of times over the last fortnight, every one stuck behind a spark at one point or another, both the 5.31s all the way from the RRL to Watergardens (where is stops for pickup). Invariably 15 minutes late into Castlemaine. The 15 mins doesn't really bother me it is the crawling along at 50k/h or slower that drives me insane.
Yep. I've caught both the 4.57 and 5.31 Down Bendigo a couple of times over the last fortnight, every one stuck behind a spark at one point or another, both the 5.31s all the way from the RRL to Watergardens (where is stops for pickup). Invariably 15 minutes late into Castlemaine. The 15 mins doesn't really bother me it is the crawling along at 50k/h or slower that drives me insane.I simply take later trains which don't seem to have to deal with as much congestion. Never had a late arrival into Bendigo of a 1757, 1823, or 1922 Down train since RRL opened to Sunshine in July. Late departing - often, but they still make it on-time due to the ridiculous padding in the timetable. If the Swan Hill 1823 Down leaves on time and gets a good path to Sunbury, you often end up sitting at Gisborne for about 5-10 minutes because it got there too early!
At the risk of people screaming at me to wait for the new timetable maybe the PTV should just admit that they can't actually run these services to timetable and ad 10 mins from Albion to Sunbury!?!?
I simply take later trains which don't seem to have to deal with as much congestion. Never had a late arrival into Bendigo of a 1757, 1823, or 1922 Down train since RRL opened to Sunshine in July. Late departing - often, but they still make it on-time due to the ridiculous padding in the timetable. If the Swan Hill 1823 Down leaves on time and gets a good path to Sunbury, you often end up sitting at Gisborne for about 5-10 minutes because it got there too early!If only I had that luxury! Last bus to Maldon from C'maine is 4.55pm weekdays and 2.50 on Saturdays (handy!) so I rely on the kindness of strangers (read the Missus) for a ride. She doesn't like driving at night due to the roos on the road. It's either that or wait for J549 but due to speed restrictions from Muckleford to Maldon that rarely runs on time either so that would just add fuel to the fire so to speak!
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