Restoring the Victorian Rail Network
 V-Locity: Nice train, shame about the track. (Image: Wikipedia) |
Summary
After decades of neglect and misguided projects the Victorian rail network is in poor
shape. On this page
- Scrap billion worth of new freeways and the Footscray-Domain subway.
- Maglev's to the major centres.
- Greatly improved track and signalling - Stop track buckling and other problems.
- Two-Minute Peak Headway in Melbourne - More Trains Throughout the Network.
- Standby drivers on hand at Flinders Street and key locations.
- 50% Longer Trains - 50% More Capacity
- Clockface-Burst Timetabling - Faster Express Trains.
- Eliminate Road Level Crossings - More Safety.
- Eliminate Rail Flat Crossings - Less Delays.
- Add Monorails to the Network - A highly cost-effective alternative to rail subways.
- Long Term Plan to Convert to Standard Gauge - More Freight by Rail.
Maglev Revolution
Shanghai Transrapid Maglev (Image: Wikipedia) |
Maglev is now a feasible fast rail system for Victoria as detailed in our Maglev Alternative Submission.
Train Running
Many problems with Victorian network are caused by poor train running practices, especially in central Melbourne.
Here are some ways to enhance train running in Melbourne:
(1) Two-minute City Loop Headway
Existing timetables show some services running as close as 2-minutes apart. This implies that the city loop is a long way short of capacity and many more services could be run through it even in peak hour. This would allow additional services to new destinations such as Rowville to be added to the network without expensive new subways.
If a 2-minute headway is used in the North Melbourne loop it would be able to service six trains / hour to Altona, Werribee, Sydenham, Broadmeadows and Upfield. This would also need a new overpass is built to connect the Werribee trains into the loop without all the flat crossings.
(2) Consistent Train Running
All trains on particular routes should follow the same stopping pattern all day. This improves train running and makes the system easier to understand for passengers.
- All loop services to run to Flinders Street / southern Cross first then via the city loop all day. Delays at Flinders Street minimized by having standby drivers on the platforms ready to go.
- All Frankston trains should run express from Cheltenham - Caulfield - South Yarra. (Stopping-All- Station service provided by Cheltenham trains)
- All Pakenham trains should run express from Dandenong - Oakleigh - Caulfield - Richmond. (Stopping- All-Station Dandenong - Caulfield service provided by Cranbourne trains)
- All Cranbourne trains should run express from Caulfield - Richmond.
- All Cranbourne trains should run express from Oakleigh - Caulfield - Richmond.*
- All Belgrave & Lilydale trains should run express from Box Hill - Richmond. (Stopping-All-Station service provided by Box Hill trains)
(3) "Clockface - Burst" Timetables
On lines carrying express services space is needed in the timetable to allow the express service (e.g. a Gippsland passenger train) to travel through the Metro area in a reasonable time. This can be achieved by running the Metro trains in "bursts" as shown in the following sample timetable segment:| Gippsland Service1 | Pakenham Service1 | Pakenham Service2 | Cranbourne Service1 | Cranbourne Service2 | Rowville Service1 | Rowville Service2 | Gippsland Service2 | |
| Richmond | 17:00 | 17:02 | 17:04 | 17:06 | 17:08 | 17:10 | 17:12 | 17:20 |
| Caulfield | 17:07 | 17:09 | 17:11 | 17:13 | 17:15 | 17:17 | 17:19 | 17:27 |
| Oakleigh | 17:12 | 17:14 | 17:16 | 17:18 | 17:20 | 17:25 | 17:27 | 17:32 |
| Dandenong | 17:24 | 17:26 | 17:28 | 17:36 | 17:38 | 17:44 | ||
| Pakenham | 17:36 | 17:50 | 17:52 | 17:56 |
To make this work incoming trains arriving at the CBD have to be allocated to target destinations on their loop 'on the fly' based on the actual time they arrive at FSS or SXS.
This timetable provides space for:
- Six new Rowville Trains per hour.
- The maximum number of Pakenham and Cranbourne trains that run now - but they are express.
- Three Express Gippsland or Pakenham services per hour.
This is quite feasible with the existing rail network provided the minimum 2 minute
headway seen now in the city loop can be achieved throughout the network. A similar
timetable for Frankston/Cheltenham/Hastings trains is also possible. (See Schedule.xls)
 Sample 'Clockface-burst' timetables show the simplicity of this type of timetabling for the passengers. Note that in peak hours each 'core' service is followed by another service 2 minutes later. |
At off-peak times the second service to each destination would be dropped, but passengers could rely on the simple 20 minute clockface timetable still giving them the time for the remaining service.
 Sample Dandenong Line 'Clockface-burst' train running diagram. |
- If instead services are spaced 10 minutes apart all services are limited to the approximately the same speed as the slowest train.
- The graph shows there is potential to either add an additional service or increase the speed of the Gippsland service beyond what is indicated.
- Stopping-All-Station service from Richmond - Caulfield provided by Cheltenham services.
- See Schedule.xls for details including estimated speeds.
(4) "Clockface - Continuous" Timetables
Where services are provided at less than 10 minute intervals the timetable should cease and the service become "continuous".Services should run as fast as they can and turn immediately at the end of their run to provide maximum throughput. At off peak times the 20-minute clockface timetable would resume.
This type of timetable is appropriate for non-express lines such as Sandringham, Epping, Hurstbridge and tram services.
Increasing Train Capacity
 One of Sydney's new Millennium trains (Images: Wikipedia) |
Once line-capacity has been reached (approximately 2 minute headway between trains) adding extra capacity will involve either increasing the capacity of the trains running or building new rail lines. As the latter option will be prohibitively expensive increasing the capacity of each train should be looked at first. There are several options:
- Double-Deck Trains: A Double-deck train used to run on the Ringwood line (4D). It is known that the Jolimont - West Richmond tunnel is too small for double-deck trains. However, they should be able to operate on the rest of the network.
- Longer Trains: About 150 new 3-car train-sets could be purchased to increase
most trains to 9-car trains. This would involve extending platforms and adjusting signalling. Signs
would be needed to warn passengers that there was no exit from the first or last carriages in the city loop and disabled
passengers would need to get on or off from the central carriage which would carry a guard - as is the case in Sydney. Other
than the city loop all most all other stations can be extended and signalling system needs to be upgraded anyway. This option
is
likely to be cheaper than double-deckers, makes use of existing rolling stock and would not increase dwell times.
Regional train capacity should be boosted by ordering more intermediate carriages to progressively stretch VLocity trains to match demand. (22 intermediate carriages are being built currently)
- Monorails: On many lines out of central Melbourne there is no space to add additional rail tracks to increase capacity. However, there is ample space to add new monorail lines. As well as servicing areas not reached by the rail network (E.g. Highpoint SC, Chadstone SC & Doncaster SC, Monash and La Trobe Uni.) monorails could replace rail services to inner city suburbs. For example, a CBD - Williamstown monorail could service the suburbs between North Melbourne and Williamstown allowing all rail services to run express from Footscray to Werribee. (See Monorails page.)
 A new 3-car VLocity train. More intermediate carriages should be purchased to expand the train sets to six carriages so that old loco-haul carriages can be retired. (Image: V/Line Aug 2008) |
Reducing Delays
The MET system suffers many avoidable delays. Here are some solutions:
- Expansion Joints: Insert breather switches to allow sections of Continuous Welded Rail to expand and contract without buckling the rails.
- Calling Ahead for Sick Passengers: Instead of the patient waiting on the stationary train, why not wait on a moving train? When a sick passenger is identified, call ahead to arrange evacuation of the passenger from where the train will be in the average ambulance wait time (~15 minutes). So if a person collapses at Parliament arrange for an ambulance at Caulfield. The wait for the patient is the same and there is easier access to the patient at Caulfield.
- Reduced Dwell Times Trains frequently wait at platforms for over a minute. Most dwell times should be reduced to a standard 20 seconds and heavily advertised as such on the platforms and trains. This would require passengers to move much more quickly and discourage people standing in the doors. (Longer dwell times would occur for disabled passengers and at Flinders Street and Southern Cross.)
 'Breather switches' such as the above allow Continuous Welded Rail to expand and contract without buckling. (Image: Wikipedia) |
Removing Flat Rail Crossings
Currently flat rail crossings prevent the efficient use of existing rail easements as trains regularly are delayed to allow other train services through. The worst affected areas are North Melbourne and Southern Cross stations where V/Line services regularly cross Metro rail trains. Other flat crossings exist at nearly every rail junction.
Overpasses need to be built to remove the regular flat crossings starting with those in the inner city that affect the most services. (Infrequently used or emergency flat crossings could remain but may need to be upgraded to use Swing Nose Points in situations where they prevent high-speed operation).
Removing Level Crossings
All level crossings in Melbourne should be removed. Most can be replaced fairly cheaply with 'one-size-fits-most' road bridges. See Replacing Hundreds of Level Crossings with Road Bridges. A few would be replaced by foot / bicycle bridges, especially where other road crossings are within a few 100 metres.
Extensions & Improvements
- Rowville Line: Branches from the Dandenong Line at Oakleigh. Stations at Huntingdale, Clayton Road (for Monash Medical), Monash Uni, Springvale Road, Jells Road & Studley Park Shopping Centre. Dandenong Line trains would therefore not stop at Huntingdale. Oakleigh is chosen as the interchange as it is a larger centre.
- Doncaster Line: We propose using a Dockland - Doncaster Monorail. See East-West Monorail submission for details.
- South Morang: From Epping station along old railway easement. (Due to start in 2010)
- Cranbourne: New stations at South Dandenong, Lyn Brook, Cranbourne East and Clyde. Duplication of existing line. (Ultimately the rail line to Leongatha should be restored.)
- Yarra Glen: Extension of the Lilydale line to Coldstream and Yarra Glen.
- Double Tracks: As far as possible all track should be duplicated, especially where it is close to town (E.g. Clifton Hill - Wesgarth). In some areas such as UFTG - Belgrave it would not be feasible.
- Moving Stations: Some inner-city areas have too many stations. Where stations are within 500m of each other they should be consolidated and a walkway added where required. (E.g. West Richmond, Collingwood, Macaulay, Jewel, Anstey, Middle/West Footscray.) New stations will be added on the extended lines.
Sunday Morning Shutdown
 Disintegrated sleepers at Hughesdale photographed in April 2008 and not yet repaired. Works in Feb 2011 have further damaged this track. (Apparent track distortion is due to poor photography!) |
The above photo is of track on the main line between Caulfield and Dandenong that carries express MET, V/Line and Freight services. This is representative of much of the track in the metro area.
The Gauge Problem
 Proposed standardisation of the Victorian rail network. (Click to enlarge) |
The continued use of both broad gauge (1600mm) and Standard Gauge (1435mm) prevents the use of the rail system being used to carry significant quantities of freight and must be addressed.
- Where existing sleepers have to be replaced they should always be replaced with dual gauge concrete sleepers (that is, sleepers suitable for broad gauge and standard gauge track.
- Where the existing track is in a poor state (which much of it is) it is likely to be more economic to replace long sections of track with track fabricated elsewhere and delivered to the site on flat wagons.
- When all the sleepers on a line are dual gauge the line could be closed for a week to allow conversion of the rolling stock and shifting of the rail from the broad gauge to the standard gauge clip.
- Lines through Caulfield should be targeted for accelerated conversion to allow standard gauge access to Hastings and East Gippsland. North-Eastern lines via Clifton Hill and Burnley are of a lower priority.
 Two dual gauge concrete sleepers at Carnegie. Note the extra mounting bracket at the left. Using this type of sleeper allows for easy conversion of the line to Standard Gauge from Broad Gauge at some future time. |
Management
Currently management of some minor aspects of the metro rail system are outsourced to private operators at great expense. These aspects include organisation of cleaning, payroll, staff rosters and the like. All significant decisions are still made by the Department of Transport and the Minister.
- One agency for the heavy rail system.
- One agency for the light rail and tram system.
- One agency for the bus system.
- One agency for any new monorail system.
- One agency to oversea and promote all of the above.
Maglev Alternative
27th Jan 2011: A proposal to build a Maglev system from Melbourne to Geelong and Melbourne Airport for the same price as the proposed Regional Rail Link.
Libs Pledge Rowville Line
25th Aug 2010: Liberals promise to build Rowville Rail line, Labor says they will not. Previous estimate was $413 million more...
High cost, doubtful benefits
24th Jun 2010: More than $1 billion worth of Victorian rail projects were launched without proof of their benefits, the Victorian Auditor-General has found.
The report had shown the 3.5km Epping line extension cost of $650 million compares badly to Perth's 72km Mandurah rail line completed in 2007 for $1.2 billion. more...
Myki Madness
24th Feb 2010: Rome's transport smartcard system: $53m, Singapore's: $90m, London Oyster Card: $290m, Victoria's Myki system: $850m so far - and it STILL doesn't work! more...
Bogus Costings
13th Jun 2009: This article examines how the cost of the 3.5km South Morang extension was inflated from $8 million to $650 million. more...
Tracks Buckle2
6th Jan 2009: Melbourne's train network is in an "unsustainable condition" and V/Line's radio communication system is past its expiry date, according to internal Government documents. The documents...warn of significant disruption to the metropolitan rail system without sufficient track replacement and note "demonstrably insufficient" replacement of track crossings.. more...
Tracks Buckle
28th Jan 2009: Tracks buckle due to lack of breather switches. more...
Transport Failure
12th Jan 2009: Study finds Melbourne one of world's most car-dependent cities and only North American cities have worse access to public transport. more...
Rail Tunnel Questions
19th Dec 2008: Doubt cast on need for a rail tunnel. more...
The joke's on us
11th Dec 2008: Ken Davidson explains the padding of the cost of public transport in the latest Transport Plan. more...
Travelling second-class
12th Nov 2008: Paul Mees on Public Transport shambles. more...
Rail Tunnel Delayed
8th Dec 2008: The hugely expensive East-West Rail Tunnel has been delayed with the first Footscray-Domain section not due to be even started until 2012 and then take six years to build.
Questions remain about how this would be financed or if it will ever happen. more...
Rod's Rail Page
Huge collection of rail, tram and monorail pictures from Australia and around the world: RodsRailPage