Booked my trip to China in August/September. Planning on taking a few high speed rail sectors while I'm there:
1. Urumqi to Turpan
2. Xi'an to Zhengzhou
3. Taipei to Tainan (Taiwan)

Hopefully one or two others.

[size=7]Top idea or just a bridge too far?[/size]
December 4, 2009
Lorna Edwards


IT WOULD be bigger and better than the Sydney Harbour Bridge and give Melbourne the architectural icon it has always craved.

It would also provide a true ring road around the city, easing traffic congestion in Melbourne and boosting growth in Geelong.

This is why lawyer, transport lobbyist and independent candidate for Higgins Peter Brohier thinks we need a bridge across the heads of Port Phillip Bay, linking the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas.

Mr Brohier estimates a bridge spanning the heads would cost the Federal Government about $4 billion plus another $5 billion in ancillary works.

The cost would be justified by linking $200 billion of existing infrastructure on both sides of the bay and supporting economic development of these areas on an ''if you build it, they will come'' principle, he says.

His bridge would enable increased freight from the port of Hastings in the future to bypass the city and ease congestion on the city's clogged roads by creating more urban villages around the bay.

''This would be an outstanding new icon for Melbourne but it wouldn't be a useless one - it would save fuel, emissions, avoid gridlock and utilise those transport corridors that we've already paid for,'' he said. ''This is aimed at having the same vision as they had for the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the 1930s, but surpassing that.''

The idea is not new. Melbourne engineer David Broadbent tried to muster support for a bridge across the three-kilometre gap at the heads a decade ago and VicRoads had looked at the possibility as far back as the 1950s.

''It's a marvellous idea and anybody who says that it isn't is really stupid,'' says Dr David Wilson, a logistics consultant and former State Government director of transport in the 1980s. ''Technologically, it's a piece of cake but economically, in terms of cost-benefit analysis, it's probably not practical for another 50 years with Australia's population.''

RACV public policy manager Brian Negus supports the projects within the $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan as more urgent priorities but said a bridge could be considered in 30 years' time in light of Melbourne's projected population growth to 7 million.

Monash University transport expert Professor Graham Currie concedes a bridge would result in travel-time benefits for freight but is less enamoured of a bridge's environmental effects.

Long-time Point Nepean environmental campaigner Kate Baillieu was aghast at the proposal. ''It's been an amusing week on the political scene with a lot of unusual ideas floating around: maybe we could have a flying fox across the heads or even a slingshot,'' she said.

High res tourist map of Melbourne from 1934.

Top 10 reasons we need all-night public transport on weekends:

10. It’s not 1965 anymore.

9. Beating Sydney again.

8. Tourism. Jobs.

7. Thousands of people work night shift. They shouldn’t have to spend half their pay packet on the cab fare home.

6. Victorians deserve a reliable and (very) affordable way get home safe at the end of the night.

5. If you’re from regional Victoria, you can come for the game and not have to battle the crowd for the last train of the night. Regional shuttles will take you home to Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and the Latrobe Valley at 2am.

4. 'I have to catch the last train' will never again be an excuse for your friend who always bails early on a Saturday night.

3. Anything that discourages drink driving is a good idea.

2. It will be a massive boost to the night-time economy and for small businesses across the city.

1. Because we are a world-class city.

Oh, there’s one other reason. The Victorian people voted for it. So we're getting on with it.

"Beating Sydney again". That's a major reason to have 24 hour public transport in Melbourne?

Had a lol at that, fuck you guys are obsessed. Can't you just get that massive chip off your shoulder and be happy with what you've got, cause it's pretty good.

Nice to see Melbourne looking at a metro line. Is it just being mooted or is it a confirmed project?

the L90 bus route (longest suburban bus route in Australia IIRC)

I see that and raise you the 901 Bus in Melbourne. Orbits around the end (or close to the end) of each train line (excluding the West) and ends up as my tightarse route to the airport from its penultimate stop at Gladstone Park Shopping Centre (or alternatively Broady train station) to avoid Skybus fees. Technically you could catch it all the way to the airport from Frankston, if you have a spare four hours!

[size=7]10,000 use night trains, trams and buses on first weekend of 24 hour services[/size]
January 8, 2016
Richard Willingham
State Political Correspondent for The Age


Nearly 10,000 Victorians used new 24 hour train, tram and bus services in the wee hours of Saturday and Sunday during the first full weekend of the Night Network.

Last weekend saw the beginning of a 12 month trial of 24 hour trains, trams and buses on some routes on weekends.

New data shows that 9862 people touched on with their myki last weekend outside of regular services during the Night Network debut run.

The Labor government says the data is only preliminary because it does not take into account people fare evading, using trams in the free zone or people using myki passes.

The government says the number of people shows a good take up of late night public transport with the nearly 10,000 people representing more than a 300 per cent increase in patronage, compared to NightRider bus services in October 2015.

Before the launch of the Night Network, which was previously known as HomeSafe, a survey of 1000 people found 91 per cent of people were likely to use 24 hour service during the year long trial.

The survey also found 90 per cent of respondents saying that affordable late night transport was the biggest benefit of Night Network.

It has not been all smooth sailing for the start of the Night Network with residents along train lines complaining about trains using their loud horns all night, keeping people awake.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said all-night travel put Melbourne at the forefront of big cities around the world

"Initial myki touch on data from the first weekend has shown three times as many people used Night Network compared to NightRider services – but we want to see even more Victorians taking advantage of this great new service," Ms Allan said.

"I'd encourage everyone get out there and enjoy what Melbourne has to offer at weekends knowing they can take the Night Network home."

The government expects to have more accurate data available in February when surveys and myki data are combined, which is the normal way usage is calculated.

1200 people on a train is 50 per cent too many: rail overcrowding getting worse


More than half of Melbourne's railway lines are consistently overcrowded in the morning peak, with some trains carrying hundreds more passengers than they are meant to.
In the worst case, on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, trains built to carry just under 800 passengers are crammed with more than 1200 people before they reach the city, data shows.
The data, obtained through freedom of information laws by the Victorian Greens, reveals the system is failing to cope with passenger growth.
Between May 2014 and May 2015, an extra 4500 commuters joined the Dandenong rail corridor crush in the morning over a four-day survey period, but just one extra morning peak service a day was added to the timetable.
The situation was mirrored on six other lines that experienced rapid patronage growth in the morning peak last year but were given few or no extra services.
The Frankston, Sandringham, Craigieburn, Upfield, Sunbury and Werribee lines all grew by between 5 and 12 per cent in just a year, yet only the Sunbury and Werribee lines received extra services to handle the swelling load.
Barely any peak-hour services have been added to the metropolitan rail timetable since 2014, because the Andrews government rejected a planned timetable upgrade that had been drawn up under the former Napthine government.

Meanwhile, Metro is progressively increasing the capacity of each train from 798 to 900 passengers, by ripping out seats near the doors to increase standing room.
The Greens obtained the unfiltered patronage data from Public Transport Victoria's most recent passenger load survey, completed in May 2015.
PTV conducts twice annual counts of passenger numbers at stations just outside the City Loop to determine if crowds are within the load standard of 798 per train, as agreed in Metro's franchise agreement with the state.
The count is done on four weekdays and patterns of overcrowding are meant to trigger extra services on affected lines.
However, the survey excludes services that are affected by cancellations or late running, because these are held to distort a typical day of operations. These excluded services are often overcrowded, meaning PTV's survey results contain fewer load breaches than the raw data.
Greens leader Greg Barber said the true picture was worse than PTV's survey indicated, with 199 of a total 464 services having breached the load standard. About 10 per cent of those services carried more than 1000 passengers.
"Raw data shows the government has been caught understating how overcrowded trains are," Mr Barber said.
"This problem has been getting steadily worse for years. This problem hasn't snuck up on the government, but their only response has been to rip out seats to squeeze more people in."
Mr Barber said the data supported the Greens' call for an investment in high-capacity signalling, which would enable trains to run more frequently.
Tony Morton, Public Transport Users Association president, said it was unfortunate that rail overcrowding was getting worse in the west and north of Melbourne, given billions had been spent to remove bottlenecks between Metro and V/Line trains on that part of the network.
"This is what the Regional Rail Link was meant to deal with and we haven't done the timetable upgrade that was meant to follow naturally on from that project, which was the rationale for spending $4 billion on a new rail line," he said.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan pointed to the planned Melbourne Metro rail tunnel and the multibillion-dollar upgrade of the Cranbourne-Pakenham corridor as evidence the government was "investing more in major capacity-building projects than any government in Victoria's history".
"We've added extra services to Sunbury, and to the Werribee/Williamstown lines, and extra services will be considered across the network with the next metropolitan timetable change later this year," Ms Allan said.
The raw data presents a contrasting picture for Melbourne's northern and eastern suburbs, where rail patronage has shrunk.
Peak-hour patronage on the Alamein line, Melbourne's quietest, dropped a further 14 per cent in the year to May 2015.
It went backwards by eight per cent on the Glen Waverley line, and by five per cent on the Belgrave/Lilydale lines and the South Morang/Hurstbridge lines.


http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/1200-people-on-a-train-is-50-per-cent-too-many-rail-overcrowding-getting-worse-20160126-gmecgy.html

Sky rail isnt new. Richmond and a few stations are already that. Pity there seems to be nimbys down in the s.e

Daniel Andrews getting shit done. =d>

Huge improvements for the main South-East Melbourne lines:

[youtube]SYT5F-gcr40[/youtube]

Edited by paladisious: 7/2/2016 10:06:30 PM

[size=7]Sky rail more an eye opener than an eyesore[/size]
February 11, 2016
Julie Szego


The announcement of a major infrastructure project, in this instance the state government's sky rail proposal, is overshadowed by "angry" protesters (can protesters ever be moderately agitated?), politicking from the opposition and an overarching poverty of imagination. Welcome to Melbourne: where bold ideas are immediately torn down and the selfish and small-minded have right of way.

The government proceeds on its election promise to remove the railway crossings that bring gridlock to suburban streets, cripple the capacity of trains to run more frequently and cost the economy billions. But according to some local petitioners, the plan to replace the level crossings on three sections of line from Caulfield to Cranbourne/Pakenham with elevated rail is an outrage.

According to the objectors, a rail tunnel is the only acceptable option, thus rendering any other option a cynical manoeuvre. I'm yet to hear a convincing argument why the new line must go underground. Admittedly, the government could do a better job explaining why it need not do so — why tunnelling this stretch of line would be too disruptive, expensive or restrictive from an urban planning perspective.



But let's not pretend this would persuade the protesters thundering "No sky rail." Their chant leaves me dubious about suggestions the Andrews government might have prevented this barney with "proper consultation".

Ambitious building projects invariably impact people living closest to the site. These residents should not be permitted to hijack public debate. They are, however, entitled to voice their displeasure. And the No Sky Rail president, who lives one metre from the rail corridor, deserves some sympathy; when frustration and fury overtake us we tend to throw everything at an argument, without sifting the outlandish from the reasonable.

It is reasonable to complain, as she does, that the nine-metre structure will likely block her northern sun. It is outlandish to evoke a hypothetical disaster scenario, such as a derailment causing "80,000 tonnes of fully laden freight" to come crashing down on homes. Yes, and planes can fall from the sky but we still have flight paths above residential areas. And the less said the better about her concerns paedophiles can peer down into her backyard pool when the kids are swimming. (Besides, the government says barriers will be erected on the viaduct to protect the privacy of nearby residents.)

The protesters cluster around the themes of the viaduct devaluing property prices (when arguably proximity to modernised public transport boosts the value of nearby homes) and being an "eyesore" that divides the community and invites undesirables to shelter in "ghettos" underneath. With depressing predictability, the opposition has endorsed their cause. It is what oppositions of all persuasions do — pander to local disaffection, even as it sets them up for charges of betrayal once in government. And even when the cause is less than deserving.

"Eyesore" is a subjective assessment and as in love, beauty in urban structures is in the eye of the beholder; we look admiringly on that which works for us. When Tony Abbott described wind farms as ugly his aesthetic preference reflected his indifference to their function. In my stomping ground, Carlisle Street, Balaclava, the elevated rail bridge carries our beloved emblem of place, the sculpture of the schooner Lady of St Kilda, tossed on a sea of mermaids and starfish.

"Nobody voted for a sky train way up in the air cutting a swathe through densely settled suburbs," said opposition transport spokesman David Davis in comments so dim they offend settled principles of physics. How can a structure "way up in the air" cut a swathe through a suburb on the ground? And don't existing railway lines divide communities? Isn't that why our ancestors referred to undesirables as coming from "the wrong side of the tracks?"

The government says the sky rail frees up "11 MCGs' worth" of public space for public benefit. A seductive propaganda video shows carpets of greenery, car parking spots, netball courts, civic plazas, a 12 kilometre pedestrian and bike path, revamped stations with seamless connections between trains and buses, footpaths sprouting in all directions. Connecting suburbs in other words — not dividing them.

Ian Woodcock, urban design lecturer at RMIT, has emerged as an advocate for a well-executed sky rail. He suggests concentrating our energies on holding the government to its "cutting edge" vision, ensuring the new stations come equipped with the best disability access, multiple entrances, user friendly transport connections, pleasing retail space.

Elevated rail delivers net benefits for communities around the world, he says. In Paris a market thrives under the metro viaduct at the Barbes-Rochechouart station. A project in Miami aims to retrofit the space beneath an elevated metro for public parks. Berlin plans to create a new nine-kilometre cycle route, replete with bike repair workshops, rest stops, cafes and beer gardens, under part of the city's U1 line. The viaduct would give cover, enabling cyclists to use the path all year round. Inspiring, no? Less an eyesore than an eye opener.

And I reckon there are also benefits for rail passengers, assuming they're not all paedophiles. On a recent trip to Bangkok, I travelled from the airport by sky rail, enjoying an expansive view of the city's vibrant chaos, the old districts nudging the gleaming skyscrapers, the jumble of freeways, concrete towers, footpaths bursting with life. It made the metropolis legible and gave me some perspective.

We could use some perspective in Melbourne. The kind that helps us see the big picture.

Sky rail isnt new. Richmond and a few stations are already that. Pity there seems to be nimbys down in the s.e

:lol: having moved from Sydney to Melbourne i have to laugh at the outrage over Melbourne's comparatively decent PT system. What Sydney siders would do for what Melbourne already has

Edited by scotch&coke: 11/2/2016 02:36:29 PM

[size=7]New High Speed Rail Will Run Between Sydney & Melbourne Once Every Election Year[/size]
By The Shovel on April 11, 2016




The Prime Minister has announced a new high speed rail policy that will connect the country’s two largest cities once every three years, or more frequently when there’s a double dissolution.

Mr Turnbull, who discovered the policy in a folder marked ‘For Election Years Only’, said the new train would provide a quick link between the Government and innovation.

“This is the fastest, most convenient election policy we’ll see, until it’s next released in 2019,” he said. “I can jump on this policy at 9am in Sydney, and then get off it by lunchtime”. He said all the mocked-up map graphics and stock photos of bullet trains on a blurred background were ready to go.

But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was scathing of the policy. “Malcolm Turnbull likes to talk about train platforms, but where’s his platform for jobs?” he said.

[size=7]Sky rail a done deal - contracts signed, work to start soon[/size]
April 22, 2016 - 3:51PM
Richard Willingham
State Political Correspondent for The Age


Work on the controversial sky rail project along Melbourne's busiest train corridor will begin in weeks and should be finished in time for the next election.

The state government on Friday announced that the $1.6 billion project had been contracted to an alliance of companies to build the elevated railway as part of its plan to remove 50 level crossings across Melbourne.


An artist's impression of what sky rail could look like.

The project has been met with anger by some locals who argue that an elevated rail line will destroy their local community, by creating an eyesore and dropping property values.

Nine level crossings in the south-east will be removed and five stations rebuilt including Murrumbeena and Clayton.

Public Transport minister Jacinta Allan said there would be minimal disruption on Melbourne's busiest train corridor, with train line shut-downs limited to weekends and two longer shut-downs towards the end of construction in 2018.

These two line shut-downs would last for 19 and six days.

"This is in stark contrast to the alternative approach that has been proposed by some … to take an open trench approach which would see this line shut for eight months and require 2.3 million people being moved on buses which would cause significant disruption." Ms Allan said.

There has also been inquiries about voluntary property acquisitions Ms Allan revealed, although she declined to say how many.

Following consultation, Ms Allan said more car parking would be added as well as better integration between stations and buses.

The first works will include erecting construction fences and trimming trees.

Ms Allan said the project would create 11 MCGs of new public space.

She also said the design would not prohibit extra lines being added by a future government.

Quizzed on community fears that sky rail may be replicated along the Frankston, Ms Allan said that line presented a very different scenario.

"The approach to be taken on this corridor is not necessarily the outcome that will be taken on the Frankston corridor, and I think its wrong to assume it will be," Ms Allan said.

The alliance includes Lend Lease, Aurecon, Metro Trains, CPB contractors and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Residents' advocate Edward Meysztowicz said a sense of community betrayal remains over the unveiling of the sky rail project.

"A lot of people living in this community are deeply upset and dismayed by the way this project has been bulldozed through," Mr Meysztowicz said.

The recent announcement by the Andrews government of voluntary home acquisitions was "hollow", he said, given many residents whose homes directly back onto the rail line are not eligible.

"The process is convoluted and certainly not clear," he said. "There are four stages of approval to go through and no one has clarity about their future," he said.

Shadow Planning Minister David Davis said Victorians had been hoodwinked by Labor and that the process was a "travesty" with a lack of proper planning and environmental studies.

"Victorians did not want this," Mr Davis said. "Nobody voted for this sky rail monster through the suburbs."

Mr Davis warned that graffiti and other anti-social behaviour would be rife under sky rail.

[size=7]Germany had so much renewable energy on Sunday that it had to pay people to use electricity[/size]
Michael J. Coren
May 10, 2016


On Sunday, May 8, Germany hit a new high in renewable energy generation. Thanks to a sunny and windy day, at one point around 1pm the country’s solar, wind, hydro and biomass plants were supplying about 55 GW of the 63 GW being consumed, or 87%. Power prices actually went negative for several hours, meaning commercial customers were being paid to consume electricity.



Last year the average renewable mix was 33%, reports Agora Energiewende, a German clean energy think tank. New wind power coming online should push that even higher.

“We have a greater share of renewable energy every year,” said Christoph Podewils of Agora. “The power system adapted to this quite nicely. This day shows again that a system with large amounts of renewable energy works fine.”

Critics have argued that because of the daily peaks and troughs of renewable energy—as the sun goes in and out and winds rise and fall—it will always have only a niche role in supplying power to major economies. But that’s looking less and less likely. Germany plans to hit 100% renewable energy by 2050, and Denmark’s wind turbines already at some points generate more electricity than the country consumes, exporting the surplus to Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Germany’s power surplus on Sunday wasn’t all good news. The system is still too rigid for power suppliers and consumers to respond quickly to price signals. Though gas power plants were taken offline, nuclear and coal plants can’t be quickly shut down, so they went on running and had to pay to sell power into the grid for several hours, while industrial customers such as refineries and foundries earned money by consuming electricity.

The Prime Minister has announced a new high speed rail that will connect the country’s two largest cities once every three years,

3 years to get from Sydney to Melbourne on the high speed rail? I could walk between the two cities faster :lol: