If its not Water, if it's not Public Transport, can this Victorian Government do anything right?
It seems to make more excuses than anything else.
City rail network in meltdown
Jason Dowling
June 19, 2008
http://www.theage.com.au/national/city-rail-network-in-meltdown-20080618-2swn.html?page=-1
MELBOURNE public transport commuters face up to three years of worsening congestion as some of the city's busiest train lines reach capacity long before planned upgrades are delivered.
In an ominous warning to already pressed commuters, the head of Connex has warned the Sydenham line will reach capacity this year, while eight other lines to the city's north, west and south will hit capacity by 2013.
The Epping and Hurstbridge lines are also said by Connex to be approaching capacity - the point at which they are unable to cope with additional services.
Major rail upgrades proposed in Sir Rod Eddington's transport study will not be delivered before 2016 - provided the Government gives the go-ahead for a $7 billion rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield and a new $1.5 billion rail line from Werribee to Deer Park.
Connex has attributed a massive 33% jump in patronage since 2005 to soaring petrol prices and a big growth in activity in the middle of the city.
As unleaded petrol in Melbourne yesterday broke through $1.70 a litre for the first time, Connex chief executive Bruce Hughes predicted the growth in public transport use to continue.
"Train patronage took off at about the same time petrol broke through the $1-a-litre barrier," Mr Hughes told a lunch organised by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
Recent passenger counts on trains indicate 193 million passenger journeys a year, or about 330,000 journeys on an average weekday.
Mr Hughes said increased congestion caused by more trains on the tracks and more people on the platforms had led to a fall in train punctuality from 97% in 2001 to 92% this year and commuters were unhappy with late services.
Sir Rod Eddington recently predicted that even if recent patronage growth on the trains slowed, "moderate levels of growth will lead to systemic failures in the rail network with more overcrowding and a further decline in reliability on the busiest lines".
He said the "failure to tackle this problem means the city's busiest rail lines will hit the wall, with demand outstripping available capacity some time in the next 10 years".
Mr Hughes warned that the centre of Melbourne would soon be unable to take any more trains. "The crucial capacity constraints will soon become the core of the network," he said.
Mr Hughes backed the Eddington plan's proposal for an underground rail link between Footscray and Caulfield. "There's no doubt if you stand still you will just go backwards, so we can't and we are not waiting and we are getting on with it," he said.
Now was the time for public transport investment. "The planets are aligned for public transport, petrol prices are high, climate change is leading to a shift in how people travel, more services are being provided and as a result patronage is growing," he said. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, let's not bugger it up."
Metlink Boss Bernie Carolan, in a speech to be delivered today, will also call on the Government to commit to the Caulfield-Footscray tunnel, saying it would at least double the effective capacity of the northern train lines and the Caulfield lines, with at least 40,000 extra passengers per hour in peak times.
Stephen Moynihan, spokesman for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, said the Government was making multimillion-dollar investments in Melbourne's rail infrastructure, including adding tracks at Westall on the Dandenong Line and Laverton on the Werribee Line, and duplicating the rail bridge at Clifton Hill to remove a bottleneck.
"The Government believes it should eliminate bottlenecks on the rail network to allow for future extensions of the rail system. We have 18 new trains on order and we are always constantly trying to add more services to the timetable," Mr Moynihan said.
Daniel Bowen, of the Public Transport Users Association, said the system was in crisis. "Everyone knows that peak-hour trains are the fullest they have been in decades. There is a clear need for more trains on the network," he said.
But he warned that "it would be a mistake to put all our eggs in one basket and pour billions of dollars into public transport projects that would only address inner-city rail capacity - especially when more can be squeezed out of the current infrastructure".
Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the public transport system was in meltdown. "We believe the Government has the option to buy another 20 trains and they haven't exercised that option," he said. "Given the lead time from order to delivery they need to explain why given these dire predictions," he said.
Meanwhile, the price of unleaded petrol in Melbourne has broken through the $1.70 barrier for the first time, hitting 171.9 cents late yesterday at a BP service station on Kings Way. As news of the record spread, the station eased the price to 169.9 cents a litre.
RACV spokesman David Cumming expressed shock at the record. "It's an excessive price and its about 10 cents a litre over the wholesale price," he said.
Other major brand stations also lifted prices to 169.9 cents, while independent outlets remained slightly below that.
CommSec chief economist Craig James predicted another week of pain, with prices peaking at $1.75 a litre as the impact of full impact of recent global price changes for oil was felt. "But there are some signs of light … with the fact that prices in the Asia region have come down off their high over the past weeks," Mr James said.
However, some experts say prices could go higher still. The Age yesterday reported predictions that petrol could go close to $1.90 a litre this year, based on Reserve Bank inflation forecasts.
It seems to make more excuses than anything else.
City rail network in meltdown
Jason Dowling
June 19, 2008
http://www.theage.com.au/national/city-rail-network-in-meltdown-20080618-2swn.html?page=-1
MELBOURNE public transport commuters face up to three years of worsening congestion as some of the city's busiest train lines reach capacity long before planned upgrades are delivered.
In an ominous warning to already pressed commuters, the head of Connex has warned the Sydenham line will reach capacity this year, while eight other lines to the city's north, west and south will hit capacity by 2013.
The Epping and Hurstbridge lines are also said by Connex to be approaching capacity - the point at which they are unable to cope with additional services.
Major rail upgrades proposed in Sir Rod Eddington's transport study will not be delivered before 2016 - provided the Government gives the go-ahead for a $7 billion rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield and a new $1.5 billion rail line from Werribee to Deer Park.
Connex has attributed a massive 33% jump in patronage since 2005 to soaring petrol prices and a big growth in activity in the middle of the city.
As unleaded petrol in Melbourne yesterday broke through $1.70 a litre for the first time, Connex chief executive Bruce Hughes predicted the growth in public transport use to continue.
"Train patronage took off at about the same time petrol broke through the $1-a-litre barrier," Mr Hughes told a lunch organised by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
Recent passenger counts on trains indicate 193 million passenger journeys a year, or about 330,000 journeys on an average weekday.
Mr Hughes said increased congestion caused by more trains on the tracks and more people on the platforms had led to a fall in train punctuality from 97% in 2001 to 92% this year and commuters were unhappy with late services.
Sir Rod Eddington recently predicted that even if recent patronage growth on the trains slowed, "moderate levels of growth will lead to systemic failures in the rail network with more overcrowding and a further decline in reliability on the busiest lines".
He said the "failure to tackle this problem means the city's busiest rail lines will hit the wall, with demand outstripping available capacity some time in the next 10 years".
Mr Hughes warned that the centre of Melbourne would soon be unable to take any more trains. "The crucial capacity constraints will soon become the core of the network," he said.
Mr Hughes backed the Eddington plan's proposal for an underground rail link between Footscray and Caulfield. "There's no doubt if you stand still you will just go backwards, so we can't and we are not waiting and we are getting on with it," he said.
Now was the time for public transport investment. "The planets are aligned for public transport, petrol prices are high, climate change is leading to a shift in how people travel, more services are being provided and as a result patronage is growing," he said. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, let's not bugger it up."
Metlink Boss Bernie Carolan, in a speech to be delivered today, will also call on the Government to commit to the Caulfield-Footscray tunnel, saying it would at least double the effective capacity of the northern train lines and the Caulfield lines, with at least 40,000 extra passengers per hour in peak times.
Stephen Moynihan, spokesman for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, said the Government was making multimillion-dollar investments in Melbourne's rail infrastructure, including adding tracks at Westall on the Dandenong Line and Laverton on the Werribee Line, and duplicating the rail bridge at Clifton Hill to remove a bottleneck.
"The Government believes it should eliminate bottlenecks on the rail network to allow for future extensions of the rail system. We have 18 new trains on order and we are always constantly trying to add more services to the timetable," Mr Moynihan said.
Daniel Bowen, of the Public Transport Users Association, said the system was in crisis. "Everyone knows that peak-hour trains are the fullest they have been in decades. There is a clear need for more trains on the network," he said.
But he warned that "it would be a mistake to put all our eggs in one basket and pour billions of dollars into public transport projects that would only address inner-city rail capacity - especially when more can be squeezed out of the current infrastructure".
Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the public transport system was in meltdown. "We believe the Government has the option to buy another 20 trains and they haven't exercised that option," he said. "Given the lead time from order to delivery they need to explain why given these dire predictions," he said.
Meanwhile, the price of unleaded petrol in Melbourne has broken through the $1.70 barrier for the first time, hitting 171.9 cents late yesterday at a BP service station on Kings Way. As news of the record spread, the station eased the price to 169.9 cents a litre.
RACV spokesman David Cumming expressed shock at the record. "It's an excessive price and its about 10 cents a litre over the wholesale price," he said.
Other major brand stations also lifted prices to 169.9 cents, while independent outlets remained slightly below that.
CommSec chief economist Craig James predicted another week of pain, with prices peaking at $1.75 a litre as the impact of full impact of recent global price changes for oil was felt. "But there are some signs of light … with the fact that prices in the Asia region have come down off their high over the past weeks," Mr James said.
However, some experts say prices could go higher still. The Age yesterday reported predictions that petrol could go close to $1.90 a litre this year, based on Reserve Bank inflation forecasts.
ullhair
goldfish :headscratch
