News Public Transport Users Association www.ptua.org.au

ISSN 0817 – 0347 Volume 43 No.3 July 2019 Serious value-for-money questions linger amid State Budget ‘transport blitz' The Andrews State Government maintains its sol- tive for western Victoria which is facing a budget id commitment to suburban and regional public overrun and where (as reported by Stock and Land on transport with its Budget handed down in May. 19 June) necessary work is now likely to be curtailed New projects include the Western Rail Plan, due to unwillingness to extend the budget. This in- Cranbourne train line duplication, Hurstbridge cludes gauge conversion on the wheat-belt corridor and Sunbury line improvements, new trams, and to Manangatang and Sea Lake, and possibly the Gee- early works on the Airport Rail Link in coopera- long to Ballarat line. tion with the re-elected Morrison Federal Gov- This tightening of investment makes it all the more ernment. foolhardy that the gov- The commitments are in ernment has announced accordance with the Expenditure on new initiatives in 2019/20 budget (level crossing a full commitment to government’s promises funds counted 100% against ‘public transport’) ($M) the $16 billion North at last year’s state elec- East Link without re- tion. Some new fund- Capital Operating Total assessing its wider in- ing is also forthcoming Roads/Cars 16,620 579.8 17,199.8 frastructure strategy. for the more prosaic This one road project service initiatives and Public Transport 11,571 601.5 12,172.5 by itself outweighs all network improvements Active Transport 42.3 23.4 65.7 the government’s new that are critical to get- commitments on public ting value from in- and active transport put frastructure investment. Expenditure on new initiatives in 2019/20 budget (level crossing together. Overall, even As with previous initia- funds counted 50% against ‘public transport’)($M) if level crossing re- tives under this gov- Capital Operating Total moval is considered ex- ernment, the focus has clusively as a public been on the suburban Roads/Cars 19,895 579.8 20,474.8 transport project, new and regional rail net- road spending in the Public Transport 8,296 601.5 8,897.5 work; less so on trams budget exceeds new and buses. Active Transport 42.3 23.4 65.7 public and active trans- There is concern in the port spending by over budget 'fine print’, however, that the government is 40 per cent. Acknowl- proceeding more slowly on committed projects such edging on the other hand that level crossings are as the Ballarat rail upgrade. For many of the new rail 50/50 for motorists and public transport users, spend- initiatives too, such as the Cranbourne duplication ing for roads and cars is more than double the rest. and Hurstbridge upgrade, most of the ‘Total Estimat- Quite apart from the real damage the North East Link ed Investment’ is not actually allocated in the for- will do - and which cannot be greenwashed with ward estimates period to 2023, raising questions over false claims about congestion relief or what a won- the actual timeframe for this work. derful busway there will be - this deprives the gov- A related issue is the exhaustion of funding for the ernment of opportunities to invest in big Murray Basin Rail Upgrade, a vital rail freight initia- Continued p6 PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 1! PTUA office Committee Member meetings Ross House, Anthony Morton – President : 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne David Robertson – Meetings will be advertised in PTUA e-mail: [email protected] Secretary News and on our website Phil Bourke – Treasurer www.ptua.org.au Internet Michael Bell Geelong: Our web site is at www.ptua.org.au Daniel Bowen First Saturday of every month (except January), 10:30am Tom Killip The PTUA runs email lists for member Mary MacKillop Room, St Mary's discussions, and to stay up to date with Tim Long Parish Offices, cnr. Little Myers and PTUA events. Members can also view Stuart McKenzie Yarra streets, Geelong archived newsletters online: Anna Morton www.ptua.org.au/members/resources Ballarat: Stuart James Meetings will be held regularly - watch the newsletter and website for details. Membership Enquiries Bruce Sutherland E-mail the office (see above). Jennifer Williams Geelong Branch: PTUA members can obtain cheap yearly Paul Westcott – Convenor passes – see www.ptua.org.au/ members/offers Ballarat Branch: Ben Lever – Convenor

In this issue PTUA Members Meeting 6:30pm, Thursday 25th July 2019 • State Budget Transport Blitz Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, p1,6 Melbourne • Community Coalition on Upfield Guest Speaker: Cr Nic Frances Gilley, line p3 City of Melbourne • Stronger Together fast rail p4 Come and hear Cr Frances Gilley, Chair • Sydney Road Improvement p5 of the Transport Portfolio, speak about • Ballarat branch report p6 the Draft Transport Strategy 2030, which aims to meet the transport, access and • Geelong branch report p7 liveability demands of the City of Edited by Anna Morton. Melbourne, today and into the future. Newsletter contributors - Michael Bell, Ben Lever, Tony Morton and Paul Westcott. Open to all PTUA members. Non- members welcome to attend, if they join Printed by Kosdown, Port Melbourne. on the night. Our thanks to Margaret Pullar and the dedicated mailout team. More details/RSVP on Facebook or on the PTUA web site.

PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 2! Community coalition to keep the government honest on Upfield grade separations

As part of its ongoing level cross- Upfield line. At present, the single planned for Anstey during the up- ing removal programme, the track between Gowrie and Upfield grade works replaces the Coburg State Government announced at the far end of the line is a barrier one. plans late last year to grade sep- to improving frequencies past the arate three road crossings on the every 20 minutes the line is stuck There is ongoing regret that the Upfield line - at Moreland Road, at presently. The other barrier is grade separation at Campbellfield Munro Street and Bell Street in capacity in central Melbourne, al- did not include track duplication or Coburg. As at many other loca- though there is the potential to ex- provide for a station at Camp Road tions, the government’s pre- ploit underutilised terminating ca- with interchange to northern sub- ferred solution is to elevate the pacity at Southern Cross to allevi- urbs bus services. rail line. ate this constraint in the case of It’s now hoped that the Moreland- Upfield. The State Government In May the Level Crossing Re- Coburg grade separation will give has yet to seriously investigate this fresh impetus to meeting the needs moval Authority announced two option. community ‘drop-in’ sessions as of communities on the outer reach- part of its formal consultation on A community campaign supported es of the Upfield line. The Upfield the project plans. Following the by local councillors and MPs, in- Corridor Coalition has included first of these sessions on 25 May, a cluding Sue Bolton, Fiona Patten consideration of more frequent and public meeting at Coburg Library and Tim Read, is demanding that reliable services as part of its vi- attracted 70 local residents deter- the Andrews Government fund the sion for the corridor. mined to shape the outcome. This duplica- meeting led to the formation of the tion from Upfield Corridor Coalition and Gowrie to framed a ‘Vision Document’ with a U p fi e l d , set of demands that was subse- initially quently presented to the LXRA. as a mea- sure to The coalition’s Vision Document is improve intended to outline a positive vi- reliability sion for the project, making clear on the the community action should not northern be dismissed as a mere NIMBY section of (not in my backyard) protest. At the line the same time it makes clear de- b e y o n d Community action at Moreland station - Image by John Englart. mands around multi-modal design, C o b u r g , access for all, respect for residents' where fre- The local Moreland City Council security and privacy, and preserva- quent cancellations cause serious tion of local environment and her- at its June meeting approved problems for local residents and $30,000 of funding for local itage including the historic Gan- workers. A temporary solution to dolfo Gardens (pictured) adjacent groups including the UCC to cam- some of these cancellations would paign on getting the best commu- to Moreland station. The group be installation of a crossover at has conducted tours of other nity outcome from the Upfield line Gowrie so trains can be turned grade separations. ‘skyrail’ projects including on the around there rather than at Coburg, Dandenong line to understand allowing extension of services To learn more about the UCC’s what lessons can be learned. from the current crossover at activities and Vision Document, The Upfield grade separation links Coburg to Gowrie when there are please visit their facebook group at into an existing campaign for ser- delays other issues on the northern www.facebook.com/groups/ vice improvements along the entire part of the line. This would be par- 2334442800168951/. ticularly important if the crossover PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 3! ‘Stronger Together’ Fast Rail

In early June, the Stronger To- claim of the report; that it could be this is how that line will go – but is gether report commissioned by completed with initial capital in- that the best path for regional the City of Greater Geelong was vestments of $5 billion each from trains to take? Footscray station released. The report calls for a the state and federal governments, not only provides opportunities to shift to 200km/h electric regional plus $1 billion for the procurement interchange with the Werribee line, trains, running via Sunshine and of the new fleet. Where the rest of trams and buses, it is a huge trip the airport rail link, to be built the funds required to build such an generator in its own right. within around six years at a cost enormous project would come When a regional train service has a to government of $11 billion from, and the revenue model to high frequency of services, it defi- (which would not include the recoup those costs, remains a mys- nitely makes sense to provide undisclosed amount provided by tery. some express services in the peaks commercial partners in a Public There are also significant concerns – to speed through small regional Private Partnership). about the proposed design of the towns and suburban stations alike. The PTUA warmly welcomes local new faster rail network. On lines But the benefits of stopping at government involvement in advo- with relatively few stations, like those stations for most of the day cating for better regional rail ser- the Ballarat and Geelong lines, the dramatically outweigh the costs. vices – they are hugely important proposal seems to be for trains to Permanently removing the possi- to the vitality of local economies, stop at all the existing stations bility of stopping at those stations so it is very much in the best inter- (peak expresses notwithstanding). through infrastructure choices – ests of regional cities to ensure However on the Bendigo line, just to shave a measly minute or they are getting the level of service where the stations are more nu- two off the journey time in an at- they need. However, we do view merous, the report proposes for the tempt to grab a headline – would the claims about the timeframe and new higher-speed trains to skip represent a degradation of service the cost with a lot of skepticism. A some of the smaller stations entire- which would not serve the people project of this size would require ly – not just for a limited number of Victoria well. the electrification of hundreds of of express trains, but for all trains. The PTUA is very much in favour kilometres of line, realignments of It does vaguely suggest that some of improving regional rail services, several curves, and the procure- solution might be devised to con- and while the short-term focus ment of an entirely new fleet – tinue running Vlocity trains to needs to be on increasing frequen- none of which are cheap or quick these stations so as to continue to cies, reducing overcrowding and to do. The report argues that many provide service, but this is very improving reliability, now is the rail projects could be done much clearly an afterthought and the im- time to start talking about speed quicker if the political will existed, plications have not been fully improvements that could be deliv- and points to the speedy removal thought through. ered in the medium term. The of level crossings in the Andrews Similarly, the report relies on re- Stronger Together report, to its government's first term as proof; gional trains using the same tracks credit, does help advance that con- there is some truth to this, but even as airport trains between Sunshine versation. But if higher-speed rail assuming this project were tackled and the CBD; despite the fact that is ever going to be more than with as much fervour as the level the details of this corridor have not something politicians pull out crossing removal project, six years been finalised, it seems to rely on every time an election rolls around, is too short a timeframe. the assumption that this will be a we need to ensure that we get real- The general rule that projects can mostly-underground line which istic plans for a network that would be delivered more quickly if gov- does not stop at Footscray. Based serve all our needs. ernments are willing to spend more on media reports about the airport money butts up against the other rail link, it does seem likely that

PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 4! Sydney Road Improvement Options Rebooted

After a long hiatus, Vicroads has periods but a dedicated tram lane Community support appears to be reopened the planning process to enforced during peak periods. A moving toward Vicroads’ option 3, reconfigure Sydney Road in kerbside bike lane would also be which resembles other proposals Brunswick and Coburg, to better provided during peak periods. raised during the last round of prioritise the movement of trams consultation in 2016. Although and provide safer conditions for 3. Removal of all parking in favour trams and cars would share space cycling. of a full-time protected bike lane, under this proposal, the PTUA with trams and cars sharing the considers this is potentially a Conditions in Sydney Road have centre lanes. workable solution, given that the long been contentious, with trams, removal of on-street parking would through traffic, car parking, 4. Removal of some parking to extend footpaths, with remaining also mean an end to the parking- cycling and a high level of related manoeuvres that are a footpath activity all competing for parking banned in peak periods to provide bike lanes. Trams and cars substantial root cause of delay at limited space. There have been a present. (It should be noted that at number of incidents involving would share the centre lanes as for option 3. peak times when traffic is heavy death and injury to cyclists due to but there is no parking, there is the confusing nature of the current Not among the options considered relatively little delay to trams at street environment. is the ‘Reimagining Sydney Road’ present.) plan produced in November 2018 The full or partial removal of car The PTUA does not support the parking to provide more space for by the Institute for Sensible Transport and Atelier Red+Black view sometimes expressed that other road users is now cyclists should avoid Sydney supported by the RACV, as Road in favour of using the well as groups such as Bicycle Upfield Path. This is akin to Network. Sydney Road suggesting that because traders continue to oppose Citylink provides a dedicated removal of car parking, north-south corridor for car despite new Vicroads travel, motorists should use evidence that only 1.3% of this and avoid Sydney Road people using Sydney Road entirely. The Upfield Path is actually park cars on the also shared with walkers, very street. Substantial tracts of narrow for most of its length off-street parking adjacent to and unsuitable for safe Sydney Road are often Sydney Road Brunswick on a Saturday morning. movement of large numbers underutilised at present. of walkers and cyclists. The options formally being Architects. This would have provided separate right-of-way for During the daytime period when considered by Vicroads are the traffic problems in Sydney Road following: trams, cars and bikes, but without the same opportunity to widen the are at their worst, most travellers 1A. Raised tram stops similar to footpath as envisaged by Vicroads. whether in cars, on bikes or in High Street in Northcote, with trams are travelling relatively short parking retained during off-peak There is no question that any distances with destinations on periods and a protected bike lane. practical option for reconfiguring Sydney Road. The allocation of Sydney Road will involve road space must respect the status 1B. Similar to 1A but with ‘easy awkward trade-offs. The width of of Sydney Road as a key activity access’ stops on the Bridge Road the corridor does not allow centre with its associated travel model, that can be used by cars in simultaneously for a wide needs, and meeting these needs in peak periods. footpath, a protected bike lane and an efficient and sustainable 2. A minimalist option with separate right-of-way for trams and manner. parking retained during off-peak cars, not to mention space to park cars as well. PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 5! State Budget ‘transport blitz’

Continued from p1 the fact that more Melbourne additional services are provided - infrastructure to help the millions commuters report getting to the in peak where possible, but also of people who will call Melbourne station by bus or tram than by car. right across the day - to cut waiting home in the future. Projects like Little wonder there are traffic times and to help prevent over- Melbourne Metro 2 from Newport problems in district centres: the crowding spiralling out of control to Clifton Hill appear not to be government spends up to $40,000 as population grows. even on the government's radar. per parking space to get one extra The bottom line is the budget con- person onto a train while neglect- tains some welcome news, yet is The lack of funds for improved bus ing the bus services that can bring services is similarly disappointing. designed to reinforce the status dozens at a time, all day, without quo, like all the ‘balanced trans- In the 5-year forward estimates adding to traffic. there is $8 million in new money port’ exercises of the past. It still for bus services, compared with Public transport has to keep up pushes Melbourne toward greater $150 million for car parking at with demand, and with the growth dependence on cars and promises a railway stations. This is despite trend in patronage confirmed in the more traffic-congested future. budget figures. It is critical that

Ballarat branch report

June was a big month in public buses and active transport in later firm, and commented that a review transport advocacy in Ballarat, discussion papers, there needs to could take place after the new bus particularly at the council level. be a change in thinking about how interchange at Ballarat station is It started with the people access the rail network – as completed; this was supposed to releasing its rail discussion paper Ballarat grows, it will be very im- be finished by the end of 2018, but as part of the consultation for its portant for more people to arrive at has suffered from delays to other upcoming Integrated Transport stations by walking, cycling and aspects of the Ballarat Station Plan – this is an ambitious docu- bus. Precinct Redevelopment project, ment and worth PTUA members The rail discussion paper can be and is now expected to be finished reading and commenting on. It de- found and responded to at by the end of 2019. As the Con- tails the importance of a fully du- mysay.ballarat.vic.gov.au/itp-trains necting Ballarat proposal pointed out, the Ballarat Line Upgrade plicated line to Melbourne, with A few days after the ITP rail dis- frequent and reliable trains, the project will be complete at the end cussion paper was released, the of 2019, and this will trigger an return of direct passenger trains to Stronger Together paper commis- Geelong, and increased frequen- increase in train frequencies from sioned by the City of Greater Gee- hourly to every 40 minutes, which cies to nearby destinations like long was launched. It describes a Ararat and Maryborough. will break the connectivity with vision for 200km/h electric trains the existing 30/60 minute frequen- Much of what it says is fantastic, to Geelong, Ballarat and other cies of Ballarat's bus network. but it is let down by the fact that it large regional centres around Vic- Given that a complete revamp of still places too much emphasis on toria – see page 3. the bus network – and associated car parking at stations. The as- Later in June, City of Ballarat re- driver training – will generally sumption that permeates the paper newed their push for a review of take several months, it is important is that people will, and must con- Ballarat's bus network, echoing that this planning work starts soon, tinue to, drive to stations, and that calls made in the PTUA's Connect- so that everything is ready to go more parking must be provided to ing Ballarat proposal launched last once the new interchange is com- facilitate this – both at existing sta- October. Transport Minister Melis- plete, and the new bus network tions and at new park-and-ride sta- sa Horne was in Ballarat to inspect and new train timetables can be tions. While the City of Ballarat buses coming off the line at a local launched simultaneously. will be looking more closely at PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 6! In Defence of Buses

From time to time politicians on weekdays, and more frequently together, no signage to other bus and others push the misleading during the peaks. They also pro- stops is provided, and no services line that passengers don't like vide quite direct routes without are provided at interchange points. buses, and that they're only a meandering through the back New train and tram lines are great last resort form of public trans- streets. That's why they're popular. when the political will and funding port. It's true that patronage on Many other bus services run every can be found, but realistically such many bus routes is poor, but is hour or less, and take roundabout new lines will be built only rarely. not because of some intrinsic routes. That's why people don't use For the two thirds of Melbourne fault of buses. them. It's not about buses per se— which doesn't have train or tram The solution to this is to roll out it’s about frequency and directness. services, high quality bus services more SmartBus style routes, and Interchange is another area where are the only option. We can't afford upgrade existing routes to Smart- Melbourne's bus system desperate- to let politicians dodge this neces- Bus standards, which provide di- ly needs improvement. Even where sity by claiming that people don't rect, high frequency "tram like" high frequency routes cross, often want buses. services. SmartBuses run at least no effort has been made to put bus This is an abridged version of an article every 15 minutes through the day stops on intersecting routes close available online at ptua.org.au

Geelong branch report

According to "The Age", its un- fetish or, perhaps, a cargo cult. We install any more bus shelters, not- successful effort to save continue to stress that none of the ing that the Road Management Act Corangamite MP Sarah Hender- line's problems will be overcome (2004) makes that the responsibili- son, saw the Coalition making by having trains run a bit faster. ty of the DoT/PTV. (CoGG said it promises to her electorate (com- would continue to maintain exist- prising a lot of our Branch area) The headline 32-minute Geelong- ing shelters.) equating to $25,000 per voter! Melbourne running time is com- pletely beside the point. No trains PTV has offered grants for new That largesse is still supposed to be now run express between those shelters that include a portion to delivered, of course. However, as two stations, and neither should cover the cost of maintenance, but with many election promises, a lot they. What about the substantial believes that local councils are best of the money isn't "real". Either it wayside patronage, in particular placed to both install and maintain takes in a number of budgetary cy- from stations such as North Gee- shelters. However, CoGG has not cles, during which circumstances long and Lara? budged. can change, or it depends on the state government making matching The reality is that the recent feder- Consequently, no new bus shelters sums available. al budget allocated only $50 mil- have been installed since January lion over the next four years for 2018, and at least one DDA-com- We are told that the duplication of planning the project. Improve- pliant shelter on a defunct bus the South Geelong-Waurn Ponds ments must be properly planned route has not been moved to a bet- rail line is more-or-less ready to for, but the need for real solutions ter location. go, once the promised federal is urgent. funding has been locked in. The impasse has dragged on far The state government and the City longer than we ever expected, and However, the Coalition's promised of Greater Geelong (CoGG) have we have now enlisted the aid of $2 billion for "fast rail" is another been in dispute for eighteen local MP for Geelong, Christine kettle of fish. The real need on the months regarding the provision of Couzens. She has written to the Geelong line is for greater reliabil- new bus shelters. council asking for a "please ex- ity, capacity and frequency. "Fast plain", and will alert the Minister. rail" has all the hallmarks of a In January last year, CoGG re- vealed that it was not intending to PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 7! PTUA News Newsletter of the Public Transport Users Association, Org. No. A-6256L Print Post: Publication No. PP 100002658 If undeliverable, return to: PTUA Office, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000

Inside:

State Budget Upfield line and Sydney Road. Fast Rail

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PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 8!