Perhaps the one silver lining to US imperialism, is that more people will want better public transport

The "big switch" has ended up being a lot less big than originally promised. I'm really happy we now have a turn up and go service - or at least every 10 minutes - on the lines going through the Metro Tunnel (the Munnel), but feels really silly we haven't brought more drivers on board to run services at least every 10 minutes across the network, and upped all bus routes to the same frequency.

There's a great map that Taitset made showing sections of the metro network which could already do 10 minute running.

My mum, who's in her late 60s, told me of growing up in [European city]. She interchanged 2 times between 2 trains and a bus on her way too highschool. Her and her friends didn't like the bus because it only came every 10 minutes. In the 1970s.

It's a bit embarrassing to me how bad our frequency is, given our massive population.

It would be great if we could convince our government or MPs holding the balance of power at the next state election to invest in a larger workforce to achieve the frequency PTV needs to thrive.

Keen to hear others thoughts on the "Big Switch".

P.S. I've talked to multiple colleagues who live on the lines who literally didn't know about the "Big Switch" until I told them about it, 2 days beforehand.

Cross-posted to !melbourne@aussie.zone

• https://aussie.zone/post/29742121

Edit just for the good people in this community: mission accomplished folks! Not sure what did it, perhaps the railway was successful in their legal challenges, but only the real listings remain as far as I can tell! (Checked today 2025.08.09)

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/20546632

Friends, please help me report multiple scam listings for Puffing Billy on Google maps "located" in the CBD/South Melbourne.

Location 1 CBD: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fxVNa5w4SbZ7V1Qi9

Location 2 South Melbourne: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YB7w8NzmbtMJbdmf7

These, for those who know, are obviously not real. And include a bunch of AI generated photos (plus photos from people who didn't realise the postings were not the real ones)

The locations link to a fake puffing billy websites selling "discounted tickets" (putting a markup on the tickets, or stealing personal information, do doubt).

I've tried repeatedly to suggest an edit to have them removed, the CBD listing was briefly taken down, but somehow the scammer has had it reinstated.

The one in South Melbourne keeps being rejected by the Google moderator.

Please leave negative reviews on these listings based on your own assessment and opinion. If you come to the same obvious conclusion, please use the keywords "scam" so that google highlights this to people looking at the reviews.

Please suggest an edit > place is closed or not here > and choose one of the following:

1. Doesn't exist here
2. Duplicate of another location (make sure you don't select the other fraudulent location, only none of the above if the one from Belgrave doesn't appear)
3. Offensive, harmful or misleading

Hoping the number of reports will help it be reviewed by someone who isn't just looking at the age of the postings and the number of reviews.

I have made a FOI request to obtain documents on how much this turnback project would have cost.

Hoping to convince the government to fund it, since I'm betting I would be a tiny fraction of what we spend on roads along the line.

The Sunbury line has shut down for maintenance, so I guess they've stabled a couple of HCMTs on the empty platforms

Editorialised headline, because the actual title makes no mention of the fare increase they stuck in down the bottom

They'll begin testing around the network fairly soon

From the latest DTP travel update

This video is a dream

Article text (via 12ft.io):

Three train stations in central Brunswick will be closed and replaced with two new stations as part of level-crossing removal works in the rapidly growing inner-north suburb.

Jewell, Brunswick and Anstey stations will shut when a 2.1-kilometre stretch of elevated “sky rail” is built along the Upfield Line between Albion Street and Park Street, in Parkville, by 2030.

Consultation documents show a new “southern station” will be located adjacent to the RMIT campus between Union and Dawson streets – 200 metres north of Jewell Station and 450 metres south of Brunswick Station.

The second “northern station” will be between Hope and West streets, 450 metres north of Brunswick Station and 200 metres south of Anstey.

The loss of one station is likely to be controversial. Merri-bek Council has previously called on the Department of Transport and Planning to keep three stations in the area to maintain the existing level of access for nearby residents.

Jewell and Brunswick stations are also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register

Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson said the three existing stations were all within 1500 metres of each other, making them the closest stations on the train network.

He said the decision to merge them followed 18 months of technical and engineering assessments that showed it would create more open space.

Removing one stop and delivering new tracks and signalling would also improve reliability and open the door to more frequent services, Pearson said.

Upfield has the worst timetable of any major Metro line, with waits of between 15 and 20 minutes during peak times – but that is because a section of single track between Gowrie and Upfield limits how often trains can operate [paywall bypass and previous aussie.zone discussion here].

“This project will be a game changer for Brunswick and Parkville – it will reduce congestion, deliver two brand new and accessible stations and pave the way for extra trains on the Upfield Line in the future,” Pearson said. But the single-track bottleneck remains.

The new rail bridge will allow the removal of boom gates at eight level crossings, according to state government plans to be released on Thursday. It’s part of a program to take out 110 level crossings across Melbourne by the end of the decade – so far, 84 have been removed.

Brunswick is undergoing rapid growth along the Upfield rail corridor, with new medium-rise apartments built or planned close to the three stations, including some that are likely to be affected by construction of the rail bridge.

Pearson said the two new stations would have entrances on both platform ends for easy access.

Elevating the rail line would also create new open space and allow the popular – but narrow – Upfield bike path to be rebuilt and expanded, he said.

Work is slated to begin in 2028 with the two new stations to be open by 2030.

Level crossings have already been removed further north on the Upfield Line, with a 2.5-kilometre section of elevated rail built between new stations at Bell Street, Coburg, and Moreland Road, Brunswick.

The Allan government previously intended to extend the level-crossing removal work through Brunswick by 2027, but pushed the work back to 2030 in this year’s budget.

This lady is so wholesome and an absolute legend