Category: Melbourne and suburbs
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Eastern Freeway rail corridor is what merits protection
Protect Hamer legacy of provision for rail in freeway median: PTUA According to the Public Transport Users Association there is only one aspect of the Eastern Freeway that merits heritage protection, and that is the unique design features included by the Hamer Government to ensure a train line could be easily installed in the corridor.…
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Rail cash welcome, but for Melbourne’s sake we need a plan
The $10 billion pledge by Federal Labor toward Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop is a massive vote of confidence in restoring Melbourne’s reputation as a liveable city and responding to the climate emergency, but the size of spending underscores the urgent need for a coherent, community-led transport plan, according to the Public Transport Users Association. The…
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What year did your railway station open?
What year did your local station open? Before you were born? Probably before your grandparents were born! Our population is growing, and our public transport network needs to keep growing too. Click here to view the map larger. The rail network grew rapidly between 1854 and 1930… but since then almost nothing. Expansion of rail,…
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PTUA welcomes rail investment in Ballarat
The Public Transport Users Association has today welcomed the government’s announcement of the details of a $130m project to untangle freight and passenger services in Ballarat. The project will largely separate freight and passenger trains west of Ballarat station, and upgrade the signalling system in the Ballarat area, to allow for more efficient movement of…
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Magic numbers distort North East Link business case
Cost and benefit figures presented in the North East Link business case by the Victorian Government suggest a “massive shifting of the goalposts” in an effort to make the $16 billion project stack up, according to a preliminary analysis by the Public Transport Users Association. “Comparing these new figures with those presented just 18 months…
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North East Link plans to kill off Doncaster rail forever
The Public Transport Users Association says that detailed design plans for the North East Link and its accompanying busway include taking over the median reserve for additional car lanes. This will ‘kill stone dead’ any long term plan for trains to run to Doncaster, according to the PTUA. “What’s being proposed is a radical reorganisation…
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Show us a plan, and don’t neglect local services, says PTUA
The Victorian Government needs to show the public an integrated plan for moving people and freight. But the government also needs to match its busy infrastructure programme with a commitment to frequent local public transport service, the Victorian Transport Infrastructure Conference heard on Thursday. According to a presentation by Dr Tony Morton, President of the…
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Care urged on Rowville tram proposal: avoid rushing into half measures, says PTUA
The Public Transport Users Association has cautiously welcomed a proposal to develop a new tram line connecting Rowville to Caulfield railway station via Chadstone Shopping Centre. But the PTUA is concerned the project could leave the community worse off in the longer term by precluding a conventional train line along Wellington Road. “The previous government’s…
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Public transport users call for Westgate submarine
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has called for the introduction of a passenger submarine linking the bayside western suburbs of Melbourne with the CBD instead of the controversial Westgate Tunnel. “There’s clear demand for improved public transport in Melbourne’s west,” said PTUA’s maritime spokesperson Daniel Morton. “A passenger submarine can deliver this with minimal…
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Victoria’s transport planning crisis: Put the public first and end partisan brawling over big infrastructure, says PTUA
The Public Transport Users Association has called for a public interest ‘circuit breaker’ to end the crisis in major infrastructure planning. The call comes amid the scuttling of Transurban’s controversial West Gate Tunnel project by the Legislative Council, which the PTUA says is merely the latest manifestation of a planning crisis in Victoria reaching back…
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No Night Buses on NYE “ridiculous”
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has criticised the state government’s decision to not run Night Bus services on New Year’s Eve this year. While trains and trams will run all night[1], the Night Bus routes, which fill gaps in the network, will not. Areas that will miss out include Point Cook, Mernda, Mornington (and…
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NE Link: Waste of money
When Infrastructure Victoria called the North East Link a “priority road project”, it was because its consultants gave the road a highly favourable initial assessment. The report last year by KPMG, Arup and Jacobs estimated the project (including the Eastern Freeway and M80 widening) would cost between $4.8 and $7.1 billion. The benefits were stated…
