Re: Travel patterns (was Re: New form of rail transportation)

["Daniel Bowen" <dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au>]

"Peter Berrett" <pberrett@optushome.com.au> wrote in message
hC6Q5.11296$Xx3.47145@news1.eburwd1.vic.optushome.com.au">news:hC6Q5.11296$Xx3.47145@news1.eburwd1.vic.optushome.com.au...
> The situation today is far different from the time when these lines were
> closed. Arguably population densities in some suburbs are higher now and
> many previously uninhabited areas are now inhabited.
>
> Let's take each of the three lines you mentioned.
>
> 1. Box Hill - Doncaster Tramway.
>
> If this was put back in place today it would attract substantial patronage
> as Box Hill station is on one end of the line and Doncaster shoppingtown
on
> the other.

I don't see the point. With buses every 7 minutes (even in off-peak times)
along Station Street, this corridor has one of the best bus services in
suburban Melbourne; better than most tram services. The buses don't seem to
be overly hindered by traffic congestion.

> 2. Outer Circle
>
> If the Alamein line was extended past Chadstone to the Dandenong line
along
> the former outer circle route, passengers could travel to Chadstone to
shop
> by train from a variety of lines. I believe patronage on an extended line
> would be substantially higher than on the existing Alamein line as the
line
> would no longer terminate in a quiet suburb but provide numerous transport
> options for commuters.

Very true. The lack of services to suburban shopping centres such as
Chadstone and Southland in the evenings and weekends is appalling. These
used to be acceptable, until cutback occured around 1991.

> 3. Rosstown railway
>
> From
>
> http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/carnegie.html
>
> "Carnegie is a residential suburb 12 km. south-east of Melbourne on the
> railway line between Caulfield and Oakleigh. The area was originally known
> as Rosstown after William Ross, an entrepreneur who constructed a railway
> line through the area from Oakleigh to Elsternwick. The line had the dual
> objectives of transporting sugar beet from Gippsland to a processing mill
at
> Elsternwick and opening up land for residential subdivision. (The latter
> objective had good prospects until the South Yarra to Oakleigh line was
> opened in 1879, as it was supported by the minister for Railways, Thomas
> Bent, whose electorate also included Elsternwick.) However, the failure of
> the Rosstown railway, made worse by the 1890s depression and its effect on
> land speculation, made the name unpopular."

Plenty more information on this in "From Sand, Swamp and Heath", the history
of Caulfield.

The more-or-less parallel 67 tram, which is predominantly a suburban route
beyond Elwood, gets quite good patronage, even though it terminates in the
middle of nowhere in suburban Carnegie, about a km from the station.

The 627 bus, which also follows that route, doesn't do as well, probably
because of its meandering route and poor service (30 mins weekdays, 60 on
Saturdays, nothing on Sundays or evenings).


Daniel
--
Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia
dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au
http://www.custard.net.au/bowen/daniel/