In the case of Upfield, the tram would have lost more time than the
> train as it is much slower and the distance involved is much further
> than St Kilda/Port Melbourne, would have more stops and would mean a
> service reduction as the tram reservation would be moved from the front
> door of the shops in Sydney road to the rail reservation 5 minutes away
> and the local public transport service reduced from a train and a tram
> to just one tram route. Again, the changes were not to benefit public
> transport users, they were to make the service much cheaper for the
> financially troubled Labour government to run.
Are you saying they proposed to shut the 19 tram route if Upfield was
converted to light rail? Why would they want to do that? The 19 is one
of Melbourne's busiest tram routes despite the railway line's proximity.
Re the Port Melbourne and St Kilda light rail lines, we'll have to
disagree on that. I think there has been a major service improvement on
those lines, though I take your point re accessibility.
Dave McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand