Re: New railway stations in Melbourne

[simcard@comcen.com.au]

In article <35176B0D.5919@tbsa.com.au>,
  peter berrett <pberrett@tbsa.com.au> wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> Here's a good topic that I think might stir some discussion. As I went
> home on the Belgrave line as usual tonight I pondered the distance
> between Heathmont and Bayswater stations and thought that there might be
> some merit in the idea of an extra station. The arguments for and
> against are pretty self-evident but I thought it interesting to consider
> where new stations might be put on the existing network. Here is my
> list;
<snip>

On this subject i have a few suggestions, these are as follows:

On the Broadmeadows line:
-------------------------

1: Coolaroo - Just north of the Barry Rd bridge.

2: Somerton (i believe there used to be a station at Somerton - can someone
please inform me on that one) - North of the Somerton Rd level crossing, also
can be known as Roxburgh Park, due to the close proximity to the Roxburgh Park
housing estate.

3: Craigieburn (well, at least electrification to the Craigieburn station that
already exists).

On the Upfield line:
--------------------

1: Campbellfield - Due to the big distance between Upfield and Gowrie. This
can be located somewhere near the Camp Rd level crossing.

2: Electrification to the end of the line (i.e. Somerton) so a loop service
can be ran in conjunction with the Broadmeadows line (there was discussion on
this not so long ago). The line can be ran Flinders St - Craigieburn via
Broadmeadows, then back to Flinders st via Upfield, Trains will also run in
the opposite direction, i.e. Flinders St - Craigieburn via Upfield, then
return via Broadmeadows.

There are other options on how the line can be run, perhaps anyone else can
suggest an efficent way of running to provide an equal service between all
stations on the lines while also allowing passengers to travel between lines
bypassing North Melbourne.

St Albans line:
---------------

Already shown as in the 1990 Melways (ed. 24) (sorry, im a bit out of date ;)
are proposed stations north of the Taylors Rd level crossing (map 13, J8) and
at Taylors Lakes to the west of Kings Rd (map 13, E2), and just south of
Calder Park (map 3, B9). Perhaps a better site for this "Calder Park" station
would be at Calder Park, due to the type of events there. This will give
people an option of not having to drive to this venue which is fairly
inaccessible to public transport. Along with all this, electrification to
Sunbury should be considered since Sunbury is higly populated, and under
transported. Along this line is also Diggers Rest which is also highly
populated and should be considered for a suburban train service.

Others:
-------

Electrification to Stony Point should be considered (which has been discussed
recently); The service to Mornington should also be re-opened, perhaps as an
electric service as well. Running along these two lines can be ran as a 20
minute service to baxter then an alternating service to mornington and stony
point (i.e. trains from the city run as Mornington, Stony Point, Mornington
etc...).

I am personally not sure as to the patronage and frequency of services on the
line between Sunshine and Melton, but perhaps someone can mention the
viability of an electric service along that line.

I will conclude this by saying that there isnt much of a possibility of this
happening since we have an extremely anti-public-transport government.
Hopefully this will change and the above options can be considered. On this
topic I will also add the observation that with the building of the
Jeff-O-Bahn, the Upfield line was shut down for many months between North
Melbourne and Flemington Bridge. All the lines between North Melbourne and
Kensington/South Kensington respectively, have remained open. This also
includes the line that does not get used often between North Melbourne and
Kensington that runs over a bridge that goes over the South Kensington lines.

That is my ramble for now.

Regards, Michael Kurkowski
(unfortunately having to post thru Dejanews since my server is down).

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