Re: [VIC] Stopping patterns etc. Was [Re: [VIC] Epping line 10/12/99]

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

> Merri is my home station, so I am biassed! Seriosly though, Merri is
>a very busy station due to the high density of houses around it.
>Whenever I am there, there are plenty of people using it.

Well, I travel through it fairly often at all times of the day and
night. Its busier than Rushall or Croxton but less so than Northcote or
Thornbury. And come the revolution, other stations will have feeder
buses but merri won't, so it would be expected to decline in relative
importance.

> But the object of saving people time is to attract them to the
service.
> People in Zone 2 will pay more for a ticket to the city than people
in Zone
> 1. Therefore you want to attract people in Zone 2 more than people in
Zone
> 1! Also, if you make use of intermediate crossovers (eg Bell), you
can give
> these people local trains.

I'd disagree, you want to attract more people full stop. Which zone
theyre from isn't important. The primary objectives of good public
transport should be to get cars off the road (to reduce all the
problems inherent to car travel inc. congestion, severance, greenhouse
emissions) and provide a "go anywhere anytime" type of convenience for
people who don't have a car.

> No, not Holden (too narrow for trams, yes I know there used to be a
>tram line down there, but traffic patterns have changed). Not
>Alexandra Pde, it's too far down. Go down Blythe St to the terminous
>of 96, then there is no need for 96 trams, or trams terminating in
>east Brunswick can provide a supplimentary service for 86.

The tram would only be in Holden for a short distance before turning
into Nicholson, and the traffic lights could be programmed to keep
delays to a minimum. Holden St is as wide as (for example) Gertrude St.

Alexandra Pde would be the best option though because the track will
already be there once the Doncaster tram goes in (foot in the door...).
Theres also a need for a good right turn cycle at that intersection so
the tram can turn in and out of Brunswick St

i see the advantages of Blyth St but its also too narrow and sacrifices
the advantage of the reserved track south of separation st.

The other option is the park st rail reserve, or park st itself. It
would be a pity to wreck the park and wouldn't be favoured politically,
but it has the advantage of speed.

> Yes, coming out from Nicholson St and travelling along the Median
Strip of
> Alexandra Pde to the Freeway.

Not along the median, wouldn't want to cut down all those trees! It
should go along the edges of the median like St G's Rd does, killing
one lane in each direction along Alexandra Pde (which is too wide
anyway). West of Brunswick St it could use the median. With traffic
light priority it would be less than ten minutes from Hoddle St
(VicPark) to Bourke St Mall. About 25 - 30 minutes from shopping town.


> I think that you are over simplifying it again. A guard/conductor
>would help reduce delays, but the wheelchair would have to be in the
>correct position.

Thats an education issue.

> Then there is the time spent getting the ramp out (30 sec+) and
>putting the wheelchair over the ramp etc.

i accept the reality of delays caused by wheelchairs, but they can be
reduced.

> With people holding doors, it is not much help having station staff
>on hand.
> The staff member may be on the wrong side of the station or attending
>other duties or the passenger my not want to let go of the door. At
>Thomastown, there are frequently people holding the doors. I will go
>out and ask them to let go and they will say "I'm just waiting for my
>friends" when their friends are still halfway accross the carpark, and
>walking. You can't physically remove people from the doors and people
>are very unwilling to let go of the  door once they have a hold of it.

Well, all jokes aside station staff (or the police booth at larger
stations) should arrest and charge people who hold doors if they don't
let go pronto upon being warned. That, together with a more frequent
service so people don't mind too much about missing trains, should
stamp out the practice.

> I have had an idea for the EPP/HBE lines. Why not reinstate the
points and
> signals at the old APM jnc at FFD and build a station where the loop
is
> (call it Grange or use the name for the old station on that site:
Fullham
> Grange). There is enough space for 2 stabling sidings there. FFD could
> become a premium station and have a signal panel operated by the SO
for the
> jnc. Then a 3 car train could terminate at Grange every 10 mins and
stop all
> stations to FSS. HBE trains could run Express FFD - CHL - JLI and EPP
trains
> could run express CHL - JLI. If it was timed just right, the
timetable could
> be (for example):
>
> ALP:  1654
> GRA:   ..       1657                1707
> FFD:  1656   1659                1709
> DEN:   ..       1700                1710
> WGT:  ..       1702  EX EPP  1712
> CHL:  1659  1704     1711    1714
> VPK:   ..       1706        ..      1716
> COL:   ..       1707        ..      1717
> NRM:  ..       1709        ..      1719
> WRM: ..       1710        ..       1720
> JLI:    1705   1712     1717    1722
>
> It would be of minimal cost as a lot of the infrastructure and right
of way
> is there already. It would also open up the way for FV to run paper
trins
> into the mill again!

Interesting...
Let me think about it some more - though I would rather run stoppers
from Macleod.

Vaughan


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