Re: 4D Is it or isn't it

[wizzer1865@aol.com (Wizzer1865)]

>Hi,
>I met with Hillside upper management yesterday and we discussed double
>deckers in passing. They agreed that theyre not needed but they didn't
>mention what they wanted to do with the 4D.
>
>We also suggested a lot of improvements to service patterns and so
>forth which they said they were "considering" or would "consider", such
>as off-peak and late night frequency improvements and more expresses
>through the day. They acknowledged that line capacity's not an issue.
>
>When it came to infrastructure upgrades they said basically that they
>would do that which their contract required them to do and no more,
>which I guess reinforces the idea that lobbying on PT should be
>directed at government.
>

Your issue with management about service improvements is an interesting one, I
remember once before that they had gone down that track before and they said
then that capacity was a problem, especially between Box Hill and Ringwood. The
section back from Box Hill is set up for 90 sec spacing between trains, the
only problem being the 2 outer tracks from Hawthorn to Box Hill and thence to
Blackburn have a speed of only 65 kmh, between Richmond and Hawthorn it's even
worse with a 55 kmh limit.The centre track has a speed of 70 kmh from Hawthorn
to Camberwell and then 80 kmh to Box Hill which is why most express trains
during peak times use the centre track.What needsto be done is track capacity
between Box Hill and Ringwood needs to be increased to allow more services to
run. One way would be to improve signal aspects to allow greater headway, also
trains from Belgraveand Lilydale need to only stop at Premium stations from
Ringwood and have a stopping all stations service from Ringwood to the city. Of
course if anyone else has a suggestion or two I would very much like to hear it
as I don't consider myself an expert in these things by a long shot.

Regards wizzer