Melbourne on Transit: UN 99: Remembering Chelsea station and its bus interchange

As far as train - bus interchange stations go, the now demolished Chelsea was perhaps half good. Which makes it better than average by Melbourne standards which are not particularly high (a representative example of the latter featuring trams is Caulfield that I discussed last week).

Chelsea wasn't always thus. At one time its main bus stop was north of Chelsea Rd. This required waiting at and crossing a minimum of three roads. I described this convoluted arrangement here in 2008 (videos no longer available). Luckily it got fixed soon after.

That upgrade (which predated the 902 SmartBus) moved the bus stop to where it should always have been - that is the south side of Chelsea Rd. That cut the number of road crossings required for people changing from ex-city train to bus from 3 to 0. And dramatically reduced the walking distance.

You can see all this on the map below.

Transfer arrangements are different for other trips, such as Frankston to Springvale involving the 902 bus. There passengers would alight from Platform 1. The most direct way to the bus stop is to cross the tracks on Chelsea Rd. The alternative, via the underpass past the bottom of the map is less direct.

Those arriving at Chelsea on the 902 (or who wish to catch the 857 to Dandenong) needed to cross Station St. There was no zebra crossing near this bus stop even though it was a popular desire line, towards the underpass which provided the best means to reach the shops and Platform 1.

However traffic volumes were generally low enough to be able to cross with minimal waiting so compared with many other places a zebra crossing would have been low priority. This was because Station St was generally a local access road since it lacked a direct connection over the Patterson River to Carrum. That was until the Karrum Karrum Bridge was built (as part of a project associated with the Carrum grade separation). Having that bridge for cars was a mistake as it made Station St more attractive to through traffic and thus made it a more popular rat-run. Amongst other things this improved driving access to shops at Patterson Lakes at the expense of walking access to shops at Chelsea.

Also the 'official line' would be that the signalised Chelsea Rd is close by and people should cross at the lights instead of taking the shortest way across Station St to where they want to go. Either this is directly opposite the underpass (for access to Platform 1 citybound or the shops) or near the Platform 2 entrance. The difficulty here is that this requires people walking to Platform 1 to cross the tracks rather than use the underpass, the former of which carries its own risks (and a reason for the level crossing being removed).

New stations

This is now of course history. Different train / bus transfer arrangements will apply when the new Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach stations open later this year.

Of these Edithvale draws the shortest straw. Its connection between the train and the 902 SmartBus on Edithvale Rd was never great with too much waiting at slow to change lights to make the change. But moving it north (despite its engineering merits) destroys what integration there existed before. The increased walk at Edithvale will require passengers to backtrack to Chelsea for a good transfer experience. That adds travel time, especially for those travelling from/to the city direction.

Walking access has pros and cons compared to the old station. The big win is of course no more being held up at boomgates and missing your train (though cars will still delay you). But Edithvale's shift north places it nearer the unpopulated golf course and further from densely populated Edithvale Rd and areas south. Even though the new station will have more entrance points along it (a good thing compared to the old station that had only one for each platform) it is still likely that its walking catchment population will be less since so many more people along and south of Edithvale Rd drop out of its 800 metre pedshed. This is important as walking is the main mode of access to Edithvale station. Edithvale's shift north also puts it too close to Aspendale station, especially given that Chelsea is being moved south, leaving uneven gaps between stations.

The new Chelsea appears to be better off overall, although those in the north will have a longer walk due to the decision to move the station south. But the need to choose between crossing an unsignalised part of Station St but use the safer underpass or wait at a (unresponsive) signal and have to cross the tracks will be gone. This is great for safety. Also moving the bus terminus slightly south improves the 902's catchment to better serve people in units on streets like Golden Avenue. This can also be regarded as a win. However the old underpass was a very quick way across the rail corridor for local shoppers and it remains to be seen whether the station provides equal or better convenience. The new pedestrian bridge from Chelsea Rd to The Strand will be another gain.

Bonbeach station has no feeder buses so this wasn't the consideration that it was at Chelsea and should have been at Edithvale. Moving it further south puts it further from a lot of units on Broadway etc (and again nearer a golf course). Somewhat offsetting this though is the greater number of platform access points. This is always good and should be praised when provided as not even some other new stations (eg Mentone) have got this right.

Both Bonbeach and Aspendale stations suffer greatly from having no direct east-west roads from areas like Aspendale Gardens and the northern part of Patterson Lakes even though these would have assisted bicycle and potentially bus access. This is beyond scope of the level crossing removals but improvements here should be considered for the future. Building more roads just encourages more cars and more driving and thus provides only short-term relief. It's fair to say that we get the congestion that we deserve. The only way to relieve it is to encourage walking and cycling for shorter trips by making these the best way to our local stations from local suburbs including Aspendale Gardens, Chelsea Heights and Patterson Lakes. This requires much more attention to safe and direct east-west car-free bikeways and a rethink of parking policy to prioritise local shoppers over commuters.

Chelsea pictures

Getting back to Chelsea, memories soon fade. So I'll present a few pictures around the old station so you can help visualise the above map. There's also some relevant videos that I'll link to later.

1. Station St near the Platform 2 exit looking north to Chelsea Rd. This is its only exit (the new station will be better with more exits). Changing passengers must walk down the short ramp, then turn 180 degrees to reach the 902 bus stop.

2. Also on Station St looking north but further south. On the right is the 902's last stop (and the 857's first) outside the Telstra exchange. On the left is the underpass. The walk across Station St at this point is a popular desire line for those reaching the shops and trains on Platform 1.

3. When you do walk via the underpass this is where you come up along Nepean Hwy. This is looking north. You'd walk in that direction to reach the Platform 1 entrance (again an only entrance when there should have been at least one other further south nearer the underpass). The traffic light you see is a pedestrian crossing. It was very popular as it (more or less) lines up with the underpass, is central to the shops, has a relatively short cycle time (could have been 45 seconds but seemed to be nearer 60 seconds latterly) and operates independently of the boom gates (which interacted with nearby signals to make walkers wait longer at certain times).

4. The main Platform 1 entrance of Chelsea station. Includes a ramp which required some backtracking if coming off Chelsea Rd (to the north). The old ticket office was here.

5. Just around the corner from the above, with the Chelsea Rd level crossing visible. Walkers went through a narrow passage that was unsuitable for the high numbers of mobility scooters and bikes that passed there. There was also insufficient space for people queuing eg when the boom gates are down.

6. The Station St side of the walkway, looking towards Nepean Hwy. The 902 bus leaves from the stop to the left. We are now almost where we started at in Photo 1.