Few rail lines have more level crossings per kilometre than the inner portion of the Upfield line around Brunswick. This is due to its dense urban fabric and permeable street layout, both characteristics that are worth preserving.
Right now the rationale for removing them appears thin; the Upfield line sees no freight traffic and even peak frequencies never exceed 15 to 20 minutes. Boom gates are down for 30 minutes of the (2 hour?) morning peak - much less than on busier lines.
Still, the area is densifying. And a more frequent Upfield line would offer relief for the 19 tram, that though slow, attracts people due to being up to three times as frequent. If you can remove many closely spaced crossings in a job lot, say by elevating the railway, then the cost per crossing removed should be lower than with other examples. The area could also do with open space and active transport opportunities similar to those unlocked in the Carnegie - Murrumbeena area.
And so, two months before last year's election, the premier announced the removal of 8 level crossings on the Upfield line. These are almost all in the state seat of Brunswick - once safely held by Labor but now a strong seat for the Greens' Tim Read MP. The Big Build website has details of the project.
Just like with other level crossing removals significant synergies are possible if a wider view is taken with regard to local connectivity needs. For example bus service upgrades and reforms could improve connectivity to the new stations being built as part of the project. Doing these would avoid the Reservoir problem where a new station got built but the same old complex and non-connecting bus network and timetables remained.
Bus service upgrade opportunities
Five of the eight level crossings to be removed have a bus route that passes through it. Thus there are close synergies between removed level crossings and the potential for improved connectivity to Upfield line stations via buses. Proposed level crossing removals and corresponding bus routes are mapped below:
Although the Department of Transport has not assigned a publicly known network hierarchy to these routes, four of the five (503, 504, 506 and 508) could easily be considered middle to high level routes (ie connector or premium) with 509 a neighbourhood-type service. Service levels are moderate on weekdays and low at other times; as it stands just 2 out of 5 routes run on Sundays and evenings.
Possibilities for each route include:
503 Albion St
Issues: No Sunday service despite serving density. Short operating hours. Weekday interpeak timetable is non-clockface 25 min frequency. Uneven Saturday frequency with afternoon drop-off. Complex Saturday afternoon route deviation at Essendon end. One of the few remaining buses in Melbourne with a complex reduced service summer timetable.
Solutions: Upgrade to 7 day service. Extend operating hours. Upgrade to operate every 20 min weekday interpeak to harmonise with trains. Operate at same frequency all day Saturday. Remove reduced summer timetable.
504 Brunswick Rd
Issues: 30 min interpeak frequency not harmonised with trains. Drops to every 40 min on weekends despite serving dense catchment.
Solutions: Boost 7 day frequency to 20 min (note: increases peak bus requirement). Has high potential as a cross-town route due to the number of trams and trains it intersects.
506 Dawson St
Issues: One of Melbourne's busiest bus routes that lacks Sunday service despite the State Government declaring it a main route on the Principal Public Transport Network. Short operating hours. Has unnecessary Smith St kink in Brunswick West. Like 503 this is one of the few remaining buses in Melbourne with a complex reduced service summer timetable.
Solutions: Upgrade to 7 day service. Extend operating hours. Boost weekend frequency to every 20 min. Remove Smith St kink for improved directness and simplicity. Remove reduced summer timetable.
508 Victoria St
Issues: A high potential cross-suburban route with many destinations between Moonee Ponds and Alphington but low service for this role, particularly on weekends (eg Saturdays every 30 min, Sundays every 40 min).
Solutions: Upgrade to a SmartBus-style service with frequency boosted to every 15 minutes 7 days with earlier starts and service until midnight. This would make 508 the premium bus route across the inner north.
509 Hope St
Issues: Catchment overlaps other routes. A previous government deleted it but this government reinstated it in modified form.
Solutions: The future of this route is likely to be considered in the recently started northern suburbs bus network review. Route 509 does not operate seven days but it lacks unique catchment so resources are better spent on upgrading 503 as per above instead.
More discussion of these (and other) bus upgrades in Melbourne's north is contained in UN 10 inner north buses and in Victorian Transport Action Group's Networking the North.
Rail service upgrade opportunities
In addition to bus upgrades rail service upgrades are also possible. Having an inner suburban rail line with such low frequency (where waits can exceed journey times) would be unthinkable in Sydney or Perth. However the Upfield line (and others in Melbourne's north) has intervals between trains as long as 40 minutes on Sunday mornings (compared to 15 minutes in Sydney and Perth) and 30 minutes at night (compared to widespread 15 minute evening frequencies in Sydney).
Eventually it is desirable that services operate at 'turn up and go' frequencies, ie with no more than 10 minutes between trains, at least during the day. This level of service would encourage low car lifestyles as needed in areas like Brunswick to reduce traffic congestion. Also it would relieve pressure on the 19 tram which is most suited for shorter trips but gets used for longer trips due to its higher frequency.
Priorities for Upfield line service upgrade, starting with two that can be done cheaply with the existing infrastructure and rolling stock, are below:
a. Upgrade Sunday morning frequency from every 40 to every 20 min (as done on the Werribee line in 2021)
b. Upgrade evening frequency from every 30 to every 20 min (as done on the Werribee line in 2021)
c. Upgrade peak and off-peak daytime frequency from ~20 to 10 min all week (following infrastructure works required).
d. Commence planning for a station at Campbellfield to provide connectivity across Melbourne's North (via the existing 902 SmartBus), with potential for a Melbourne Airport connection if the western ends of 901 and 902 buses are swapped.
Conclusion
The project to remove eight Upfield line level crossings has great opportunity to transform the community and transport for the better. Today I've given some cost-effective service-related tips on doing this to help people get to stations and have a better service when they get there across a wide part of Melbourne's inner north.
Your thoughts are appreciated and can be left below.
More Building Melbourne's Useful Network items here
6 comments:
Upgrading these bus services as suggested would go a long way towards improving travel around the inner North. Matching bus and train timetables, so we can move from one to the other with minimum delay, would encourage more of us to leave the car at home.
Increasing the frequency of the bus networks and trains as outlines sounds like it would be cost-effective, and would likely save us many of the usually uncounted costs accrued by car travel and congestion (externalities). I'm thinking of health care costs from air pollution and road trauma and the economics of traffic jams.
Thanks for doing this work. Expect to hear some of it quoted in Spring St!
Thanks Tim. Great to have such strong local voices on this. The 506 really stands out, including on a Melbourne-wide basis. I rank it No 3 as the route that most deserves Sunday service in all of Melbourne. https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2019/08/timetable-tuesday-36-thirteen-neglected.html
And we know that if it was added people would use it as there is a high correlation between Saturday and Sunday usage and the 506 has good Saturday usage. https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2019/11/our-most-productive-weekend-bus-routes.html
A mooted benefit of the Metro Tunnel is 71% more peak capacity on the Upfield line, meaning we can expect to see trains every 10 minutes during peak. Hopefully this doesn't drop off to much inter-peak, particularly with demand spread more throughout the day now. It would be good to have this line at least every 15 minutes, 7 days a week.
Another benefit of removing level crossings on this line is the future ability (with further infrastructure upgrades) to divert regional trains from the Cragieburn line to the Upfield line, freeing up capacity on the busier Cragieburn line.
Some other changes to the bus routes I would consider are to not necessarily have so many terminate at Moonee Ponds Junction, but rather have some run through. I.e. the 506 should continue through to Moonee Ponds train station, and could be joined up with the 467 (Moonee Ponds Station to Aberfeldie) to provide a continuous journey. The 508 could perhaps be joined up with the 404, continuing straight through Moonee Ponds Junction down Ascot Vale Road.
Changes like this would enhance connectivity (the current lack of connection to Moonee Ponds train station is a particular anomaly), but also save vast amounts of valuable space within Moonee Ponds Junction, where the current 1980s-style bus interchange is not fit-for-purpose.
Thanks for the amazing work you are doing.
As you say, the benefits of level-crossing removal are not as great in Brunswick as in other areas. The fear is that it will increase traffic levels as drivers take advantage of the smoother ride. Cyclists will also lose a rare opportunity to cross the street while the gates are down.
I've been living in Brunswick for 30 years and have noticed recently a significant increase in road traffic. While most complaints are from other drivers stuck in traffic, it reduces the quality of life for residents as well. The noise levels have increased significantly. Crossing roads becomes more dangerous.
We need to consider this issue holistically.
Excellent piece. I’d also suggest straightening out the eastern end of the 504, the Reid St diversion always feels like a temporary detour that someone accidentally made permanent!
@Angus Agree on the eastern end of the 504. A bit distance from the Upfield line and with potential interdependencies with other routes but definitely should be done. Mentioned briefly here: https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2019/07/building-melbournes-useful-network-part_5.html
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