UN 210: Twelve years of retrospective items added: 2006 - 2018

Something different. Instead of writing much for today, I've been posting on the 2006 - 2018 era with items backdated. A time that started with Connex scrambling to keep up with surging rail patronage and ending with a low interest rate spell when building almost anything seemed possible, affordable and 'the right thing to do'.  

Check the listing of previous posts in the period 2006 - 2018 (on the right if viewing on a desktop computer) for more than 20 additions in the period. You will find coverage of important events in Melbourne public transport, including major rail, tram and bus service changes. Most items have links to archived websites where you can read what was said at the time. 

I wrote about the transport policy context of this era here. Priorities were different and in many respects the reverse of today. Large (or even small) infrastructure projects seemed impossible. But train and bus service reforms were both more possible and daily business.

If Melbourne had a decade of service in public transport then 2006 to 2015 would be it. Note that this emphasis was bipartisan, covering spans of both Labor and Coalition governments. That decade became two decades for V/Line trains, whose service levels continues to expand today, thanks to the benevolent then minister and now Premier Jacinta Allan, who happens to be regionally-based.

Metropolitan train and bus service matters stopped being a political priority in about 2015, with infrastructure builds taking centre stage. So much so that even when projects were completed hoped for service boosts either didn't happen or were underwhelming.

There are however early indications of revived government interest in service with the 2025 state budget funding some promising frequency boosts for the Craigieburn and Upfield lines (albeit short of what was envisaged in the 2016 Metro Tunnel Business Case) as well as some good bus improvements in the west and north.  

With that in mind it's worth recalling some of the key milestones from this earlier more service conscious period to get an idea of what was possible and done. Here's a few: 

* June 18, 2007 An item saying that 34 bus routes had been upgraded to minimum service standards between April and June 2007 as part of the Meeting our Transport Challenges upgrade program (Phase 2). These (and later) upgrades were successful with bus usage rising in line with service. The pace of bus service upgrades has fallen since with significant political campaigning needed to get even one bus route upgraded to run 7 days. 

* October 10, 2010 285 extra weekly train services with a pre-election off-peak frequency boost for the Frankston line with interpeak services going from every 15 to 10 minutes. But there was a catch. Half the services would retain their operation via the City Loop with the other half operating direct to Flinders Street. Presumably to get passengers used to direct operation which would later apply for all Frankston trains (but not until a lot of political argy-bargy over many years). Werribee, Craigieburn and Sydenham got extra peak trains while other lines went from 3 to 6 carriages on weekends.  

* May 8, 2011 This was when 635 extra weekly services were added to the metropolitan rail network then operated by Connex. This increased total weekly services to 14 000, ie an increase of 5% in one timetable change. Metro currently run 17000 weekly services, so barely keeping up with population.

An equivalent 5% uplift today (ie about 850 extra services) would be enough to cut maximum waits across the entire network from 30-40 to 20 minutes at all but a few stations so asking why this has not been a priority is a fair question given that Melbourne's off-peak rail frequencies increasingly lag Sydney and even Perth.  

* April 22, 2012 A revolutionary day for weekend train travellers in Melbourne's east and south with Ringwood, Dandenong and Frankston getting weekend trains boosted from every 20 to every 10 minutes between approximately 10 am and 7pm. Nothing bigger has happened to weekend timetables since anywhere in Melbourne. Although the Frankston line got its evening and Sunday morning maximum waits cut from 30 to 20 min much later (in 2021).   

* December 23, 2013 This was a bit of a schmozzle. Metro announced a reduced service summer timetable with big peak period gaps that in my view (I was there at the time) should never have been approved by PTV. It was particularly a problem after mid-January by which many had returned to work. Melbourne has varied in its approach to reduced summer timetables. Connex actually stopped doing them in 2007 but at some point they reappeared under Metro, only to later disappear. 

* July 27, 2014 Basically a summary item for what was possibly the biggest service reform package for public transport across many modes. Item has links to posts I'd previously made detailing parts of this package. You really need to read the full item to appreciate the amount of what was done - the less service focused DTP of today would throw up its hands and say 'no can't do' as it was so big. 

* October 12, 2014 Another pre-election sweetener for the Frankston line with some peak trips added. V/Line had some major changes including new stations opening. Plus the restoration of the controversially deleted express 303 bus route to Ringwood North.  

Remember other important dates for the network? Please share your memories in the comments below. 


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