Thursday, December 4, 2008

Epping Line to South Morang

Looks like the much needed rail extension may happen sooner rather than never:

An extension of the Epping rail line to South Morang, with construction to start in the election year of 2010 and the first trains to start operating in 2013, at a cost of about $650 million.


and:
Fast-tracking the extension of the Epping line will be welcomed by public transport advocates and residents.
The Bracks government two years ago promised to begin duplicating the track from Keon Park to Epping in 2016 and to extend the double-line to South Morang from 2021.
Mr Brumby will announce that both projects will begin in 2010, to provide services for the booming Plenty Valley.
South Morang will be a "premium station", staffed from first train to last, with about 380 services a week, a 500-space car park, a taxi rank and timetables linked to local bus services. Trains will run about every 10 minutes in peak times and 20 minutes during off-peak.
As part of the project, Thomastown station will get a second platform and will be upgraded to improve access for disabled and elderly passengers — as will Epping station.
Once the second rail bridge now being built across Merri Creek at Clifton Hill and the
South Morang extension are finished, the line will have two tracks all the
way from South Morang to the City Loop.
"This time it's actually going to happen," one Labor insider said last night of the long-promised project.

My concern is th efrequency of trains on the Epping Line. The report states that trains will run every 10 minutes in peak times. They do not do that now. It will mean that if a similar frequency of serivce occurs on the Hurstbridge line (once the bridge is complete at Clifton Hill) there will be 5 min spacing for services between Clifton Hill and the City.

I also find it odd that it is being reported that the bridge over the Merri Creek at Clifton Hill is on the Epping Line when it is not.

2 comments:

Jayne said...

Don't know the line but throw the question to the President of the Public Transport Users Association HERE on his blog, ;)

dam buster said...

Thanks Jayne. I have read through some of the documents and reports made by Paul Mees which are interesting reading.

This is a good one:
http://mams.rmit.edu.au/ccdyb1pnnt1f.pdf?bcsi_scan_A08671E43797813C=0&bcsi_scan_filename=ccdyb1pnnt1f.pdf