A legible cycling network for Ballarat

Satellite image of City of Ballarat's proposed cycling network (source)

In 2017, after extensive consultation, the City of Ballarat released its Cycling Action Plan. I did quite a bit of work on it during the feedback period, and have tinkered with it in the years since, but never posted about it publicly. My time in Amsterdam is making me think more about Ballarat's cycling infrastructure, so I figured now's as good a time as any.

The revamped PTV network map

In 2017 PTV launched their new network map, which contained all their heavy rail services on the one map for the first time. The previous map hadn't shown V/Line services - it only showed Metro services, and it prioritised showing which ticketing Zone each station was in. Since Zone 2 has (sort of) been eliminated now, this was less important to show - so instead they've colour-coded it to show the different groupings of lines. This same colour-coding is now being applied to information screens at stations, and so on - which is definitely a good thing.

Travel Diaries: Amsterdam

So - after wending my way up through Spain, France and Belgium, I'd finally arrived in my new home in Amsterdam. It's taken me a while to get around to writing these blogs, so rather than just my first impressions, I can give my observations collected over the last several months.

The platform switcheroo at Melton

Track duplications on the Ballarat Line Upgrade are nearing completion (via BLU)

Just as the rule on Australian roads is for cars to drive on the left-hand side of the road, the general rule for Australian two-track railways is for trains to use the left-hand track. On single-track railways with crossing loops, including single-track railways where stations have two platforms, this rule isn't applied anywhere near as consistently - there will generally be a "main line" (or at stations, a main platform) that gets used by default, whether it's left or right, whichever direction the train is heading; if a train is coming the other way it'll just have to use the other track. But on two-track lines, we have pretty consistent left-hand running.

Save the Overland (Part 2)

The Overland leaving Ararat Station

The historic Overland is struggling to survive - dependant on government subsidies that it cannot rely on indefinitely. Yesterday I discussed why the Overland declined, why this mirrored other rail services in Victoria, and how those other services turned things around - with a bold strategic vision, and the funding to back it up. It should by now be abundantly clear to everyone involved with Victorian rail that if you build it, they will come - serious investments will be rewarded with increased passenger numbers, so rather than just small bandaid measures to keep the Overland on life support, we need to treat it with the same seriousness as any other line.

Save the Overland (Part 1)

Vintage poster for the Overland showing the old VR livery (via PROV)

The Overland has a long and storied history. The service began in 1887 with the completion of the Melbourne-Adelaide railway, though it wasn't called "The Overland" till the 1930s. It was originally run jointly by the Victorian and South Australian governments, with the South Australian portion being taken over by Australian National Railways in the 1970s, the Victorian government dropping out in the 1990s and the service privatised and sold to the Great Southern Rail company shortly after (note that GSR has recently been renamed "Journey Beyond"). Originally an overnight service with sleeper cars, it now runs as a conventional daylight service.

Travel Diaries: European High Speed Rail

Partly for environmental reasons, and partly because I want to see more of the countries I'm passing through, I try to avoid flying as much as possible, and prefer to take the train instead. So now that I'd arrived in continental Europe, with its fairly comprehensive long-distance rail network, there would be no more flying and no more investigating airport rail - it's overland High Speed Rail all the way to Amsterdam.

N Class Bingo

N465 City of Ballaarat at Southern Cross Station

A bit of a gunzelly/trainspotty post for you today.

Why the Airport Rail tunnel should stop at Footscray

Travel Diaries: Barcelona

Having left Singapore, the next stop on my trip was Barcelona. I am normally the kind of person who does an obsessive amount of research on the public transport options before I go somewhere, but for this trip I decided to keep that to a minimum, so that - as much as practical - I could experience it firsthand and see how easy and intuitive it was for the uninformed visitor.

How best to remove the level crossings in Deer Park?

Project map (via LXRA)

Just before the 2018 election, the Andrews government announced that if re-elected they would remove three level crossings in Deer Park, as part of their second tranche of 25 level crossings. Somewhat unusually, the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) announced the preferred method of removal for all three almost immediately. These crossings are all on the section of track shared between the Ballarat and Geelong lines, and I also used to live in Deer Park right near them, so I'm keen to make sure they're done right – and the City of Brimbank is doing early consultation on the project, so now seems like the right time.

I'll get the uncontroversial ones out of the way first, then get stuck into the one I think needs to be changed.

Travel Diaries: Singapore

The first stopover on my trip to Amsterdam was Singapore. I was pretty keen to break up the journey a bit, rather than just having one long direct flight, so that I could see some places along the way. I've wanted to visit Singapore for quite some time now - for one thing, I do love a good dense city, and for another I'm fascinated by the whole city-state thing and how that compares to more conventional city-and-hinterland states. (There's also a bunch of cultural and historical stuff I wanted to see, but let's focus on the urbanism for this blog).

Introducing Travel Diaries

Revitalising Bakery Hill

About 18 months ago I did a post on how to revitalise Bridge Mall, which was intended mostly as a starting point and contained some pretty modest suggestions. The City of Ballarat recently released their draft Bakery Hill and Bridge Mall Urban Renewal Plan which looks at the Mall itself and the wider Bakery Hill area - and I'm pleased to say they've been much more ambitious than me. However they've let themselves down by including something that would be a real backwards step for the area.

Should the Airport Rail line use existing tracks?

There's been some speculation in the media recently about whether the Andrews government might not build a tunnel between Sunshine and the city, as part of the Airport Rail line they're currently planning. There's been a lot of ink spilled on this topic already, and my PTUA colleague Daniel has done a good job responding to this, so I won't retread the same ground - but I did have a few brief points I wanted to emphasise.

Changi Airport Station in Singapore

Improving walkability for the new Wendouree Station

Wendouree Station is getting a second platform as part of the Ballarat Line Upgrade project, and the designs for the revamped station were just released - so just a quick post on them today.

Design of the footbridge and platforms (via RRR)

Ballarat to Melbourne in under an hour

The launch of the #59minuteballarat campaign

The Committee for Ballarat has a long-standing campaign called #59minuteballarat. They've been talking about it for several years, formally launched it in September 2017, and did their utmost to secure commitments from politicians in the leadup to the November 2018 election. Although there are other elements, the thrust of the campaign is to make it so that there's a regularly timetabled train from Ballarat to Melbourne in 59 minutes every morning, and another one in the opposite direction every evening.