New bus interchange and services for Ballarat

Construction on the bus interchange (midground) and staff car park (foreground)

Last Friday, PTV announced that as of 19 December, Ballarat buses would start using the new bus interchange at the railway station, and that Ballarat's bus routes would start running a bunch of additional services. So what does this mean for the travelling public? 

Detailed designs for Bridge Mall

Illustrative concept plan for reopening Bridge Mall (via City of Ballarat)

Design firm Hassell has put forward detailed designs for reopening Bridge Mall and redesigning Grenville Street, which will be considered by Ballarat Council this Wednesday. So what's in store? 

Travel Diaries: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Map of Dutch Railways services (via NS)

In addition to doing various trips to other countries in the EU, my time in Amsterdam allowed me to do a bit of travelling within the Netherlands, on their equivalent of V/Line, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS - "Dutch Railways"). Again there's a lot we can learn from how they do things, so let's take a whirlwind tour of a country I'm feeling very nostalgic for after ~18 months of COVID restrictions. 

Railway Archaeology: Ravenhall Explosives Siding

The area today (via Google Maps)

The Ravenhall Explosives Siding was built by the Commonwealth Government in 1943 to store munitions for World War II. It was decommissioned almost immediately after the war, in 1946, so in some ways it had a very short life - but as is often the case, its impact can still be seen to this day. 

Why cutting bus fares is a bad idea

A bus at Wyndham Vale station (via Thebusofdoom)

Recommendations 45-47 of Infrastructure Victoria's 30-year Strategy deal with various changes to public transport fares. Some of these are good ideas, but others very much aren't, so let's take a closer look at the problems they're trying to fix, and why I disagree with some of their solutions. 

The legacy of Ballarat's tramways

The shape of Ballarat's tram network in 1971

On Sunday 19 September 1971, 50 years ago today, the last ever revenue service on Ballarat's tramways ran from Lydiard Street to Sebastopol. The mayors of Sebastopol and Ballarat ceremoniously piloted it back to the depot, and the transition of Ballarat's public transport network to motor buses was complete, with the tramways entering their preservation era. But the legacy of the tramways echoed through Ballarat for many years after, and can still be heard today. 

How should we build Melbourne Metro 2?

Diagram of proposed MM2 amongst Melbourne's network (via IV)

Recommendation 61 of Infrastructure Victoria's 30-year strategy is to "Prepare for Melbourne Metro Two and direct Geelong rail services". They're more positive about the project than last time, and it seems the potential for Geelong services to use it has been one of the key things to influence this. But they're less keen on the northern part of the project, recommending it be built in two stages and that the route from Southern Cross to Clifton Hill be reconsidered. Let's take a closer look at this.