IntroductionIn today's episode, I'll be talking about Melbourne's amazing train network. Melbourne is known mainly for its superb and world class tram network but Melbourne also has an amazing train network as well. I'll be explaining why the system is good, the history of the system and what's to come. I have another blog post on this website talking about the Melbourne Metro Tunnel. Why is the system so good?Sydney's network is a lot different to Melbourne's network. Sydney shares track a lot which makes the whole system congested and if one platform closes, the whole station needs to stop. In Melbourne, all the tracks are separate from each other. All the lines go in their separate ways and connect in the city centre. This plan did kind of backfire because there was huge congestion on the city circle but Melbourne also fixed that with the Metro Tunnel. The history of the networkOn the 18th of September 1854, the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company opened their first line. It was an approximately 4 kilometre track between Flinders Street Station and Sandridge now called Port Melbourne. This line was the first steam railway line to be opened in Australia and the line also housed the first steam train ever to be produced in the Southern Hemisphere. The track is still in use to this day and has been converted to tram tracks. In 1857, the same company opened their second line going again from Flinders Street station to St Kilda. This is when private companies started showing up. The St Kilda and Brighton railway company extended that line towards Brighton. The first country line also started operation in the same year. The line was opened by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company and it went between Geelong and Newport. There were also many other lines and private companies that came and went but I won't talk about them now. What's to come?One of the most looked forward to projects of infrastructure in Melbourne was the Airport Rail Link. Since the airport's opening in 1970, many projects were proposed to create a rail link between Melbourne airport and the City. In July of 2018, the Victorian State Government and Australian Federal Government both pledged $5 Billion dollars towards the project. In 2020, planning commenced and construction should start extremely soon. Another project that would greatly help the suburbia of Melbourne is the Suburban Rail Loop. During the 2018 Victorian state election, the state government pledged another $300 million dollars to create this line. It will go from the proposed Airport Rail Link in Melbourne Airport connecting to suburban stations on the Craigieburn line, the Upfield line, the Mernda line, the Hurstbridge line, the Lilydale and Belgrave lines, the Glen Waverley line, the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines and the Frankston line. Construction on the first line commences this year as well and the full line will be operational in 2050.
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Introduction to the ProjectSydney Metro is one of the largest public transport projects in Australia that are actually happening. It is happening in Sydney and it is all about making travel times around Sydney much quicker than what they are now. It also means that existing train stations in Sydney will be heavily upgraded, rebuilt or having a new station. Sydney Metro started planning in 2012 and after 7 years, the first line of Sydney Metro opened.
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AuthorI'd love to share my knowledge about trains with the world. Archives
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