Thanks for this. I'm tired of uninformed losers on the internet and in the press complaining about insignificant, menial things and ragging on the government despite this being a world-class construction project. The video is well informed, realistic and fair. I'll almost certainly be commuting to the university with it when it opens, and I'm grateful that we're not only getting a well-needed public utility afforded to us, but that it's clearly had a lot of thought put into its design and integration with the surrounding area. Most people from Melbourne don't realise it, but we have it so good here. Obviously it isn't perfect, there are issues, but compared to most other cities in the world it's one of the best.
Great comment! We do indeed have it very good in Melbourne. We shouldn't be complacent about it, but based on the way certain people whinge, you'd think we were in a warzone!
Not as good as Sydney. Our Train Network is average and despite this project which is very good will still be nowhere near Sydney's. Our tram network is very good, but our Bus network is truly dreadful, one of the worse in the world for a city of Melbourne's size.
@@mjcats2011 This is exactly the kind of comment I'm talking about, thanks for giving us a perfect example. Who cares about busses or trams or Sydney? This is a video about Melbourne's train network, there is literally zero reason to bring up those other things apart from you wanting something to complain about. Real productive, dude.
@emilmofardin2.0 No I am fed up to the back teeth of people bigging up Melbourne rail network when people in our growing West cannot get on trains because the RRL is at capacity. It's not this ALP Governments fault and the Melbourne Metro is a fantastic project. But to say that our rail network is world class is at best a reach and at worst utter nonsense. The rail network is average. It's not even close to Sydney's. Dude.
The staff member you overheard was probably refering to an internal goal of final acceptance being Sep 2025, but trains are planned to be running before all of the construction is 100% done. Also the Fed Square entrance will be the final piece of the whole project to be finished.
402 bus on Grattan st has returned! It was indeed mid July. It was great to experience this as i catch regional trains to Footscray and use 402 connection. The Lygon st stop has been moved to the other side of Lygon st which is better too The other buses were created to take country passengers from North Melbourne to the Flemington Rd hospitals but yes we can expect that to change. Nowadays they service uni students more
Beautiful video . I love all the silver elements and silvery tones all around, it gives the air and lightness and shine, very pleasant. I agree with you about Dockland, however I think it is neat, clean, organised and functional, and does have a potential for a new makeup with a lot of greenery and silvery furniture and walkways . It just takes someone in positions to envisage possibilities and go for it.
It's great to see more modern public transit being built around the world. The stations look cool. Congrats! I live in Los Angeles and our rail transit network continues to be expanded. Our D subway line has also been behind schedule, but the first section will open in 2025. The bigger project is the connection from the LAX airport to the LA Metro network. That is also opening in 2025.
Melbourne airport opened in 1970, we are still waiting for the promised rail link. Looks like 2030 is the new date for it. Most of the rail line is there, a freight line passes near the airport.
I visit both Melb Uni and Rmit during the week and live on the line so it's really great to see this progress. It's also good to see the introduction of wide walkways, protected bike lanes, and better bus infrastructure with lower car traffic incentives in these areas. It's not quite perfect here but great for the city to begin on. Hopefully those types of conversions are part of wider official urban development plans in the future.
Thanks for your very detailed video about all the new stations. I think I will make going to South Yarra an opportunity of going to the new park and doing some ‘train spotting’. Well done and Cheers Steve (I travel on the Glen Waverley line)
A couple of very expensive houses were demolished on William Street South Yarra to make way for the South Yarra portal works. You can clearly see them disappear on your map transition at 1:48
Real estate & rail package was set far before Day 1 of construction to make sure the foundations of stations are super strong to support further high rise because 60% of Melbourne Metro is owned by never empty 'Empty R' Australia which is the subsidiary company of the most profitable listed railway company in the universe, from HK. Its net profit (NOT EBIT) is the highest, thanks for the love of mega malls, offices, hotels & apartments on top of stations to make them look like birthday cake with many candles.
Fantastic video, thanks so much for getting on the ground and capturing so much footage! I feel like when the tunnel opens I’m going to spend like a week just exploring all the stations and their surroundings.
Parkville eastern most lift is the goods lift but also an emergency escape lift for DDA, not an everyday lift. Got a feeling I saw you filming this whilst on a site walk on the 26th
Ahhhh right. I thought it might be something like that. You probably did see me then. I can't remember the dates I filmed it, but it probably would have been then.
@@fatheranthony4popeis it ahead of schedule if the targeted internal date is 2024? It's almost like with all these rail projects the govt says fake days way over what's needed so people like you can comment "it's early"
Its only ahead until the next state election, where a media campaign by The Age will push the Liberals to can the project. Meanwhile, I need to escape the North because Northeast link is going to be hell when it opens.
Looking forward to using these stations! I just wish the new station on St Kilda road had maintained the Domain name, as the junction was called for over a century. The public vote was a sham too, with around 10 to 1 votes in favour of Domain. But, the government went against the public's wishes and named the station Anzac. Such a shame. Just like Spencer St being renamed to Southern Cross for no logical reason.
@@74_pelicans Anzac or ANZAC, that's not the point. The point is the public voted 10 to 1 in favour of Domain. Which makes sense seeing as the station is at the intersection of Domain Road and St Kilda Road, and has been known as the Domain interchange for 100 years.
Melbourne is the 2nd Unaffordable city in Australia. Melbourne Metro is following the path of HK to make skyscrapers on top of stations because the most profitable listed railway company in the world owns 60% of it.
As a member of the cranbourne and Pakenham line, some stations on the line are being upgraded for more acsessabilities. But this cuts trains at westall most of the times, due to the works on the stations further up the lines. (Further up = towards cranbourne and pakenham).
Also - late 2023 all the tenants in 766 Elizabeth st (the block of Elizabeth/grattan/Berkeley sts & Haymarket walk) vacated as this building is part of Metro (according to the specialists i used in there). Bit late in the game. At writing it was still standing. We'll see what it's used for. The storage site next door is virtually empty though
All the lifts seem to be the standard generic lifts that the company LiftTech installs which are very efficient and very heavy duty so they are higher end for generic lift standards! Currently LiftTech is the company currently contracted to do all lift installations and maintenance for VicTrack.
@@melbournerailwayvideos NP! LiftTech are also one of the better generic installers and lift maintenance companies around and they also maintain all of the escalators for VicTrack but the escalators are still always manufactured by other big companies like Schindler! Otis also had the same contract as LiftTech with VicTrack before the 2000s while the most common lift buttons for public places are the Dewhurst US91 buttons while the old original buttons on the City Loop lifts were square Dewhurst US81 buttons which were used instead of Otis’s buttons for both vandalism resistance and to better fit the architecture of the stations! :)
@@gerrym75 Yeah it’s very likely he also worked with other really good lift engineers like himself while he might of sometimes had to deal with the bad lift engineers who were not very good at their jobs and did not know what they were doing a fair amount of the time. I also believe the best lift engineers around today would be from around the time your father got started in the industry and even having old but reliable lifts around is also really good for providing training opportunities for student lift engineers so they can have actual hands on experience with working on both modern and older lifts! :)
I believe 401/403 could remain in another form instead of replaced by 402 and become the only bus alternative to train, like acting as a an special express service of 402(402a I guess?) which opens only if metro tunnel services got f*cked up (which is usual), as the routing of 402 is relatively indirect for uni/hospital commuters and the replacement buses can't reach to CBD easily due to the harsh traffic condition with no good tram alternatives having this kind of unscheduled express service do helps a lot instead of punishing them for being unfortunate and take extra time on indirect routine during(look at that horrendous replacement buses' route planning) .
Replacement buses are very frustrating indeed. I'm not sure if it's justified to have a whole other service run all the time in case there are disruptions, as most of the time, the buses would be pretty empty. But I definitely think that there is a case for reallocating the resources that the 401/403 use.
Based on what how the Sydney Metro stations looked at various points of construction, I’d say those two CBD stations are are at least 12 months away from being finished.
The lift goes under university Square. That entire area has an underground area. The lift is perhaps closed because it now has a rail tunnel passing through where it used to run.
@@melbournerailwayvideos there are a bunch of lifts all around the square, unrelated to the new construction. I would assume allowing students to access the underground under the square.... The uni has a lot of underground areas including the famous mad max parking lot.
That's a good point. The only thing is that I think a different company will be in charge of those projects than the consortium building the station. I doubt they'd reuse the same buildings, but I could be wrong.
Has the removal of the facility’s started even if it’s slow can you tell if it’s started I think they will remain were they are until the whole urban renewal project is completed
East Pakenham wasn't built to provide for less congestion with V/Line trains. It was built because they didn't want to put crossovers (for terminating trains, etc.) on the elevated section.
@@melbournerailwayvideos Propaganda, probably. The government has also said that it was built to serve new development in the area. But the new development (barely started) is actually post-decision justification for the station, not the other way around.
I do actually, but it would be hideously expensive and very unrealistic. I'd love to know the whole thing down, convert it into two island platforms, and then redesign the track configuration through use of flyovers so that up Dandenong and up Frankston trains use the faces of one island platform, and the down trains use the other island platform. Then you'd have really convenient cross-platform transfers!
Compare this to how Sydney has stormed ahead with a much bigger and more ambitious Metro. A Metro that will be far more productive and useful. I do like the architecture of some of Melbourne's stations. Anzac particularly looks really handsome.
@@melbournerailwayvideos Wish you had. I love Melbourne and like how trams hold together the brilliant inner reaches of Melbourne, but your trains utterly suck and are supremely annoying.
@@melbournerailwayvideos Increased frequency means more rolling stock, drivers and running costs, unless the trains ran a lot faster. As an ex-Sydneysider the slow running of Melbourne's trains is astonishing. The express trains are hardly faster, what few there are.
Property development is clearly the best way to sponsor the construction cost of a new rail line. However, normal investors do not need accountants to tell is VIC being accountable for business after land tax levy was approved.
TINA. There Is No Alternative to recover the public $ spent on an expensive railway line & guarantee the source of sufficient passengers without over station developments. Sudden land tax levy which will last for a decade impacted the price in a long run esp 90% of CBD apartments are likely owned by investors. Developers have to lose interest in bidding then Treasurer has not much to get, so as stamp duty.
Metro Australia, which operates Sydney Metro & will operate Melbourne Metro, is a subsidiary company of HK listed 'Empty R'. Last financial year, its annual profit dropped to below HKD10 billions which is so unusual for 2 decades, but it is still the most profitable listed railway company in the world which mainly depends on profit shares with developers & rental incomes.
Where is the new station at Sth Yarra connecting people straight onto the new Metro Tunnel line at that point? ? It's a total farce it was never built.
A new metro line to connect many existing train stations with tram networks but Melbourne Airport has nothing such & likely still have no train in the next decade.
Yeah, the state doesn't really have the cash to get it done. Hopefully they can get the Federal government to agree to funding the first few years, while the state foots the last few years of the bill
Both Syd Airport Line & Brisbane Airport were PPP. By upsetting investors with Land Tax, VIC deserves to have many rail lines to be DIY projects. It is not fair for Federal to fund some projects because a lot of International Airports in Australia are private.
A sky rail or monorail to connect Melbourne Airport to a nearby Station is a budget choice. Singapore Airport has driverless Sky Train between T1, T2 & T3 for FREE.
as i understand the Hospital precinct may well be a real headache because as with Arden (the nowhere station) the previously unforeseen (🤦♂️) hospitals scrapping as an yet we have no idea solution with sound, vibration and magnetic mitigation of sensitive medical and research instrumentation. Screams simone got paid someone will litigate lawyers will get paid and we won’t get trains White elephant 🐘
If the over station developments sell good, then not much tax to be spent on this project because 'Empty R' from HK is the directing company behind it, also Syd Metro.
Each km of this Metro is very expensive due to the complexity to build tunnels under a heavily built CBD. Priority is simply wrong to build this first rather than Airport Line. How should Victorians feel when compared to Sydneysiders & Queenslanders?
No its isn't. This project will allow trams services to be redeployed to other parts of the CBD. The Airport line can wait, especially as the Government is unwilling to use existing infrastructure and insists of building expensive viaducts everywhere and using the Metro.
I'm not actually convinced that the Airport line is a higher priority than many other projects. It will benefit a handful of airport staff the most, but will otherwise have fringe benefits for most locals and tourists. I'm not saying we shouldn't build it, but I think we should electrify the Melton line first!
Sydney Airport had train connected before Sydney 2000 Olympic. Brisbane Airtrain opened from 2001 & its private ownership will become public from 2036. If Victorians do not think they are behind too much, then just leave it.
I forgot to mention New Western Sydney International Airport will open in 2026 with a driverless Metro railway to connect with 1 existing line. Hopefully, first Melbourne Airport Line maybe done in 1 decade later.
We don't have enough HCMTs to run both Sunbury and Crackenham lines separated. Doesn't really have an effect on opening time they'll just start running through services when it's ready and the trains will be on both lines
Many apartments are ridiculously cheap in Mel, thanks to oversupply, many fees, quality of the people & etc. Population spread is fundamental, VIC clearly failed to do so.
@@melbournerailwayvideos Last year 2023, median prices of Inner-City Melbourne 1-bedroom apartments decreased by 0.5% to $378,000. However, properties value in Brisbane exploded after Pandemic.
I think tunnelling is a lot easier in Sydney, as it doesn't have so much basalt like in Melbourne. Nevertheless, the timelines are pretty comparable for Sydney Metro and Melbourne's Metro Tunnel. It's more just about political appetite, and there wasn't a lot of it in terms of building rail lines in Victoria before Daniel Andrews (by both the Labor and Liberal parties).
@@melbournerailwayvideosnot saying it won't open, just like these new stations opening,it'll open and be operational but not finished. Like Pakenham not having an entrance to platform 2 other than the construction entrance for 3 months
@@74_pelicans I'd say it could definitely open next year. That's a whole year away. Although the first few months the stations might not look as pretty as they should.
I don't care about the Metro Rail Tunnel, it's been a huge budget blowout, and now they have run out of money, and now they're expecting more tax payer money, it's a joke, when it was realised it was going over budget the Metro Rail Tunnel project should have been abandoned. It's going to be a horrible trip into the city when it does get operational, because trains that are coming in from the Cranbourne and Pakenham line will not be going through South Yarra and Richmond that's a total inconvenience for people that have to get off at those stations and there's been no consideration for those that go to work or school in those areas either, getting of a Caulfeild and changing trains into an already crowded train from Frankston is NOT good and it's not fair for the elderly and disabled.
You are telling me to move on okay!, WTH, and what line do you live on?, . I do live on the Pakenham and Cranbourne line, and I can also see the inconvenience that the Metro Rail Tunnel is going to be, oh!, by the way we also have a regional train service running on the Pakenham line, what does that mean for passengers that have to get of at Richmond, Flinders Street and Southern Cross, there has been no thought or consideration in the "planning" of the Metro Rail Tunnel. When the pathetic tunnel is up and running the proverbial is going to hit the fan, and there has been NO public service information regarding how the Metro Rail Tunnel is going to travel for those on Pakenham and Cranbourne line and also the Sunbury line.
"when it was realised it was going over budget the Metro Rail Tunnel project should have been abandoned." And waste all the money that had been spent already? "It's going to be a horrible trip into the city when it does get operational, because trains that are coming in from the Cranbourne and Pakenham line will not be going through South Yarra and Richmond that's a total inconvenience for people that have to get off at those stations..." True. But then it will be a "total" convenience for those who want to go around the Domain area, or the Melbourne University area, for example. "...there's been no consideration for those that go to work or school in those areas either,..." What makes you think that hasn't been _considered?_ "... getting of a Caulfeild and changing trains into an already crowded train from Frankston is NOT good and it's not fair for the elderly and disabled." You might find that people are also getting off the trains from Frankston so that they can go to places served by the Metro Tunnel. "I do live on the Pakenham and Cranbourne line, and I can also see the inconvenience that the Metro Rail Tunnel is going to be,..." I also live on that line, and yes, it will be less convenient for me to, but then it's not all about me. "oh!, by the way we also have a regional train service running on the Pakenham line, what does that mean for passengers that have to get of at Richmond, Flinders Street and Southern Cross,..." They can still do so. What's your point? "...there has been no thought or consideration in the "planning" of the Metro Rail Tunnel." Why is "planning" in scare quotes? You don't think that the thing was planned? You think it just _happened?_ "When the pathetic tunnel is up and running the proverbial is going to hit the fan, ..." Yes, I'm sure that there will be complaints from those who have lost the service they now have, and few compliments from all those others for whom it's more convenient. "...and there has been NO public service information regarding how the Metro Rail Tunnel is going to travel for those on Pakenham and Cranbourne line and also the Sunbury line." What sort of information do you expect? You know that Dandenong trains will run through to the Sunbury line and vice versa. No doubt it will not be at lesser frequencies than now. What else are you after?
Thanks for the informative video! It amazes me there’s been no announcement on Domain Road tram services; you’d think keeping RBG, Melbourne Grammar, Merton Hall, Domain Road retailers and locals informed would be a simple thing.
Yeah, I agree. I think the public (or the media, or both) tends to overreact to 'delays' - I wish they'd just give us timelines, and regularly change them, so regularly that there there can't be a massive backlash when they happen.
I like these explainer videos...but someone once asked me what there was to explain, which is honestly the most ridiculous question i've ever been asked...Because there is plenty to explain and that's why videos like this get made.
hoping Degraves street reopens soon, as platform interchange and pedestrian crossing capacity at flinders street is not sufficent. It requires multiple cycles of lights to cross at peak, and platforms can become overcrowded if a train terminates short.
@@melbournerailwayvideos Looks pretty good, the work where crossing WAS seems to be done and works well. I watched a couple of trains passing just south of the new station, Johnston St. is hard to access at the moment with detours, the traffic management diverted a truck down a street and it pulled own power lines, power was out for 6 hours so not all smooth sailing.
The mixed use over station (flinders quarters) development is an terrible eyesore. It is a depressing, mundane monolith that could found anywhere else in the world. An ode to all the dispiriting facets of modern life. What a disgrace. They should have made a classical revival building which could have also promoted the existing buildings. Any other traditional architectural design would have been lovely. Huge missed opportunity.
I don't agree that it's a depressing, mundane monolith, but I think you raise a good point about a missed opportunity to go with a piece with some more nods to heritage!
