Melbourne's Transport Privatisation Mess: The Split!

Melbourne's suburban railways and tramways were privatised in the late 1990s, with both networks sliced in half and franchised to separate operators - a messy decision that has been causing problems ever since. This is the story of 'The Met' being cut up and turned into Hillside Trains, Bayside Trains, Swanston Trams and Yarra Trams, which then turned into Connex, M-train, M-tram and Yarra Trams, which then condensed into Connex and Yarra Trams.. then Metro and Yarra Trams.. isn't privatisation great? 'The Split' is a lesson about public transport management gone very, very wrong. Enjoy!
Want to help support the channel, get early access to new content and exclusive behind the scenes videos? Join me on Patreon: / taitset
All photos and videos are taken by Martin Bennet between 2002 and 2022. Because of the era this video discusses, it contains some of my earliest photos - I took some of these when I was still in primary school. The maps have been scanned from various printed material in my collection, including several editions of the world's best street directory, Melway. There are also a few screenshots of the MSTS Comeng I made back around 400 years ago.
In the video I mention there were virtually no major suburban rail infrastructure projects in the 90s - I'll admit I forgot about the Cranbourne electrification which was commissioned in 1995. Sorry Cranbourne. I did consider the Boronia grade separation, but decided it doesn't really count as a major project in the scheme of things.
You can watch a bunch of footage of trains during the Connex era here: • Connex Era Sparks
You can watch lots of footage of trams and trains running the Melbourne CBD here: • Melbourne CBD Rail Tra...
#melbourne #transport #history #transit

[@markjones7687]

Nah, Taitset. The single stupidest decision regarding public transport in living memory has to be to sell off the land reserved for the Doncaster line by the Cain-Kirner government. Trains speeding down the central reserve of the freeway past the gridlock of the Eastern car park would have been the most emphatic statement of the value of a good mass-transit system possible.

[@Taitset]

Fair call!

[@timmymorris91]

I didn’t know about this but I’m picturing it now and it’s amazing.

[@hjf3022]

This is how it works in Perth. At least for the northern suburbs line. And it definitely is a good advertisement when you are going to work averaging 20km/h at 7:30am

[@cowaylon1681]

@@hjf3022 also on the southern line down to Mandurah

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

Kennett privatised our pub,is transport and signed over city link to trans urban for decades. You just want to knock a Labor govt and you’re too ignorant to find an example that might interest more than 20k ppl.

[@sophie.m.pilbeam]

As someone who's sat opposite that fabric for hundreds of hours, 12:39 is a Planet of the Apes-tier twist ending. My God.

[@Taitset]

I remember it just hitting me one day when I was staring at the seat opposite me. This was probably 15 years ago. I posted about it on railpage at the time (using the same image I used in this video) and all the grumpy old dudes told me I was just seeing things.. Daniel Bowen also blogged about it around the same time, so it was moderately well known for a while. The remarkable thing is it appears in all the X'traps ordered long after Connex vanished. I would love to know if the people producing it/Metro realised.

[@griffinrails]

@@Taitset Typical for RailPage.

[@closeben]

You split it up! You maniacs! Damn you! Damn you all to heck!!

[@npmontgomery]

Lol at 6:23: 'the Siemens weren't very good at stopping'

[@theorangeoof926]

@@npmontgomeryI can imagine it going like: “See-ya-man” as soon as it runs off the platform failing to break

[@amanbytheway]

Imagine privatising a public service...

[@calcutt4]

Thank fuck we didn't end up as bad as the USA, land of the fee...

[@rememberingthefuture9500]

To expand on some of your points: Tram depots had been progressively converted into 'business units' as a precursor to eventual privatisation. This led to no sharing of routes between depots, and limiting tram types at each depot. Also, South Melbourne Depot was relocated to Southbank because it was the only depot that operated both north-south and east-west city streets, which did not fit the 'split system' model. Prior to Kennett, tram depots shared some routes, either full-time (eg 1, 15) or part-time (eg 8, 55). There were plans to enlarge South Melbourne Depot (using the former per-way yard) and much renovation work had already been done - it was on land leased from another government department, and the plan involved a 'swap' for Elwood and/or Malvern Depots. Under Kennett's agenda the 'land swap' was cancelled and South Melbourne was relocated to Southbank and became part of Yarra Trams. The newer Comeng trains with disc brakes ended up with Hillside because Bayside didn't want them. Not sure if that was management or union initiative, but the disc brake trains were generally disliked by drivers. The D class trams were a bad design not only for the reasons you mention, but also because much interior space is taken up by housing for equipment, resulting in a lack of seats and indeed overall capacity.

[@RiffRaffMama.]

Ok, I lost my shit at the picture of Jeff Kennett. Well played.

[@DeGuerre]

The persistent rumour at the time was that the point of the split was not as competition for passengers, but competition for the eventual reunification of the network. They knew one operator would fail, and the other would clearly be better. If so, it didn't occur to anyone that the failing operator would run the system into the ground in order to save as much money as possible.

[@EssexWolf1993]

Connex earned itself a bit of a bad reputation here in the UK, when it operated the Southeastern and South Central rail franchises from the late 1990s to around 2004, in Kent and East Sussex. It even inherited old 40/45 year old slam-door trains, repainted in a rather eyesore livery of white with a yellow lower stripe.

[@MervynPartin]

It was a very poor reputation, too, hence their welcome termination.

[@EssexWolf1993]

@@MervynPartin 100% accurate!

[@WerewolfLord]

As soon as I saw the Connex logo in the thumbnail, I knew it was going to be bad.

[@dronespace]

@@WerewolfLord lol

[@jonathan_8908]

Connex [which eventually changed its name to Veolia (which eventually changed its name to Transdev)]: Passengers will enjoy the same quality of service they’ve come to expect wherever in the world they see the Connex/Veolia/Transdev brand, whether via bus or rail! Passengers: So incompetence all around…… Spectacular……

[@BCCorsa]

Inside tip: since the Siemens trains were modified with changes to the brake control and software, and also the addition of sanding equipment, they are the best trains for stopping in slippery conditions. They're also similar in reliability to the x'traps and have the smoothest ride of the fleet

[@Jordan-288]

Yeah and seats that are ridiculously thin for any journey longer than 20 minutes. Maybe better than the X'Trap but they still fall a long way short of being described as "good"

[@lachlanbaker2031]

I reckon HCMTs are smoother now :)

[@Jordan-288]

@@lachlanbaker2031 Ugly interiors, but other than that the HCMT'S are certainly an improvement.

[@jdillon8360]

The Siemens are my least favourite train in Melbourne. I hate that they only have 2 doors per carriage, the slab side reflects the sunlight like a mirror, the seats are thin and uncomfortable, and they are "too" quiet inside, meaning you can hear someone talking on their phone in the next carriage. Give me the X'Trapolis trains anyday, as a passenger.

[@emiliobraulio]

@@jdillon8360 I agree on the seats - the Comeng and X'Trapolis are comfortable to sit in. Also, the Siemens, HCMT and X'Trapolis 2.0 might have open gangways, but it's a disadvantage when someone defecates in the middle of the train and the smell disperses through the whole train.

[@nullifye7816]

The met logo, the green and yellow livery, the metcards, all give me intense nostalgia, it was a feature of my childhood I'd almost forgotten. Somehow it all seems a bit friendlier and more human than the mykis and minimalist interiors of today.

[@calcutt4]

I like the mets old logo, I want to get it on a tshirt one day and see how many people mistake it for an obscure band or something

[@MetroManMelbourne]

Excellent video. The logic behind the split was so silly that I do wonder why anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place. It's interesting to think what would have happened if the system hadn't been privatised (or at least hadn't been split) and we had one operator for the whole system or at least per mode to this day. Perhaps maybe we'll see the met return (in a way) in 2024? Sure hope so.

[@Taitset]

Yeah indeed, history could have very easily been very different.

[@Dave_Sisson]

While I don't think splitting trains and trams was a great idea, there were two good reasons for franchising the running of train and tram operations that both political teams have shown they agree with. The first is that the bidders thought they could run things more efficiently, meaning they bid for a much lower subsidy than the network was recieving at the time. The government could then spend that saved money on worthy things like schools, hospitals and reducing the states debt. The second reason was that it distanced politicians from anything negative about transport operations. When the system was run by bureaucrats, the politicains copped the blame for anything that went wrong. But for the past 25 years the pollies can just blame the operating company and genuinely state that they have no control of train operations.

[@paulorocky]

The Japanese model of privatisation may have been better than the UK model that the State of Victoria adopted.

[@Taitset]

How does the Japanese model work?

[@lachlanbaker2031]

@@Dave_Sisson very informative. Exactly the same as the UK and sadly it did not work. But still, after privatisation the state of the network has improved drastically

[@IndigoIndustrial]

I can't believe I just watched a video about trains/trams in my home town - and enjoyed it. Well done - I appreciate the attention to detail.

[@brettcoster4781]

At the time of the split, there was no requirement for local content for either train line. That quickly changed when the Kennet government got Jeffed and Labor came in. I was a contract technical writer at IFE-Tebel, then in Narre Warren, manufacturing tram and train doors, and toilet modules etc. I was mainly there to update the technical manuals for work they were doing for Delhi Metro and Hong Kong rail. So, suddenly I had to put together instructions on how, with the use of a crane, two workers could install a plug-slide door into a Siemens carriage in no more than about 3 hours. The manager, one draftsman, and I workshopped the process so I could document it. I came up with an A4-sized diagram showing the How-to that was then laminated and sent along with a couple of pages of instructions as part of IFE-Tebel's proposal to Siemens. We found out that Siemens had spent a couple of years with another company to work out how to fit the carriage doors, so we didn't really expect to get the contract. But they did. All of the doors for the Siemens carriages were made by IFE-Tebel in Victoria (you can find the branding on top(?) of the doors when opened), shipped to Bavaria (or Austria, can't remember which) to be fitted, and then the carriages were shipped back to Victoria. And the reason that the Siemens carriages have only 2 doors is because they arre much wider than the other carriage doors, although that difference wasn't great enough for most passengers to notice.

[@redroadrunner]

I found this video fantastic - love the abundance of archived footage and photos. You clearly put a lot of thought into this!

[@nomadMik]

Yes, and the stock footage of Jeff Kennett was particularly well timed. 😉

[@Taitset]

While we're on the topic of ol' mate Jeff, I actually met him once: in about 2015 I was working at a certain Melbourne camera store, and he came in to buy a battery charger. He complained about the price and tried to haggle with us!

[@blueycarlton]

Poor bloke he is receiving only a taxpayer funded Premiers pension, like the rest of us he must be struggling.

[@graemegalvin811]

I came across him one quiet Sunday morning walking through Wattle Park in the 80's when he was opposition leader. I now compare the event, in a fanciful way, with how close the Diggers were to Hitler during WW1. Ha Ha.

[@calcutt4]

@@graemegalvin811 I can't tell if the historical innacuracy in your comparison is part of the joke or not, but either way it makes it funnier

[@asherjackson4504]

This was such a great video: really clear and concise analysis and just great points overall. Really impressive!

[@planetX15]

Excellent and very informative video from you as always, love watching the history of Melbourne's transport

[@johnlang4198]

There was no logic in the split, only ideology. It's telling that in the birthplace of that particular model of privatization, Britain, that they're in the process of letting train operating companies' contracts expire, thereby slowly re-nationalizing the network into British Rail again.

[@haweater1555]

In Canada, we're just so jealous that you have so many electrified suburban lines.

[@griffinrails]

Amazing video, I always loved the M>Train and M>Tram livery. I'd love to see a video on the original private operators back in the 1850s and 60s, but good luck finding info and photos. It's also great to see a bunch of stuff from The Split that's been unobtainable until now. Maybe a picture compilation for each operator? I don't know. Fantastic video, loved the old MSTS shots too.

[@punkrockzoologist9449]

Brilliant archival photo of Jeff Kennet you found there.

[@davemail66]

Most enjoyable and informative viewing indeed, thank you for posting.

[@paul-morgan]

Brilliant piece mate. I have been a south-eastern boy all my life, Frankston line and now Sandringham. Your video answered so many little queries I had over the years, and some questions I never even thought of asking. Fascinating stuff!

[@ThisIsARubbishName]

Huh, that explains why we have different types of trams! I listened to this one walking around the supermarket and got the giggles up. Good vids mate!

[@simonrailways]

I'm glad your video helped me knowing more about the 1997-2004 railway privatisation :)

[@macodanz]

Great video. Definitely a trip down memory lane. Growing up during that time I was always so intrigued.

[@Rheilffordd]

“Signalling the end of their M-Pire…” Very underrated use of puns there, well done! I will like the video purely because of it 😁

[@Taitset]

I was waiting for somebody to appreciate that lol

[@calcutt4]

and the sadface comeng :(

[@Mina56]

So that’s why as I child in 2005 I thought there were silver trains! Thanks for the vid! I always wondered why different trains/ trams where found in some parts of the city. Never saw the mernda type trains on the upfield line etc.

[@woodybalfour8213]

Brilliant :) Thanks so much for this...As a train and tram lover of Melbourne, it was hard to see the network carved up and sold off. Keep up the good work ;)

[@bloodydoll5897]

this is a really good video. it is really calm and comprehensive, and uses words I like! its pretty good! it is also easy to follow without context

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Enjoyed your video very much thanks for sharing DD.

[@icebaby6714]

I love Connex and Yarra Trams...thank you so much for the wonderful video (nobody has ever done that), it reminds me of the great time I enjoyed on the trains and trams during my school days in the 80s & 90s and how much has been changed throughout the years in Melbourne's public transport networks.

[@juddlewis9939]

Love watching your explanation videos another great one

[@kallancarruthers2640]

Awesome video!! I grew up on the Craigieburn & Upfield lines and always wondered why we firstly got the Siemens trains seemingly very late, and secondly never had the X'traps. We seemingly were forever riding the Comengs and even had the last Hitachi doing the rounds into the 2010's!! I always thought we had the old trains due to socio-economic reasons and that the Siemens were older/inferior to the X'traps, but I had not realied the line seperation as Connex was the sole operator by the time I was paying any attention. Maybe there is something to read into about the intial line division and why they were parted in such an odd way.

[@regionaltrainspotter]

Nice work! At 3:07 I think that is the most sliver-looking side of a Hitachi I've ever seen in that era, most pictures in that era of Hitachi's look so baked up from the sun and discolored. Makes their nickname 'Sliver trains' debatable...

[@HazptMedia]

Excellent video describing what happened

[@paulmcgaw6976]

What a wonderful video! I've been in trains since 2011. I've been in the Pakenham love, Belgrave love and now the Werribee line. We still have a lot of the old Comeng trains, but the Belgrave lone certainly has newer trains!

[@melbournemetrotrainsvlogs9401]

Great video! I learnt a lot.

[@datbeast74]

I knew there had to be a reason why the trains I take on the Hurstbridge line and the trains my friends take on lines like Werribee and Pakenham are so strangely different. Thanks for the explainer

[@pierremainstone-mitchell8290]

At the time I said that the split was a complete ballsup! Thank you muchly for the detailed explanation!

[@morgan1122s]

i keep coming over your videos and i love them XD

[@WickedFizz999]

Great videos I love learning about the history of Melbourne trains and now I know why the Comeng's don't come to this hills no more!

[@RohanMcMaster]

Good stuff as always! And at 0:29 a very correct interpretation of Jeff Kennet

[@sebthealiens]

make more of these they're so facinating

[@Greenman5582]

I've never heard the nickname "X'Trampoline" before. Suits them well, as I think even on the (relatively) smooth tracks of the Sydney suburban network you'd still be in for a real bouncy ride. 'X'tractionless' would be a good one as well.

[@calcutt4]

I call them "headbangers" or simply "dogshit"

[@skippatrippa]

Honestly very very interesting stuff. Very entertaining hearing about all this history just a little bit before my time. I'd love to hear more about V-line and regional rail in Vic as my old man actually used to be the company secretary (essentially lawyer ) for V-line and oversaw the returning of V-line to the government back in the early 00's and most likely oversaw issues of branding and such. He also told me an entertaining story about how V-line was essentially bought back for $2 from National Express during insolvency and my father essentially fished out $2 from his own pocket to pay for it. Also told me about how V-line practically tried to give away the XPT train owned by Vic but NSW didn't want it haha. Also another story about how a man tried to sue v-line because he thought the trains (legally required to whistle) were whistling at him and talking to him. But yeah very interesting to hear these stories from that era of transport privatisation.

[@mvfc7637]

Ah memories, riding on the Hitachi trains in the middle of summer was an experience, no air-conditioning and it was a 50/50 proposition if the window could open where you were seated and the last time I travelled on one was during the Commonwealth Games in February 2006 as they had bought them out of retirement to increase capacity, none of ths passengers were impressed….lol.

[@michaelsimmons6651]

The Jeff Kennett visual gag is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on KZbin. Well played sir

[@FromtheWindowSeat]

Really interesting video. Thank you! 👌

[@qlandr]

Great video. Very informative

[@orah1989]

growing up in the 90s south east, this divide of train network was a massive influence on my life and i didnt even know there was a reason for it

[@WillJamesRailways]

Excellent work!

[@Taitset]

Cheers :)

[@mattk183]

This is amazing, I leant so much! Love the metlink cup

[@Taitset]

Cheers! It is a good mug, can't actually remember where I got it. The handle is held on with super glue though after slight incident!

[@laurawilson5119]

As a Sandringham and sometimes Frankston line user, Comeng trains are still a regular experience of my journey. I had always wondered why different lines had more modern trains, and with Frankston seemingly running fewer Comeng trains I had assumed it was because Sandringham normally terminates at Flinders St to come right back, whereas the other lines seem to become another line and travel through the city - (I don't know if it has any logic given that Frankston is having a big upgrade with the crossing removals but Sandringham seemingly will keep on being the same). On a side note, I know the Hitachi's had no A/C so this is a very 21st-century observation, but in summer, the difference between the A/C in the Comeng and the Siemen is quite apparent. This was fascinating to learn as I have very very vague recollections of the m>train, but connex was the company I most associate trains with in my childhood recollection, as in my memory trains were usually dressed in green and yellow livery.

[@Taitset]

Glad you found it informative! The Sandringham line is very self contained - it normally operates with the same handful of trains just running back and forth all day, while the Frankston line runs through with Werribee/Williamstown. I am currently working on another video which will elaborate on some of this stuff a bit! :)

[@peterkarras8523]

I remember the train strikes of 1997, and stickers saying,"Robin Cooper Robbin Super". And when I was going home from work the train I was on stopped outside of then Spencer Street Station when the driver announced over the speaker saying, "there's a technical difficulty with the signals where going to here for a while blame the government". Then some people began to leave the train by taking a dangerous walk across the railway tracks. And it was night time too

[@charlesbrain3872]

Great vid! Apparently the Comeng are still more reliable and nicer to ride in than their respective “update counterparts”.

[@ceebee23]

absolutely ....

[@calcutt4]

100%, they have the better seats of the x'traps and the better suspension of the siemens, they're less ugly, they have (or had, I think it's being changed) more seats, their humming and rattling is far nicer than the ghastly screeching of the newer trains, they have old-style 3 tone horns, doors that can be pushed shut in terrible weather, and in general they feel like they were built to a higher quality, the x'traps especially feel very cheap and nasty. They're a relic of the Good Ole Days when everything was built in Australia and the railways were run by somewhat incompetent bureaucrats instead of greedy corporations

[@charlesbrain3872]

@@calcutt4 well said!!

[@MrBCorp]

Excellent video full on golden info. Well done. I prefer the Siemens trains because they have more leg room. I haven't tried the new trains but I've heard they have even less leg room than any of the others. What a mess.

[@razenburn]

Cheers for educating my on my states bs. I lived through the whole thing but you only get so much info when you're a kid/teen using the system in the 90s when you've got other things on your mind.

[@sq8771]

Thanks for sharing Those were the days

[@PiersDJackson]

An exploration of ALL the products that National Express operated in Melbourne: the aforementioned M>Train and M>Tram, but also the former Fitzroy North and Doncaster East Bus Depots (Footscray and Sandringham being the competition).

[@ausie7of9]

The intent of competition amongst operators was never to give users options, rather it was to measure operators against punctuality, cancellations, maintenance metrics, ect. The idea being only the best franchise operators would be rewarded with bonuses and have contracts extended thereby creating a better service for users. That being said, you are right that it wasn't implemented well at all.

[@MrGroganmeister]

Yes, quite correct about the reasons for drive for efficiency

[@vk3ye]

And so the govt could play one off against the other with it having a monopsony relationship with them. 'Competition for the market' rather than 'competition in the market'.

[@ceebee23]

the whole model failed .... the operators walked away when the going got tough ..... how many $$$ have been remitted in profit that could have been fed into the system ... privatisation failed fullstop

[@MrGroganmeister]

@@ceebee23 if they were making profits why did they bail out?

[@ceebee23]

@@MrGroganmeister I think return on investment and longer term picture was not rosy ... the amount of $$$ they would need to put into the network was not profitable for them. Operating profits are one thing ...long term capital expenditure was another.

[@aidenyoung4546]

Great vid!!

[@PCLoadLetter]

The V/Line bit at the end missed out how the Shepparton and Warrnambool lines were meant to be replaced by buses, except that tenders from West Coast Railway and Hoys Buslines (ironically) involved separate privately operated train fleets on those lines respectively. WCR built up their own fleet of B and S class locomotives and S and Z type cars. Plus two R class steam locomotives on a flagship Saturday service. They had their own crews, but mostly just used V/Line crews on weekdays. Hoys just leased ordinary N class locomotives and N cars off V/Line, run with V/Line crews. These were rolled back into V/Line for various reasons.

[@calcutt4]

I wish WCR was still around

[@MervynPartin]

Very interesting report on Melbourne's transport systems. As we also found out to our cost in the UK, political dogma trumps common sense (not just with transport, but with health, energy, business, etc). Government ministers hop from one post to another without ever having a passion for their portfolio. We have had the same privatisation problems with incompatible fleets, lack of flexibility, very uncomfortable trains, operating company failures, train manufacturing defects, false accounting, and Connex!. When British Rail had changed to an efficient, business led organisation, the train services around London (other than the London Underground) were operated by the Network Southeast sector, who made great improvements to trains and services. Sadly lost. Part of the government dogma included rubbishing all the improvements achieved such that some younger people actually believe that British Rail was badly run. Transport for London, under the control of the Mayor, operates the Underground, Overground, Docklands Light Railway, and Tramlink and has had major financial problems, with Crossrail (now called the Elizabeth Line in hope of collecting a few knighthoods) years behind schedule and way overbudget, so the Mayor keeps threatening Underground line closures, despite spending (with our taxes) more per head than anywhere else in the country.

[@horseydoggygurl]

I was so disappointed when I moves from the glen waverley line to the pakenham/cranbourne line as I love the x’traps and hate riding the comengs. I always wondered why I only ever found x’traps on the eastern lines, but now it makes sense

[@graemegalvin811]

The Xtrapolis trains visit Craigieburn under floor wheel lathe only. They are not maintained in the main workshop building.

[@jackybeck2479]

When I was on the way to the 2022 Australian Grand Prix by train from South Morang, I saw a HCMT in the yard at Epping workshops, I guess that means they can also visit Epping occasionally like the Siemens?

[@Taitset]

Yeah they took them up there for some testing around that time, also went out to Upper Feentree Gully.

[@jackybeck2479]

@@Taitset Okay cool, thank you. I saw some videos by Railways of Doom that had HCMTs perform late night tests on the Mernda line, so it must be that testing thing you said

[@YinandYangandGreen]

Jeff Kennett's picture was one of his better ones. I concur that the privatisations were disastrous and that it's hard to stand in the X-Trampoline class for example just west of Box Hill station.

[@Soccera0]

I was born late, so I genuinely thought the XTrampolines were like at least a decade older than the Siemens. They, really are trampolines.

[@mikmac8486]

Brilliant telling of our networks history! Kennet created an absolute mess of the transport system along side the water, gas and electricity industries.

[@IndigoIndustrial]

All natural monopolies. The previous Labor govt did not get on top of the finances and it let Jeff get elected.

[@FloydBromley]

Nice video. I believe the Xtrapolis are technically approved to run network wide (or at least almost network wide), but just don’t on a regular basis. For example an Xtrapolis has been as far as Brighton Beach (not sure about Sandringham) for clearance testing. It’s just the “all clear” results of that test haven’t been put to use in a meaningful way.

[@aidanthomas2510]

The only lines they don't run on at all, that I know of, are the Sunbury, Craigieburn, Upfield, Sandringham & Cranbourne/Pakenham lines. The rest I believe they have run on in some form.

[@70sVRsignalman]

Hello Floyd, as Xtrap maintenance is primarily based at Epping, it makes sense to schedule Xtrap trains to the CHL and BLY Groups only. There are enough Comeng and Seimens trains to cover the other lines.

[@jadymulqueeney]

Thanks, a great recap of a less than rational time. The IT company I worked for in 2003 went bust because they were owed a lot of money by National Express, who left Victoria with many unpaid bills and no remorse. So many people suffered through that time. But that’s business isn’t it?

[@calcutt4]

It's almost like essential services like public transport, or even worse, healthcare, don't work as well when privatised, because the operator will prioritise their own profits over quality of service!

[@matthiasklapperstuck8575]

X-Trampoline!! Finally I know the proper nickname for those trains. I thought I was the only one noticing the bouncy ride

[@Akkalia]

I was curious how Vline fit in. Thanks for covering

[@JacqueRamon]

Great video.

[@Older_is_better_PTV]

Great video and some interesting facts. Just curious, do you have any other footage of journeys on the connex Comeng trains on the hillside lines?

[@Taitset]

I have a few lineside videos showing them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fquUeoFnnLOEkJo kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYSck59pp9Odgas kzbin.info/www/bejne/anm6pGWtfbaqjqc kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaa7aJ9oipaeZpI

[@stely_official]

This is a late comment, but recently just learning that V/Line maybe weren’t so far off of being rebranded too, the original plans for VLocity trains and the rebuild of Spencer Street show a very appealing Aqua and Silver colour scheme with the name V-Link. Spencer Street also never got a name change in those original plans, and Regional Trains were possibly being planned to be replaced by European style DMU trains

[@beauy1980]

Great video! I can see why no other state rushed to copy this model of public transport operations, and Melbourne is still dealing with the legacy of this terrible idea!

[@mark123655]

NSW hasn't with their trains (well other than the Metro, which is privately operated by MTS - same owners and MTM). They have with the buses which are split into 14 regions, with 10 different operators at present, and also with Light Rail and Ferries.

[@stuz32]

Very interesting video

[@hugeiftrue4224]

I forgot how colourful a character Jeff Kennet was in the 90s. Which 1991 press conference was that pic at 0:30 from?

[@warren7765]

Fascinating!

[@lauriewhite8153]

never noticed that about the seats!!!

[@isthatrubble]

interestingly, I grew up using the sandy line mostly after the reunification, and until a few years ago you could still see old branding under peeled off stickers etc. connex lived on for a long time if you knew where to look!

[@rubes3927]

Ahhh, 90’s Melbourne 😂🤣😍 wow this makes me feel old. So many memories 🥲 This video answers SO many questions I had as a teenager 😂😂😂😂

[@sliMELB]

Do you have a source for the train and tram split rationale (to create competition)? I haven't been able to find anything in relation to this.

[@tressteleg1]

I thought you may have made mention of the reduced seating, with 2 + 2 seating becoming the usual - less seats, more area for the hapless cattle to stand, but post Covid a driver has told me that seeing standees on any train at any time at the moment is quite rare. If working from home continues to some degree, it may be many years before old loadings are reached again.

[@mvfc7637]

the only positive from COVID are the empty trains and platforms.

[@tressteleg1]

@@mvfc7637 Well it would be a relief from over-packed trains of the past. Actually I would be interested in you loading observations. Personally I think transport planners everywhere are grossly over estimating numbers returning to pre-Covid levels as it seems that a good percentage of the workforce will continue to work from home at least some days. They may never return full-time. Casual observations of my local Gold Coast tram are that numbers are much the same as ever, even though foreign Uni students are somewhat down on before.

[@mvfc7637]

@@tressteleg1 I travelled to the CBD last week and had to catch a train back from Flinders St station during an early afternoon on a Friday, the platform was dead and this is one of Melbourne’s busiest lines. In relation to workers in the CBD etc, I estimate about 40% have returned simply by the fact that busy retail areas such as the cnr of Elizabeth and Flinders St allow you to walk at a brisk pace up the street without being slowed down by the usual plodders in front of you, furthermore, I don’t think it’ll ever return to what it was, people do not want to commute to the CBD on congested roads and public transport anymore.

[@tressteleg1]

@@mvfc7637 Many thanks for your observations. It seems we both agree that a percentage of city workers are gone for good. That will tend to make White Elephants of Melbourne’s’metro tunnel, Sydney’s Metro tunnel and Brisbane’s Cross River Rail tunnel, although of course all were planned and started well before Covid came along.

[@mvfc7637]

@@tressteleg1 the ironic thing is that Melbourne’s train network has never looked so good as it does now, the state Govt spent a whole load of money during the pandemic updating the network, for example, every station now has a digital information board with up to date information on arriving trains, trains have accurate and audible announcements and the PTV app now includes live tracking of the scheduled trains, all this is what passengers in Melbourne have spent the last 20 years imploring the State Govt and private train operators to implement and they finally delivered, yet, no one is ever going to use the trains again…oh the irony…

[@joshmills4109]

great video

[@Marsbarization]

Cool vid, as a western suburbs boy this was surreal as its just always been VLine

[@randomscb-40charger78]

If there's one good thing I can say about this scheme is that at least they didn't give the maintenance and rolling stock aspect of the transit systems to private companies, infrastructure should be maintained by the government and no one else.

[@julesbrunton1728]

20+ years ago I had a job sitting on buses counting how many of what kind of ticket was being used ...on and off every stop, just so the Gov knew how much they needed to subsidize the new private bus companies for accepting a ticket sold by a new private ticket company. FFS

[@Magpie_Mark92]

Thank Kennett for this

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

Watch out Sydney Trains...you are next! They've already started on the government buses. Great video and it explained a lot.

[@mark123655]

While it's had it's teething problems and issues, it's vastly improved the quality of the service, and cost of the network in Melbourne. And amazingly the RTBU affiliated drivers manage to drive trains that don't have guards, and the world hasn't ended.

[@hassansayyab1194]

Awesome video No wonder why because on old Epping line before South Morang then Mernda line when it's was just Comengs trains back then in 2004 until 2012 or 2015 years later they deliver more new Xtrapolis trains took over that line to ditch Comeng trains move to different lines not on Mernda line anymore those Comeng trains are my favouite trains ever before Xtrapolis.

[@annabelholland]

UK expeirenced the same fate in 1994. I think in British Rail days, it was regional, intercity and commuter trains and now, it is 20 different companies.

[@halbailman]

The only good thing about privatisation was less strikes. Splitting the network was bonkers! I could only imagine the desire for competition was for one of the operators to eventually take control of the entire network.

[@edwinwan02]

I find it ironic that Melbourne's public transport network is privatised to private companies partly owned by foreign governments. Metro Trains Melbourne majority-owned by MTR Corporation which itself is majority-owned by Hong Kong Government. And Yarra Trams operated by Keolis Downer which is half-owned by Keolis of which is jointly owned by the SNCF, French national railway company owned by the French government, and an investment fund of the Canadian provncial government of Quebec.

[@minixt9835]

12:39 I've been sitting on top of a dead body this entire time damn

[@Dave_Sisson]

Well at least one big infrastructure project was built for Melbourne trains in the 1990s. The run down and decrepit Coburg-Upfield line was closed for nearly a year(?), pulled up and totally rebuilt to a much higher standard. It had orignially been built on the cheap and had received little attention in over a century except for partial duplication. So it was many decades overdue for the rebuild, but succesive governments (of both flavours) had put it off, perhaps because it did not traverse any marginal electorates? ... or is that just me being cynical about politicians?... anyway they finally found the rather large amount of money required to do the job in the mid to late 90s.

[@Taitset]

True, that's another one I forgot about.

[@zoomosis]

Through the late 1980s and early 1990s it was expected the Upfield line would be converted to "light rail" just like the St Kilda and Port Melbourne lines had been, so successive governments kept kicking the can down the road and letting the infrastructure deteriorate much like the rest of the network. The Cain/Kirner/Kennett years were pretty grim for public transport. It wasn't until Kennett's second term in office that the Upfield line was upgraded. This was in 1995, the same year the Cranbourne line was electrified. By then the state budget finally began to allow large-ish infrastructure public transport projects (though they pale in comparison to modern projects). Kennett's dubious methods of actually getting state government debt back in the black are still being felt to this day, though.

[@aidanthomas2510]

@@zoomosis to be fair the Baillieu/Napthine years were pretty grim for PT as well. The only projects being built, such as the RRL, were Labor commissioned. As much as they loved to gloat about the cuts made on it. I highly doubt that would have changed had Napthine been re-elected (or elected as he'd never been elected), the EWL would have taken all the states money so even if they wanted to they couldn't have. And I highly doubt it will changed if they get elected this year. I was going to say the Bracks years were grim too but I forgot it was him who commissioned the RFR project and rebuilt Southern Cross. I'd add myki to that list too but I don't consider that a successful project, even though it's not too bad now. And it has nothing to do with the rail infrastructure, it's just the way you pay for it.

[@Liverpoolfcfever]

Can you do a video on the Bendigo line becoming single track

[@LordPhobos6502]

It's worth noting that in the PTV era, the state govt took the rights to the yarra trams and metro branding and names, so whoever operates those networks has to use those names and whatever livery the govt states. That happened shortly after the metro rebranding of the train fleet.

[@freeagent8225]

Working for the MET, on annual leave we had reciprocal benefits with many overseas railways.