The Comprehensive "Metro" Network of Melbourne

[@RMTransit]

Check out our latest video on Brisbane's amazing transit right here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4DInp1-f92qiKc

[@leonardoalfonso7080]

Why do you think Australia invested so much on public transit unlike Canada which is dominated by cars?

[@thenetheriteminecartzactnm]

I find it funny how I forgot you made a video on this, when I watched your video on the top 10 Metro systems in the world, I was like "Where's Melbourne?" because I find it really good (likely because I live there) but I was going to write a comment requesting you made a video on Metro Trains Melbourne or just PTV (Public Transport Victoria) as a whole, but thanks for having a video about the Metro trains here in Melbourne.

[@Taitset]

Look mum, I'm on RMTransit! ..and in true Melbourne style I'm writing this while sitting on a train waiting at a flat junction. Good working with you Reece. 🙂

[@matthewdavison7456]

great to see you here Taitset!

[@RMTransit]

I’ve always liked your videos so getting you to do part of one of mine is a dream come true!

[@adamaviation6236]

The real top G, taitset

[@mjktrx]

The crossover we never knew we needed ❤

[@mattellis2690]

I think I went to the same school as you. Eltham high?

[@goatfiddler8384]

As a Melburnian I will give you, a non-Aussie, a very solid 9 out of 10, to get 10 out of 10 would require a Victorian birth cert, on the pronunciation of all of the place/station names. As a Melburnian I'm used to cringing when non Aussies try and pronounce our place names. If memory serves, you also did a very good job with the Perth place names in your "Small city with a big rail network" vid. Good job Sir!!!!

[@RMTransit]

Thank you that feels like a great achievement

[@zoonabar]

+1 nothing makes a Melburnian grit their teeth more than “Melborn”

[@DosAussieThai]

@@RMTransit Even Melbourne pronunciation in this one gets a lot of improvement from your older videos. To make it really in the right place in your heart, the next video about Melbourne, say it like Melbn, completely without the R, please. You will get so much more love from Aussies.

[@jonom9583]

Not even “non Aussies” - growing up in Sydney and moving to Melbourne it’s like there’s a different alphabet down here sometimes 😂

[@EPmager]

@@DosAussieThai that's just accent & rhoticity...

[@skypig]

You should absolutely cover Melbourne's tram network, its amazing to see the scope of it as someone from Adelaide, where our extensive tram network was systematically destroyed from the 50's to the 70's leaving just one line in operation

[@cityjetproductions]

It happened a lot quicker than that. Everything except the Glenelg line was gone by 1958

[@Nalehw]

Seems like it happened almost everywhere around that period. Auckland was another victim of tram dismantling. Now the Auckland Light Rail project, which aims to rebuild just ONE of those lines (except for some reason after a few years they decided to tunnel it instead?) is massively controversial, massively delayed, and promises to be a massive money hole - it seems less and less likely that the rest of the lines will ever get rebuilt.

[@BaeLasso]

Well, I wish tram network in Melb was cancelled all together! block traffic, slow, taking extra space!!!

[@marksc111]

@@BaeLasso Move to Sydney or Perth or LA then

[@myspace2001]

@@BaeLasso There would be a LOT more traffic without the trams!

[@williammckinney4090]

Thanks. I'd love a video on Melbourne's famous trams and why they survived when other Australian cities ditched theirs.

[@samtriglone8858]

I have heard one theory about Brisbanes tram network, that the event that caused the closure of the network was a large fire in the tram depot that destroyed many of the trams and infrastructure (in the 70's I think). There is also a "conspiracy theory" that the local government arranged it because they didn't want to pay to keep it running.

[@darylcheshire1618]

Due to Robert Risson, in the 1960s he beefed up the system and defended the tramways against the the RACV and the media which said trams were “old fashioned”. Governments usually replace the head of whatever department they want to cut with a bean counter before slashing services. With the tramways this was not done and Risson vigoursly defended the tramways until the early ‘70s when the government decided to keep them. One story in 1965, the tram unions were upset when a tram driver died when he was replacing an overhead pole. Risson to counter this held a news conference where he personally stood on top of a tram and demonstrated the correct procedure to replace a pole. I saw a newspaper photo of him on top of a tram in suit and hat. FYI, even now, modern trams with pantographs still have an empty pole mount and pole clipped to the roof just in case. You can see this if you can look out the window of a building above the tramline.

[@nathangeneral23]

I must say that as an Aussie, I'm loving this recent AU content. Really interesting and it's great to see our systems getting international coverage. Keep it coming.

[@BB-qp5xo]

As a Melbournian, the trams are amazing and recommend a video dedication! So many of Australia’s cities regret terminating their tram lines decades ago. They are awesome.

[@lachlanmillsteed6825]

As a Melburnian I am very pleased to see someone who doesn’t live here cover our network very well! On that note, there are a few things: - Lilydale and Belgrave lines have significant single track (Mooroolbark to Lilydale, and Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave respectively). - The Suburban Rail Loop will be built in several stages; the first being between Cheltenham and Box Hill. The SRL in its entirety will be completed in 2085. - The Metro Tunnel is the first of three planned metro tunnels running through the CBD. The second is to run through the CBD into Fisherman’s Bend and meet with Newport. Personally I think that MM2 is more important than SRL to deliver public transport to Fisherman’s Bend. - Reason why Melbourne has so many level crossings is because the terrain is very flat.

[@bucket6386]

wait whats the third planned metro tunnel? Do you mean Suburban Rail Loop?

[@lachlanmillsteed6825]

@@bucket6386 the third would be a second airport line from Arden to Ringwood; the line would most likely go via Southern Cross, direct to Parliament, a new station at North-East Richmond, then to Kew and Doncaster, then to Ringwood. It’s not the SRL but it is a good project to link the Lilydale, Belgrave, Mernda & Hurstbridge lines to the airport without changing trains

[@devilpizza123]

​@@lachlanmillsteed6825this hasn't been entirely confirmed just yet as the idea was brought up by Melbourne City Council, not PTV or the government. Metro 2 was planned and discussed in the PTV NDP, so it's definitely locked in to happen, with Parkville designed to accommodate an interchange with the line.

[@deaconmacdonald2570]

i agree that MT2 will be much more significant and would be great to see happen. lets hope it actually happens though 🤞

[@Jakeio-w9j]

they are also building the airport line finally so that will connect with the srl when thats finnished

[@kaiwhara]

Hello Reece (again), MTM Train Controller here. A good explainer of our system, which operationally can be very challenging when things (often) do go wrong. Within the CBD the track layout can be quite flexible to a point, but due to the sheer volume of traffic, that flexibility isn't always viable to exploit. We will lose a lot of that flexibility shortly once Caulfield gets straight railed, meaning we will be committed to the Frankston and Pakenham lines (in the latter case particularly VLine Gippsland trains) back at Richmond Junction. There's a lot of change coming in a very short space of time...

[@RMTransit]

It's a tricky situation! Will be really interesting to see how things change!

[@jdillon8360]

@kaiwhara Hi there, as an train controller in Melbourne, can you explain why some of the city loop trains change direction around midday? I've always thought it would be much less confusing for passengers if some lines ran clockwise permanently, and others permanently ran anti-clockwise. I've heard it said that it's to do with different passenger numbers in the AM versus PM schedules at the 3 city loop stations. But I've always thought that if the loop running directions were made permanent, that within a short period passengers would just adapt to the new setup and adjust their trips accordingly, as there are multiple ways of getting in and around the city loop. Interested to hear your thoughts, as well as Reece's.

[@Low760]

@@jdillon8360 they changed it in 2007 or so to be like this. So obviously it was decided it worked better.

[@orsomethingorno]

@@jdillon8360 The less-heard explanation I saw on another video is that there are additional operational reasons -- if you're running extra trains at rush hour, then in the morning, incoming trains need to come off the loop into the depot, and in the afternoon trains need to come out of the depot into the loop. I think they could come out of the depot and go either way around the loop, but going the "other" way would add a tonne of conflicting movements over flat junctions, limiting capacity and reducing reliability at the exact time of day when the system is under the most strain. There's probably less of a difference between peak and off-peak demand these days, and modern practices would be to maintain higher frequencies all day where possible, but I gather it's still a factor.

[@vincentweatherly9991]

Can you please explain why they are changing Caulfield so that to go to Dandenong, you need to be on the local line from Richmond and can’t change such as currently. For an example of why I think that flexibility is still needed is yesterday when the HCMT ate a tree and Gippsland Vline, PKM and CBE were routed via the through lines so it didn’t grind to an absolute halt

[@MrAronymous]

The new metro tunnel stations will truely be something to look forward to. The station designs are the best in the world in my opinion. Not only do they look very modern, but also grand and timeless. Iconic, as one might say. I really can't think of any other projects that just... look this amazing. It'll blow the Elizabeth Line out of the water.

[@RMTransit]

I don’t think they’re better than the Elizabeth one, but they certainly are different and iconic and I think that’s what matters most!

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

I agree. Just seeing the top of Anzac Station, it looks amazing already and it's not even finished. They've really done a good job with this, and the level crossings too.

[@xr6lad]

Over spending on stations when we don’t have the money overbuilding and creating edifices is not the way to build a train system. For what we spent on grandiose stations just so transit nuts and politicans can play with themselves when that extra few hundred million could have actually extended the tunnels to where the metro tunnel should have come out and original was designed to; Caulfield, or build a station at South Yarra as an interchange.

[@xr6lad]

@@RMTransit really? Instead of actually spending money on the system than ego complexes? That money spent on grandiose buildings could have been spent on an actual station at Sth Yarra to provide an interchange with the surface lines.

[@mcqueen8737]

@@xr6lad South Yarra to the cbd is quite literally 10 minutes, it really doesn't need and interchange. If you can come up with a situation where its necessary, and people would genuinely use it, go ahead, share it.

[@Voyagerthe2nd]

Your pronunciation of "Comeng" was spot on 👌

[@flygonbreloom]

I admit, as a Melbournian, I had no idea just *how* absolutely confusing the network is from an outsider's perspective. Great work boiling it down! I look forward to the V/Line explainer in future - especially since I've had a lifetime of being around V/Line dependent areas.

[@RMTransit]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@xr6lad]

As an outside but living here: it isn’t. It’s called common sense. It seems millennials are still in the queue waiting for it.

[@laurencefraser]

@@xr6lad common sense relies rather heavily on having the relevant information presented to you in the right way. It can be very straight forward and easily understood when you're standing there with the signs and orientated to the landmarks and only having to worry about the parts that are relevant to your trip while still being a confusing mess when taken in it's totality with only maps and reports to go from. Also? Plenty of millenials (now in their thirties, mind you) have common sense. Plenty of Gen-X and boomers are ignorante and oblivious idiots. The reverse is also true. It's not a generational thing at all. Not only is common sense not so common, but an awful lot of people can't tell it from "thing I've had time to get used to, and thus have already learned, while the other person hasn't."

[@jamsterdoesgaming6622]

@@xr6lad as someone living here that rarely *uses* the trains, I can't for the life of me see what's so confusing about it. One track goes to the city the other track goes further out, and in the city your train goes in a loop past 5 stations and back to the suburbs, so you can get off/back on at any station you like.

[@alexhelvetica]

@@xr6lad the Belgrave/Lilydale line is unbelievably confusing, even for someone who lives on that line and considered themselves once a numtot. Even though the map displays those lines as always going through the city loop, have fun catching a train from the loop to Mont Albert during peak hour. You have either have to catch a train to Richmond and change for a Blackburn service, or wait until peak hour is over. Also the express services along that line are so so fucking inconsistent. There's like 10 stopping patterns, and they're all called "Limited Express", because very few Blackburn trains, and no Belgrave/Lilydale line trains stop at East Richmond. We really really need to do a lot to make it easier and more accessible to take public transport, because it really is a chore unless you know what you're doing

[@destroyerpl4yz]

Iv lived in Melbourne for the last 30 years (I was born in QLD) and I gotta admit, your knowledge of my local transport system is impressive. It’s kinda weird hearing a Canadian talk about lines that I live on. Your pronunciation is very good. Good video mate.

[@RipCityBassWorks]

I swear your explainer videos keep getting better and better. The maps on this one especially are top notch.

[@jaslueasi554]

One mistake though is that the hurst ridge and mernda lines appears blue instead of red

[@RMTransit]

That is so awesome to hear!

[@johnlang4198]

Melbourne still suffers from a lack of frequency in some areas, as little as one train per hour. Add to that that the Ballarat and Geelong lines essentially double as suburban trains in the west to Melton and Wyndham Vale respectively, and we still have great problems. You're partly right about the HCMT fleet, and the Comeng fleet is steadily being withdrawn and scrapped, but the final replacement will be by the Alstom "X'Trapolis 2.0" trains that are commencing construction at Ballarat this month.

[@JJRol.]

Thank you for doing Melbourne! I've grown up with this system and you got nothing wrong with the information, thanks!

[@RMTransit]

I try my best not to get things wrong 😂

[@errinundra9798]

Hi, Reece. Love your channel & watch you on Nebula, but it lacks a chat facility. So, here I am. As a Melburnian whose memory goes back that far, the City Loop was a solution to a problem that has since mostly gone away, leaving us with an odd legacy. By the 60s the Melbourne rail system had been largely reduced to a Monday to Friday commuting service for office workers living in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs. The demand from there was much, much larger than it was for the western and northern suburbs. (The population centre of Melbourne was something like 15 kilometres to the south-east of the Central Business District.) At the time there were 10 tracks coming from Richmond station in the east (plus 2 from the north-east that terminated at Princes Bridge). To the west, the viaduct between Flinders Street and Southern Cross (then called Spencer Street) had only 4 tracks (since upgraded to six) due to the proximity of the Yarra River, which also constrained expansion of Flinders Street station itself. Trains coming from the east and south-east needed to turn around at Flinders Street to set off for another bunch of commuters. Drivers had to walk the length of the train and each platform required the tracks from and to the east to split into incoming / outgoing tracks so trains going in opposite directions wouldn't be trying to use the same track. Trains arrived quicker than they could be turned around. The congestion had to be experienced to be believed. It was common for trains loaded with frustrated office workers to wait half an hour for a platform to become available. The obvious solution was through-running, but the much lower demand from the west meant the trains would be under-utilised. More importantly, the trains were still needed for commuters in the east. They had to turn around without holding up the trains behind them. Hence the idea of the City Loop was born. Melbourne has since had enormous growth across the entire western arc of the city. Through running is now a viable practice. The new Metro tunnel is a reflection of this new reality.

[@datsunyellow2570]

a meticulsly fine comment, thank you.

[@ChrisGuiver]

Thanks for a "reminder of the long forgotten past"... esp. 'congestion had to be experienced to be believed'... thankfully for me (living in MMTB areas of the city most of the time) it was from work-colleagues who caught the train to/from work who gave daily reports of what you described. (for non-Melbournians; MMTB = Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board; mostly trams, but also buses in some areas of the city)

[@notrocketscience1950]

I am proud to say i live next to one of these sky rail lines and get access to a 2.5km linear park underneath the new raised rail lines and it is fantastic to walk around the area, it also connects up with many of the smaller parks we have here in Melbourne.

[@okangulal2849]

Same here! I live near Coburg Station on the Upfield Line. I love it. It use to be so dodgy, dirty and noisy in 2019. Now you have these awesome walking areas, mini dog parks, mini park areas and places to sit and just watch life go by.

[@cityjetproductions]

The Craigieburn Line has a flyover diverging at Kensington which allows it to run onto the Werribee Line tracks: while this is usually only used during disruptions some peak hour trains use this connection to avoid the City Loop and provide some extra capacity.

[@RMTransit]

Interesting to hear!

[@kaiwhara]

There's currently one revenue service over the "Broadmeadows Suburban Flyover" between North Melbourne and Kensington per weekday in each direction, although we can (and do) run a few ad hoc, usually to position trains later requiring maintenance onto other runs at Flinders St. We do run plenty of non revenue trains that way though, and most special event traffic also goes this way. The one operational consideration we have when using the "Broady" is that you cannot access the City Loop, as there no connection to and from platforms 5 and 6 ar North Melbourne.

[@egg_2705]

as someone who's been taking the Craigieburn for the past 6 years almost every day, I always wondered what those tracks were for. I assumed they somehow had connectivity with Flemington Racecourse, but I guess not. The more you know.

[@talzaenvy]

Ive taken the cragie train line all my life and I never knew that! V interesting

[@acl__live]

Thanks for doing Melbourne would love you to do our tram network as that is a pretty crazy network as well(not to mention the largest in the world) it’s also worth noting that the pakenham line will be extended a few kms and will have a new station(pakenham east) and it’s already the longest on the network it takes almost 1 and a half hours to get into the cbd from pakenham on the metro and the electric grid used to go past pakenham through to Gippsland there is also a push to extend the Cranbourne line to Clyde where an old line that no longer exists used to travel through and is now serviced by buses

[@CommissionerManu]

Hell yeah! A Taitset and RMTransit crossover? I thought my birthday wasn’t for another few months?! Seriously, it is really cool to see you guys collaborating though, and hopefully you get to do more together in the future!

[@Taitset]

Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@RMTransit]

I’m a big Taitset fan!

[@kaiwhara]

@@RMTransit as am I. And coming from someone who's job it is to sort the trains out every day, @taitset does a good job of figuring out and explaining things that are bread and butter for me at work, and quite accurately too!

[@chiefpred9982]

@@Taitset well done, you. You did a great job here

[@newfelo]

We use the Alstom Xtrapolis trains here in Valparaíso, Chile and the trains are really great. The differences between the ones in Melbourne and the ones that came to Chile are the internal layout, 3 cars for Melbourne and 2 cars for Valparaíso, and our trains here reach 120k/h in service since we have some stations that are further apart.

[@RMTransit]

Good to hear some local comments!

[@simonnaughton2272]

Great to hear from you. While I think from a world wide point of view I’ve heard these trains being called cheap, they made a huge difference to our network in Melbourne.

[@cityjetproductions]

The ones in Melbourne almost go that fast on the outer stretches of the Werribee Line.

[@TheEpicAppleEater01]

We're getting these in Dublin Ireland to replace ageing train sets. Hope they're good. They'll be the first walk-through trains in Ireland

[@stuartkinnear2478]

We are rolling out a lot of Xtrapolis trains - the Mega variant - here in South Africa as well. To replace ancient 1960s era metro stock. The Megas are locally manufactured and seem to work well. Our narrow Cape Gauge and DC electrification not being as much of a hinderance on a Metro network. The public are definitely enthusiastic to see new trains for the first time in decades.

[@Jotrain]

Great video RMTransit! As an Aussie I really enjoy learning more about other Australian cities rail networks. Would love it if you could do a video explaining Brisbane’s Network (including the direct connection to the airport) sometime. Also in regards to Brisbanes “Metro” (BRT) system, I’m not really a fan of the project, especially the use of electric lithium ion battery buses. I would much prefer if it was converted as a Light rail system or at least use trolley buses as they have a much less greater environmental impact then the battery buses (if that’s what there going for). Also fun fact. the government spent over $100K on a browser video game to try to promote the system, which is literally just a basic train dispatcher game but with those buses, I’d suggest you look it up.

[@jamsterdoesgaming6622]

@RogerRamjet I wouldn't in this case! The busways run every 12 seconds and the "metro" only every 3 minutes. Just take the extra money :p

[@michaelslinger6903]

Nice video. A little extra news, the Labor party were reelected yesterday. They're the party who have prioritised rail infrastructure. The opposition had promised to cancel the Suburban Loop.

[@johnanders2739]

YES! Make a Video about Melbourne trams! Also one About St. Petersburg trams and Berlin trams (the 3 largest Networks in the world)

[@BLACKSTA361]

Crazy how Berlin is 3rd with Trams only in the Eastern part mostly

[@heidirabenau511]

@@BLACKSTA361 Because the Western part has the U-Bahn

[@BLACKSTA361]

@@heidirabenau511 ich bin aus Berlin Früher hatte West Berlin auch noch eine Tram

[@MarioFanGamer659]

@@BLACKSTA361 That one truly shows how much trams were build in the good old days as well as how much our ancestors destroyed them.

[@RMTransit]

Berlin trams are definitely going to happen next year!

[@campbellvearing5896]

Hey mate, I’m loving the channel. I would love to see you do one on how Adelaide and it’s surrounding towns could improve its public transport infrastructure. Keep up the amazing work. It’s such an awesome channel

[@GaLaKtIkclan]

I'm not even half way through and am so Impressed as someone who's lived in Melbourne pretty much my whole life. The information is so accurate, and easy to digest! Really well done on this video! A comprehensive overview of the tram network is definitely worth doing!

[@jacobsmith3010]

As a former frequent user of the Hurstbridge line, i think a large reason as to why ridership is comparatively low compared to other lines (other than population density) is that the service near the end of the line is nothing more than very poor - especially late at night. I can’t tell you the amount of times I was stranded at night, waiting sometimes up to two hours, for a train that actually goes all the way through to Hurstbridge. A lot of people I’ve chatted to about using the train around that area say they only use it as a last resort or if they’re planning on drinking in the city: largely because of the poor service and the amount of time it takes compared to taking their car. I now live in an area where the service provided is nothing short than world class with ridership to match. It’s made it even more obvious to me that if the government is really keen on increasing ridership in the north east, they need to do more to ensure that taking the train from up that way is actually convenient. And before anyone says anything about the current works being done on the Hurstbridge line, yes, it’ll make it better, but not to point of mass adoption.

[@ZendegiLeonard]

Nothing worse then being stuck at Wattle Glen "Station" at 1am. At least PSO's are good for a chat

[@jacobsmith3010]

@@ZendegiLeonard or getting stuck at Greensborough just to then get stuck at Eltham

[@Haldered]

which parts of the network gets upgrades seems very political

[@slambotv1334]

@@ZendegiLeonard what’s wrong with Wattle Glen? (Aside from horrible frequency)

[@eternitybreezee]

As someone who uses the metro network regularly, I can say that I do appreciate all the way you pronounce things and explain stuff. It’s cool seeing my regular on an international video 😂

[@tobyb6248]

Great video. Really shows the difference between the infrastructure between Sydney and Melbourne networks - no idea it had so many regularly used flying junctions, single tracks and three tracked sections.Lots to catch up on from the underfunding over the last 40 years or so, so good to see the gov getting serious.

[@lachd2261]

A good way to think about Australian cities is that we built the "REM" ages ago, but we didn't really build the high frequency Subway/Metro as most Americans would know it. The reason for this is that most Australian cities had a huge tram network until the 1960s, which served the inner city and suburbs. Melbourne was sensible to keep their tram network so everything still fits together nicely.

[@timroche5586]

I'm currently working on the Metro Tunnel Project which see Trains from Pakenham Cranbourne line, with Trains terminating at Westall Dandenong stations going through to Sunbury Station. With the Dan Andrews Govt returned to power after the November 2022 Victorian State Elections, the Suburban Rail Loop will go ahead., as the opposition coalition parties had plans to squash the plans for this Project. As a Construction Worker, I was joyed seeing another landslide to the Victorian Labor!! I like your channel and will have a look at Melbourne Trams vlog!!

[@anthonypang7927]

Im from Melbourne, thanks for the video I grew up in a suburb called doncaster which was known as a public transport black hole. When i was growing up bus services there was terrible and if i had to go out on weekends i had to ensure i wasnt out after 3pm on sunday because i cant get a bus home. Now the bus service is a million times better and ive also moved to ringwood which has much better public transport access I felt in the 90s they were leaving the system to rot, but its many times better now, its still nowhere near the standard of many cities ive been to overseas but its improving

[@anthonypang7927]

@RogerRamjet i will never forget the $60-70 taxi rides! Thank goodness for the weekend train timetable!

[@JohnFromAccounting]

The government spent decades not upgrading infrastructure, and now we're left with an enormous bill to catch up for all the lost time. It's never wrong to spend on infrastructure.

[@msinc]

Great video about our network, thank you RTM. Melbourne is the most progressive (i.e. the "least conservative") state in Australia, and this is the outcome of successive planning of Labor governments in our state. Better bicycling infrastructure is also rolling out. Many people hate these changes, but overall, the future Melbourne will be superior to current Melbourne, no matter the person, be they driver, cyclist, commuter or otherwise.

[@abbieb6403]

Very exciting to see you talk about Melbourne! I've lived here for 3 years now and this video has taught be quite a lot 😊 Would love to see you cover our tram system 💕

[@fairywogfather]

My god, I actually live in Melbourne and from that angle I could have sworn @15:40 that tram was hitting the train!

[@Wheezel13]

I live in Melbourne I would be very happy to see a video on Melbournes trams

[@no1wasgeorgiebest]

Really enjoyed your video, I've lived in Melbourne for 3 years and love the public transport options. Puts the places I lived in England to shame so much it's embarrassing.

[@berenscott8999]

I must clarify something, the standard gauge track does not share any track with the broad gauge on the suburban network. The standard gauge track runs parallel from the north and is separate from the broad gauge. It veers off near Broadmeadows and follows an alternative track to where it ends up going underground near Footscray. At Southern cross it flys over the suburban. VLine uses mostly broad gauge except for the Albury train which runs on the same track as the train to Sydney. The reason for broad gauge has very little to do with colonies, the rail network was built during the gold rush in Victoria, and at this particular time, broad gauge was trending. England was moving to gigantic steam trains and the network was a product of those times and having an enormous amount of money to spend extra on the larger rail. It's actually pretty good, you get a faster network with less slowdowns.

[@Den-ts3vi]

i cant believe he called the VLocitys good

[@Merri-bekRailfan]

@@Den-ts3vi IMO Vlocitys are great for the interuben area but are trash for the longer journeys

[@joshualuke3146]

Would definitely love a detailed video on the Melbourne trams too! Coming over from Adelaide I love both and how easy they make getting around the city.

[@blushinglampshade]

I was wondering if you have thought about doing a video covering transport for disabled people? I'm not disabled myself but you often seem to think about the adjustments to transport design that make them that bit 'better' and I always think that this is one area where some good forethought can have huge benefits.

[@YayDanMan]

Nearly 25 years now of living on the Belgrave/Lilydale corridor which has been essential for convenient access to PT (and twice the number of viable services works pretty well 😅) Having watched a good number of your other explainers I increasingly felt like our network is limited by the radial design, but hopefully continued projects can bring out network up to scratch!

[@XavierXonora]

The Victorian government has done such a fantastic job with these projects. The suburban rail loop is incredibly expensive and could be managed better with cut and cover, but it will completely transform the city once complete. Can't wait.

[@satya.anandakrishnan]

LXRP has really impressed me. Its no wonder the ALP got re-elected.

[@Redstoner2b2t]

cut & cover on the SRL needs a new route, the insistence on going to glen Waverley station has elliminatred a tunnel under clayton road to box hill because all the roads are north facing

[@mjcats2011]

No it hasn't. The Big Build just has not achieved what NSW has done.

[@gulflines1960]

As a Melburnian who spent 40+ years commuting on this rail network, let me say that this is a great video.

[@killslayer1526]

As someone who uses the Frankston line a ton, this is great news. I hate having to interchange to use the city loop.

[@MartyMonstah]

I watched this video on the YT app on my TV and once finished, I actually got up from the couch to go to my PC to post my appreciation of this video. Kudos for the great video and for the pronunciation of the various places/stations. Look forward to seeing your video on the Melbourne Tram network. Thanks!

[@Soldknight324]

Love the Murrumbeena (my station!) shots from Declan. The sky rail is awesome. Thanks for such an accurate video covering our network!

[@danamummabear9799]

I love our rail network here in Melbourne, it's already come such a long way in the last 20 or so years, I remember back when we used these old trains that smelled so bad, all you could smell was a horrible burning metallic smell. I love that our rail network takes me to pretty much wherever I need to go, I've moved around Victoria a lot in my life, but I always find myself living right near a train station, super convenient

[@The_Jazziest_Coffee]

we often diss the train network here but truth be told it's actually really good for what it could've been

[@ProWilson999]

The Lilydale line the last three years has improved a lot. Pre-covid it was a nightmare morning and night, easy 50% of trips were cooked in some way or just terminated at Richmond (in the mornings) with no warning forcing you off onto another train, could stay on if you wanted to go to Flinders. I suppose it helps in the mornings, at least I am catching an earlier train post-covid lockdowns.

[@diltonweany7003]

woohoo! RMtransit returning to my city! Would love to see a video on the tram network! Melbournians love nothing more than criticising our PT, and there are some major issues. It would be awesome if you gave a critique in the future (looking at you suburban rail loop) and some suggestions for improvement

[@mathewho9796]

I think Melbourne and Victoria could have a almost perfect transit network if some things are added alongside exisiting projects - Exisiting trains bottlenecks like flat junctions, signalling and single tracks are fixed and install high capacity signalling - Trains run 10 minutes or better thought the day until the last train - Every tram route is upgraded similar to route 96 (plus add on traffic priority extensively) and run it at least 10 minutes. Also fill trams gaps and make all trams run low floor - Extensive bus reforms , bus priority like lanes and lights and ensure Major bus routes run 10 minutes , heavily used locals run 20 minutes and the rest 40 minutes and almost all bus routes must harmonise - Create a regional Faster Rail by separating all Metro trains away from Vline and freight services by Standardising all tracks in Victoria (besides Metro Trains) , Quad tracking the Pakenham line, reinstate new dedicated tracks between City to Sunshine ,expand the scope of the Airport rail link (remove it from the Metro Tunnel) to connect Bendigo and Northern eastern lines and electrify all regional rails and possibly create a dedicated Metropolitan express train - Reopen some closed regional lines and make a standard for all regional services (trains or coaches) to run at least 5 services every day and harmonise with trains through a Swiss Style timetable through Victoria - Remove every level crossings in Melbourne including pedestrians - Build Metro 2 - Extend Metro trains to Doncaster, Rowville, Wollert, Clyde, Baxter, Melton and Wyndham Vale - Consider Building a completely new light Metro in the long term. My proposal are 1) Ringwood to Frankston 2) Rowville to Airport via Ormond, Fisherman's Bend, and Highpoint 3) Broadmeadows to Monash via Chadstone, the Alamein Line, Richmond, Bourke St, Fishermans Bend and finally utilizing the Newport-Broadmeadows freight line 4) Sunshine to La Trobe Uni via Highpoint, Brunswick, and Northland - New BRT and LRT (other from the exisiting tram Networks) - East Coast High Speed Rail - Metropolitan style trains (at a smaller scale) for Geelong, Latrobe Valley, Bendigo and Ballarat - Bike Lanes and walking paths everywhere and connected

[@ZeBoy85]

Yes do a video on our beloved trams they are iconic and romantic, sort of a city mascot that the entire world would love to replicate. For decades we were the only city that operated trams and that persistence paid off massively into the 20th century where traffic, overcrowding, climate change and air pollution became a major issue we already had the answer, it won’t be long until the CBD becomes a train, walk and tram only place. Trams are the king of Melbourne, they’ve grown to become an absolute staple of the city and we love them irrationally.

[@RMTransit]

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula! Go to curiositystream.com/rmtransit or use code RMTRANSIT at checkout to get 26% off of CuriosityStream's annual plans, plus Complimentary Access to my streaming platform Nebula!

[@zsoltturi6989]

I did not know that Reece is also on Nebula. Subscribed on Nebula from now on. :)

[@RMTransit]

@@zsoltturi6989 it helps!

[@blucklightfoxartinnovation9357]

lave coassing re movel up date train station just to let you know RM TRANSIT

[@1mol831]

Can you give us discount for the public transport fees. I don’t want to pay $1000 per year to use public transport.

[@richardvankleef7172]

Would you believe they don’t have toilets on suburban platforms or even a wash basin !!! Designed by someone who never uses the train network😮

[@underground868]

As a Texan I'm insanely jealous of this. I hate that we have 8 lane highways with a dozen overlapping connections, but give almost nothing to the rail line

[@evanmichaels4485]

Watching this while on holiday in Melbourne - great video!

[@LittleJimmyR]

YESS a local train system! Yay! As a Victorian, I was just waiting for a video like this and then saw the thumnail today

[@RMTransit]

I hope it was worth the wait!

[@LittleJimmyR]

@@RMTransit Def was

[@hugomal]

Slight correction at 0:55 - it's called the Melbourne Metropolitan train network and is operated by a company called Metro Trains Melbourne. This is similar to Melbourne's bus network, which is operated by a variety of different operators (CDC, Kinetic etc) or Melbourne's tram network, operated by Yarra Trams

[@sinksmusic]

the radial aspect is the biggest flaw and im glad you mentioned it

[@VicSpotters]

Absolutely amazing job! You clearly did your research because even I didn’t know a lot of this stuff! Anyway, keep up the amazing work, and I hope to see more vids on Melbourne in the future!

[@VeritasVortex]

It's amazing how a Canadian knows so much about Melbourne's rail network!

[@MetroShadow1]

This is awesome, and it looks like we all would benefit from the tram discussion!

[@lukebryant]

Ooo I saw this and got excited!! I live in Melbourne and catch PTV almost everywhere. 😂😂 "Yes, that Marvel" absolutely cracked me out. It's a stadium that's name is always up for sale because of major sponsorship. When I moved to Melbourne it was Etihad stadium and most of my friends know it has Telstra Stadium.

[@terencemccarthy8615]

And before that it was Colonial Stadium!

[@chiefpred9982]

Good news: Metro Tunnel is being brought forward to September 2024. Exact date is unknown

[@dylanshadowstar9779]

Bad news! It's been pushed back to June 2025!

[@D31taF0rc3]

You actually mentioned the stony point line! I used to live on that line and I honestly think it was where I came the closest to dying a few times. The stations and pathways to them are poorly lit, PTOs (police officers who stand guard at stations) refuse to patrol that line due to the risk, and the train conductors lock themselves in their cabin between stops for their own safety. There is plans to electrify the line to baxter station and the locals further down the line want that to be extended, but the usage isnt really there to justify it. Also the train has to be driven into melbourne cbd for refueling every time, so if any part of the frankston line isnt in operation then the stony point line has to shut down as well, even if there are trains running from frankston to the closure. What an awful train line.

[@peterbarber7613]

D31taFOrc3. The Stony point linr train refuels at Frankson

[@70sVRsignalman]

Hello all, the Baxter Electrification Extension is not, at this time (June 2023), going ahead unfortunately.There was a $aud2M Business Study that ultimately demonstrated that it was uneconomic. However, for $2m they could have resleepered the line from Frankston to Baxter ! In my opinion there are a number of factors that probably doomed the idea, namely the cost of meeting the "current standard" which is no level crossings, a replacement signalling system, and the assumption that a Stabling Siding was required at Baxter ( and for which railway owned land has been reserved ), and the assumption that the project would be stand alone, as opposed to a component of a larger Project. As planning approvals to increase housing in Langwarren, Baxter and Sommerville areas were announced quite some time ago, the Extension of Electrification should be at least to Sommerville, which has sufficient space for a island platform, and a limited ( 2 or 3 track ) stabling sidings if required ( ie, Hurtbridge).Given a frequency of every third train being extended from Frankston, which would be a half hourly service frequency, I would argue that such a service would be well patronised. regards to all.

[@D31taF0rc3]

@@peterbarber7613 You can ask any of the staff at frankston station, that train refuels at the vline yard next to southern cross. Ive pointed it out several times to friends when in the city late at night as it chugs into the city. No other train service in victoria runs only 2 v-line sprinters either so it definately wasnt a different train I saw. Also if the train refuels at frankston, why does every single frankston line works project shut down the stony point line? It should be unaffected, no?

[@djackmanson]

Well this was fantastic. A video about my city, by someone far away. Thank you! One minor point: I'm about 80% sure the only passing loop on the Altona Loop is the one at Westona Station, just west of Altona. It has double platforms unlike the other two stations on the loop, and both up and down trains are always timetabled to depart there at the same time. If one is late, the other has to wait until the late one arrives. Thank you again!

[@hawthornvalley]

I saw a driver's eye view sometime ago about the Altona Loop, it seems as though the running directions of the platforms are reversed, but I can't remember the reason why. i.e the down trains use the UP platform direction and the UP trains use the DOWN platform direction. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

[@msg5507]

The weakness of Melbourne's system that doesn't come out in this video is how spread out it is, which means that at the outer extremities where the population growth is, you are rarely very close to a station. As these locations are beyond the spread of the tram network and bus services are poorly planned and infrequent, they become heavily car-dependent. And Mellbourne is still very city-centred compared to Toronto and Sydney, hence the radial network. Infrastructure like the Suburban Rail Loop (which is far from an outer-suburb service) will need a big improvement to bus services to be useful because its stations will be few and far between. We are going to need improvements such as extending the Cranbourne line to Clyde, electrifying the lines to Melton and Tarneit, and the Geelong fast rail to free up capacity on the western suburbs. Improvement to existing services in strategic areas could give better bang for buck than the high-profile vote-winning expansion projects.

[@donmccomb]

Yep. To address the housing crisis there will be more and more suburban development in outer suburbs. This will lead to even more sprawl which is going to be more and more costly to support. I'd prefer it if the government encouraged more medium-density mixed residential/commercial development closer to the city. The Suburban Rail Loop will be good and is well overdue.

[@hawthornvalley]

Re extending the Cranbourne line to Clyde. It maybe a longer wait now that Labor has been re-elected. If the Libs had won, the extension would have been starting early 2023, as they had the commitment to building it, whereas Labor were non-committed to doing it. Just hope that "common sense" prevails, although I doubt it as "common sense" is not in Labor's DNA.

[@aussiegooner]

@@hawthornvalley What a baffling comment. Only 1 party is committed to and has a proven track record of building and upgrading public transport infrastructure and it ain't the libs.

[@hawthornvalley]

@@aussiegooner The Libs had a FULLY FUNDED commitment to extend to Clyde. The Parliamentary Budget Office even said so!

[@zsaleeba]

> Mellbourne is still very city-centred Yet only less than 10% of people actually work in the city center so having a fully radial network which really only serves the CBD is a bit crazy. The Suburban Rail Loop can't come fast enough.

[@jrussell6579]

Also in the suburb I grew up in. Clayton. They built basketball courts underneath the tracks. It's amazing to see how busy they are full of kids playing. I love that they are bringing in kids and more of a space for people than just a shopping hub

[@TheMelbournelad]

I have lived in Melbourne over 20 years but hardly used trains for almost 10 years. The change that system has gone through during COVID has been incredible. With level crossing removal and now the north south loop project.

[@Jack39847]

Great video! Would love to have an explainer on the Melbourne Tram Network!

[@spookaj6261]

Would love to see a video on melbourne trams!

[@RMTransit]

Thats certainly in the plans!

[@nicolasbertin8552]

Having lived for a few years in Melbourne I indeed loved the tram and train networks. For some reason, it was never needed for me to travel between suburbs, because there aren't many points of interest in those suburbs. It's not like in Paris where you have La Défense outside the city, two airports, the Saclay plateau with all the universities, Versailles and its castle, Saint Germain en Laye, then Créteil etc... In Melbourne, you got everything of interest in or close to the CBD, and suburbs are just where you sleep. The only issue is probably with Monash University in Clayton : it's so far from the CBD, while if you work/study in Melbourne Uni or RMIT, you're in/bordering the CBD. But it never came up that my friends from Clayton wanted a "ring train line" to another suburb of Melbourne. Moreover, and I think this is important, even the radial transit takes a looooong time. Melbourne is a sprawling city the size of Los Angeles. Visiting my friends in Glen Iris from Carlton would take me an hour by tram. That's about 100 stops. Of course the tram doesn't stop a 100 times, which is another tricky thing in the night, you gotta be careful not to miss your stop. An issue that's not addressed here though is how very little offer there is during the night... There are buses and that's it. Train and tram service end WAYYYY too early in the night, usually right around midnight. People need to rely heavily on taxis and uber... And if you go home alone and can't afford it, you're stuck with the night buses and it's a nightmare to find one. This was my only issue with public transport in Australia. But otherwise, it was reliable, practical, fun, and quite safe compared to Paris.

[@rubydoo3307]

I've lived in Melbourne my entire life and never even thought about this. Well done!

[@andrewrussack8647]

Excellent summary, including addressing some of the major constraints.

[@demmimorelle4654]

That was great! I live in an outer western (semi rural) suburb of Melbourne serviced by V/Line. As a 'country bumpkin' it was most informative and refreshing to hear a 'Canak' correctly pronounce all place and suburb names. Thank you for producing an entertaining and thorough reminder to the world that we don't use Kangaroos as a means of transport! Not anymore anyway!!!

[@winkiipinkii]

I do love the geometric liveries they use

[@RMTransit]

I could not agree more! I’ve always thought they are very good, especially how there is that commonality from mode mode

[@74_pelicans]

@@RMTransit the first nations livery is especially great on the HCMT 9x24 set

[@morganjones593]

My man knows more about Melbourne’s network than I do… and I’ve lived in Melbourne my entire life. Excellent video. 👌

[@1960alftupper]

Yes an explainer on Melbourne trams... Any plans for an explainer for Greater Manchester UK

[@RMTransit]

Eventually, it will come around!

[@matthewsleeman3309]

Reesse, you should have had Martin double check things a bit more, because I spotted a coupe of mistakes. 1. HCMT are not a replacement for ComEng stock, they're an expansion of the network for the new tunnel. 2. The Altona Loop is weird, it's, under current service patterns, functionally a branch line that terminates when it re-joins the main line.

[@matthewpaczkowski5693]

As a local from Melbourne I've got to say that our trains pale in comparison to Sydney's trains. it feels like every week the Cranbourne Pakenham line is down and we are forced to take replacement busses which often time means we end up late to work or wherever you want to go which is pretty inconvenient. i really liked the video tho, its interesting to see how all of this stuff actually works.

[@wj11jam78]

The weird thing about the yarra river is that, growing up, I always thought of it as "that small little creek down the road". Turns out it stretches into the CBD and gets MASSIVE in the process.

[@King_Ben_IV]

As someone who lives in Victoria and has used the Metro network A LOT the last few years I approve this video. You even pronounced Melbourne correctly (barring accents)

[@rongpirson5250]

Please do an explainer on the trams, they're such an iconic part of the city and I'm surprised you didn't cover them before the trains, and I would love a dedicated video in your style.

[@gregbowen617]

With Melbourne set to become the largest Australian city in the coming years, it’s imperative that planning for this undertaken well in advance. Great video, bravo to you, love all your work!…. From a Melburnian!

[@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479]

I heard tens of thousands of people are leaving Victoria for other states because of the government.. Might not be overtaking Sydney for a while yet

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

@@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479 You heard wrong. Melbourne is still growing the fastest by absolute numbers, and it also has the most people moving from interstate. Other cities might be getting higher percentages of growth, but in terms of total numbers, Melbourne is still number 1, and by quite a margin. In the first half of 2022, Melbourne regained the ground it lost during the pandemic. It's set to surpass Sydney 5 years earlier than predicted. With future climate change, Melbourne will only grow more attractive because of its cooler climate.

[@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479]

@@shaunmckenzie5509 well it will be interesting to see.. Perth is expected to overtake Brisbane in a few yrs as well.. Oh boy there will be tears in Sydney and Brisbane if that happens 😂

[@ChrisJohannsen]

@@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479 lmao don't listen to Murdoch media. That "hated" government just won an overwhelming majority in the state election and "dictator Dan" got an almost unprecedented third term in office. He is very popular here among educated people. The Murdoch backed conservative lost ground to every other party.

[@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479]

@@ChrisJohannsen of course. Victoria has always been a left commie state lol. Ps. I've seen some of those "educated" people that come out of Melbournes universities 🤦‍♂️

[@afonsoribeiro893]

Could you make a video about the Porto metro tram in Portugal? There are some interesting facts you could talk about, the Porto metro was the largest first-class project to be built in Europe; the b/ red line was built from an old railway line; it is the biggest metro system in Portugal it has 67 km of line mostly on surface and 9,5 km underground; you can also talk about the new lines under construction the G/pink line, the extension of D/yellow line and the H/ruby line witch is not yet under construction. Thanks for your good videos.

[@RMTransit]

Porto will get a time in the sun eventually!

[@Hudpower]

Theres also the overland, as well as the line that connects Melbourne and Sydney (for when you listed the different types)

[@zeealo]

I work for Metro Trains and you’ve done a great job here. I’d love to see you review our new tunnel system when it’s up and running. 😊

[@teh_hunterer]

Nice pronunciation. You even said Melbourne correctly! People from the US and Canada used to say it like Jason Bourn, and now there is a trend of over-correcting that to "Melben" which is even worse. They way you pronounce it is perfect.

[@gezzamate3916]

Shout out from the lilydale line

[@letsseeif]

Outstanding educational video-description of the Melbourne Tram Rail network.

[@tdb7992]

Reece, you are the absolute king of Australian PT networks. How do you know so much about our systems?! I'm originally from Perth but spent the past 13 years living in Melbourne. They used to have a map where all the train lines were the same colour - yellow. Both for the train map and the tram map. It made using the systems quite confusing as you just needed some form of 'local knowledge'. Thank God they moved to using different colours for different lines. Also, Labor won the Victorian election last night and they are the ones pushing the suburban rail loop so it appears that it will be built. Part of the reasoning is that Melbourne will have the same population as London within a few decades, yet only a fraction of their rail network's size. I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

[@George2647g]

@@BDub2024 no, melbourne still growing at a big pace and is still on track to be largest city in 2027 despite what you might hear on murdoch..

[@George2647g]

@@BDub2024 not surprised bro - perth so lucky as the most isolated city in the world - as i was stuck in melbs lockdowns i was super jealous of perth people living it up at music festivals etc…

[@George2647g]

@@BDub2024 yea, closing borders and aiming for zero covid as long as possible was the smart move.. so is a rolling 3 month vax booster which theyve now stopped and now i got covid.. antivax lost the early battles but won the war imho

[@biosparkles9442]

I grew up in Melbourne and only moved away 2 years ago and I don't remember there ever being a time where it was all yellow

[@George2647g]

@@biosparkles9442 early 90s it was all yellow… yellow and green..

[@sirrodney61]

Another interesting fact about the new tunnel through the city is the separation of sunbury/cranbourne/pakenham trains is going to allow for them to begin testing new autonomous trains with signaling systems that work by communicating between trains to allow services to run closer together rather than the traditional method of breaking sections of tracks into signal blocks. Also I wanna note great job, you managed to teach me stuff I didn't know and I work in the rail industry in Melbourne.

[@nce8]

Thought I might let you know that the trains are not driverless.

[@Redstoner2b2t]

@@nce8 driver is there to open doors and pay union dues 🤣. oh and also drive the train beyond westall and sunshine respectively

[@bucket6386]

Reece thank you so much for making this video I love you, would love a tram explainer

[@eljj7968]

Learned some things about where I live watching this haha! I live on the City Loop and it's definitely confusing at times, and trains will just randomly not do the loop sometimes. You're totally right about the layout of the network too, it is a massive pain having to go into the CBD and out again to go across the city. The trams also have quite illogical and unhelpful routes sometimes. I do have a bone to pick with you saying the Mernda line is not as busy as others lol. In my experience it's one of the busiest, I take this train regularly and it's often hard to find a seat.

[@bradallen8909]

The Mernda line trains have high patronage due to low frequency. It carries nowhere NEAR the amount of passengers as, the Frankston and Pakenham/Cranbourne lines.

[@kpopsweetlemon1396]

I cannot believe I found your channel again. Its been so long. last time I came was when I was watching the video about train lines in Japan. Wow nice.

[@slysnake5617]

I would definitely love a video on the Melbourne tram network!

[@DCCXXjay]

legend as always reece, been waiting for a video on my local for a while now. cant wait for the metro tunnel to be finished and we can finally start getting rid of the ridiculous 20 minute upfield headways !!

[@coasterblocks3420]

Another great video. I’d like to see a video on how rail project delivery authorities could improve their PR. They tend to quietly beaver away but fail dismally at keeping the public informed, engaged and importantly enthused for the transformative possibilities these project have for public transit. Good PR is particularly important as these projects cost a lot of money so it’s easy for detractors and vested interests in private transport to shift public opinion into believing the project is a waste of money. I’m in Brisbane where the government is building Cross River Rail and the delivery authority’s PR is anaemic at best. People don’t realise that this will allow new planned lines, extensions, conversions and reactivation/rebuilding of abandoned/mothballed lines to proceed.

[@xpinkwombat]

i would love to see some more videos on the melbourne tram network. as a melbournian myself, our trams are a big source of pride

[@radicallyrethinkingrailwaysina]

Thanks for great video Reece. I'm actually going to cover the use of the term metro in my next episode.

[@RMTransit]

Cool! Sounds like a fun video!

[@ChadFeldheimer]

I live in Melbourne and I am grateful that we have such a convenient public transport service. Having said that, it runs poorly with long delays, somewhat frequent cancellations, over congestion in peak periods and, an over-engineered and inconvenient payment system.