WAITING FOR THE TRAIN

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

SOUTHERN CROSS

Southern Cross Station is the most important rail terminal in Victoria and has been redeveloped into a world-class public transport interchange, with fast rail connections to regional Victorian centres and new facilities for rail, taxi and bus passengers. Now more than just a railway station, Southern Cross Station is a combination railway, shopping centre and bus terminal.

The shopping centre includes supermarkets, DFO - Direct Factory Outlet and over 100 other shops, bars and restaurants. On Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western boundary of the central business district, it is the hub of the state's regional railway network, serving as a terminus for long-distance V/Line trains.

It also serves the twice-daily Countrylink XPT service to Sydney, and The Overland to Adelaide three times per week. It has a bus station with 24-hour Skybus service to Melbourne airport. Southern Cross is one of five stations forming the City Loop, a mostly underground railway that encircles the CBD. Southern Cross and Flinders Street are the only stations in the Loop that are above ground.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

TRAIN STATION

At my local train station early one morning!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

AT FLINDERS ST STATION

Where many train journeys begin...

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

AT THE STATION

My local railway station, the start and end of many-a-commute to the City! Lovely that we have the restored original buildings, making it look quite nostalgic.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

SOUTHERN CROSS STATION

Southern Cross Station is the most important rail terminal in Victoria and has been redeveloped into a world-class public transport interchange, with fast rail connections to regional Victorian centres and new facilities for rail, taxi and bus passengers. Now more than just a railway station, Southern Cross Station is a combination railway, shopping centre and bus terminal. The shopping centre includes supermarkets, DFO - Direct Factory Outlet and over 100 other shops, bars and restaurants.

On Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western boundary of the central business district, it is the hub of the state's regional railway network, serving as a terminus for long-distance V/Line trains. It also serves the twice-daily Countrylink XPT service to Sydney, and The Overland to Adelaide three times per week. It has a bus station with 24-hour Skybus service to Melbourne airport.

Southern Cross is one of five stations forming the City Loop, a mostly underground railway that encircles the CBD. Southern Cross and Flinders Street are the only stations in the Loop that are above ground.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

TRAIN DIDN'T ARRIVE...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

FLINDERS ST FLY-OVER

An early morning commuter train hurtling along the Flinders St flyover in the City.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

TRAIN TRACKS

Going to a place far away... 

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

EVENING TRAIN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SOUTHERN CROSS STATION

Southern Cross railway station (until 2005 known as Spencer Street station) is a major railway station in Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, between Collins and La Trobe Streets, at the western edge of the Melbourne central business district. The Docklands Stadium sports arena is 500 metres north-west of the station. The station is owned, operated and maintained by Civic Nexus, a subsidiary of IFM Investors and operating as Southern Cross Station Pty Ltd, under a 30-year lease to 2036 from the Victorian State Government, as part of a public-private partnership.

The station is the terminus of the state's regional railway network operated by V/Line, The Overland rail service to Adelaide, and NSW TrainLink XPT services to Sydney. It is also served by suburban rail services operated by Metro Trains, being one of five stations on the City Loop, a mostly underground railway that encircles the Central Business District. It is the second busiest railway station in Melbourne's metropolitan network, with 18.614 million passenger movements recorded in 2017/18. This figure excludes V/Line passengers who use the station.

Southern Cross was redeveloped by the Civic Nexus consortium, following an innovative design by Grimshaw Architects and Jackson Architecture which features an undulating roof. Construction began in October 2002 and was completed in late 2006, with the majority of the transport facilities finished in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The central features of the design include a wave-shaped roof, a new entrance and concourse on Collins Street, a new coach interchange, a new food court, a bar/restaurant, separate retail outlets inside the station and a separate shopping complex between Bourke and La Trobe Streets.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

BY TRAIN

Peak hour suburban train in the days of COVID-19 and social distancing... Most Australians are conscientious and observe the recommendations about stemming the spread of the virus. This explains why we have a relatively low rate of incidence of the disease and a relatively small number of COVID-related deaths.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

HOME TIME

Coming back home on the evening commuter train - it's a good time of the day...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

EARLY RISER

One of the advantages of being a 'morning person' is enjoying the sunrise, the quiet streets and commuting in uncrowded public transport. Here is a sunrise I enjoyed recently in my home suburb of Fairfield, an inner northeastern suburb of Melbourne.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

TRAIN

Fairfield is a railway station in Melbourne, Australia, located in the suburb of Fairfield, on the Hurstbridge railway line. Fairfield is classed as a Host Station and is in Metlink. Fairfield is a predominantly residential suburb, with a small north-eastern pocket remaining a light industrial area. Because it is situated on what many regard as the fringes of Melbourne's popular and much-revived 'inner city', gentrification has been strong, and property prices are high. To the south is the Yarra River and surrounding parkland, and the popular Fairfield Boathouse.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

TRAIN LEVEL X-ING REMOVAL

For a city of of its size, Melbourne has a reasonable number of public transport options. There are buses, trams, coaches, taxis and trains that cover nearly every suburb in the greater metropolitan area, and beyond.

Metro Trains Melbourne operates the metropolitan train network under an agreement with the Victorian Government. There are 15 separate lines in the Metro train network, 837 km of track and a total of 218 stations, 80 of which are premium stations with enhanced facilities. The fleet size consists of 407 three-car sets comprising: 187 Comeng, 72 Siemens, 134 X'Trapolis and 14 Hitachi trains. The annual patronage for the 2012-13 year was 225.5 million passenger trips.

Most of the rail track in the suburbs is above ground as shown here but there is a largely underground rail loop in the City centre. Over the next eight years the Level Crossing Removal Authority will oversee the removal of 50 dangerous and congested level crossings across Melbourne. Construction has already commenced on several sites, and planning and early consultation is underway for the delivery of the entire project.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

SOUTHERN CROSS

Southern Cross Station is the most important rail terminal in Victoria and has been redeveloped into a world-class public transport interchange, with fast rail connections to regional Victorian centres and new facilities for rail, taxi and bus passengers. Now more than just a railway station, Southern Cross Station is a combination railway, shopping centre and bus terminal. The shopping centre includes supermarkets, DFO - Direct Factory Outlet and over 100 other shops, bars and restaurants.

On Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western boundary of the central business district, it is the hub of the state's regional railway network, serving as a terminus for long-distance V/Line trains. It also serves the twice-daily Countrylink XPT service to Sydney, and The Overland to Adelaide three times per week. It has a bus station with 24-hour Skybus service to Melbourne airport.

Southern Cross is one of five stations forming the City Loop, a mostly underground railway that encircles the CBD. Southern Cross and Flinders Street are the only stations in the Loop that are above ground.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

RAILWAY OVERPASS

The railway overpass in the Darebin Parklands.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

AT FAIRFIELD TRAIN STATION

Fairfield is a railway station in Melbourne, Australia, located in the suburb of Fairfield, on the Hurstbridge railway line. Fairfield is classed as a Host Station and is in Metlink. Metro Trains Melbourne is the current franchise operator of the suburban railway network of Melbourne. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture led by Hong Kong based MTR Corporation (60%) together with John Holland Group (20%) and United Group Rail (20%).

Metro Trains Melbourne operates a fleet of 381 three-car train sets on 830 kilometres of track. There are sixteen regular service train lines and one special events train line. Metro Trains Melbourne is also responsible for 212 train stations and employs a workforce of 3,500 rail professionals including train drivers, mechanical and electrical engineers, network operations specialists and customer service representatives.

Fairfield is a predominantly residential suburb, with a small north-eastern pocket remaining a light industrial area. Because it is situated on what many regard as the fringes of Melbourne's popular and much-revived 'inner city', gentrification has been strong, and property prices are high. To the south is the Yarra River and surrounding parkland, and the popular Fairfield Boathouse.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

BY TRAIN

Metro Trains Melbourne, known colloquially as simply 'Metro', is the franchise operator of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Australia. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between the Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (60%), John Holland Group (20%) and UGL Rail (20%).

Metro Trains Melbourne operates a fleet of 407 three-car train sets on 837 kilometres of track. There are sixteen regular service train lines and one special events train line. The train fleet travels over 30 million kilometres and provides more than 228 million customer boardings each year, over 14,000 services each week and carries over 415,000 passengers each weekday.

Metro Trains Melbourne is also responsible for 215 railway stations and employs a workforce of 3,500 rail professionals including train drivers, mechanical and electrical engineers, network operations specialists and customer service representatives. The actual railway tracks, infrastructure and rolling stock is owned by VicTrack on behalf of the State Government, and is leased to Public Transport Victoria which then sub-leases them to Metro Trains Melbourne.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.