I remember when Oakleigh with its 3 platforms was a terminus and start for this line V/R trains used to stop here on their way to Spencer st last place I ever caught a red ratteler from

HCMT isn't approved for all the platforms at Flinders Street. I can't recall which ones are allowed, but probably just the four you mentioned. On the East Pakenham / Pakenham East, I'm not an expert but I suspect it's partly due to "PKE" already being used for the depot, which is a very different place to the East Pakenham Station (likely to have its own code, maybe "EPK"?). That, plus "East X" seems to be the naming convention for stations (such as East Malvern, which is in the suburb of Malvern East). Regardless, North Melbourne uses NME / NMS for the station and sidings respectively, and Newport has NPT (station), NPS (stabling) and NWS (workshop). Most depots or sidings share names with stations, but not the 3-letter codes.

@someone2552

4 ай бұрын

Ringwood East seems to be the exception.

Cheers for mentioning ballarat

Just Belgrave and stony point to go, I think right?

@helicoptermn1463

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, im pretty sure

@thelionking219

4 ай бұрын

The 3 level crossings at McGregor Road, Main Street and Racecourse Road in Pakenham will be grade separated this year by building 2.5 kms of skyrail with a new elevated Pakenham Station. Also they are extending the metro line 2 kms to a new East Pakenham Station which will be completed this year.

@helicoptermn1463

4 ай бұрын

Wow

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Yes

Narre Warren presently is under construction as an elevated station to cater for the High Capacity trains and is slated to be opened at the end of March - which may mean sometime in April.

I know it's on the Cranbourne line but let's not forget that dreaded express morning service that runs express Caulfield to Oakleigh, then the awful express Oakleigh to Clayton. Why they have a morning service (esp so close to 8am when some classes start) where Huntingdale is skipped, I will never know, I know it caused me to be super late when I was already running late at least a handful of times.

At last the time has come

Great video. To my understanding, the reason that whole line doesn’t have CBTC relates to the fact that HCMTs operate in an automated mode when using CBTC. The train drivers union feared that this would give metro a reason to pay drivers less because of the reduced skill level required. So an agreement was reached so that CBTC would only be in place on part of the line.

@danielmolino661

4 ай бұрын

From my understanding the CBTC wasn't implemented past Westall and West Footscray as a cost saving measure and the Metro Tunnel project initially had the CBTC going from Dandenong to Sunshine.

@kyletopfer7818

4 ай бұрын

Will Sunbury-Cranbourne/Pakenham have any LXs remaining in future? If not just automate it, it's faster and can run higher frequency.

@danielmolino661

4 ай бұрын

The last one to go on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will most likely be Webster St in Dandenong towards the back end of next year. There will still be a handful of pedestrian crossings though (Hughesdale, Clayton, Berwick, Beaconsfield and Officer). I am not exactly sure about the Sunbury line. Automation won't work as freight and Vlines services will run past South Yarra and Sunshine on either end of the line. They have adapted the CBTC enough on the Dandenong corridor to allow for normal signalling use for vline and freight whilst allowing the HCMTs to use CBTC.

@kyletopfer7818

4 ай бұрын

@@danielmolino661 yeah true, good points.

@angusmorris4154

4 ай бұрын

@@kyletopfer7818 Can't automate due to shared tracks with V-line and freight, but not off the table for the future

This is my home line, so I'm glad you finally covered it. I know a lot about the history of the line as I've used it for about 20 years now. The Pakenham line also shares it's tracks with the Gippsland V/Line service, which is currently the only V/Line service to run east. Due to that they must depart from platform 15/16 only from Southern Cross as they're the only V/Line through platforms (excluding platform 8). Before the regional rail link, this used to be from platform 8 only. Pretty convenient as you don't have to worry about a last minute platform change to the other side of the station like all other V/Line services. The Pakenham line is also the longest in the Metro electrified network, so as a bonus if you are traveling to/from Pakenham station, you are allowed to use a V/Line Gippsland line service which is great if you want a quicker run to/from the city, though it's can also be a bad thing during peak hour as V/Line services on the Dandenong group are the slowest due to the high amount of Metro traffic and no real passing tracks outside of Westall on the line up to Dandenong. There used to be another bypass track at Oakleigh but it got ripped out when the Carnegie to Hughesdale Skyrail was built, which was a big mistake during that build not to include a third track. The Pakenham line also used to be electrified up to Traralgon starting in the 1950s, however was scaled back to Warragul in the 1980s, and then scaled further back again to Pakenham in 2001, which I believe is the only reduction ever done to an electrified line in Victoria. There's clips on KZread of Comeng sets running to Warragul during that time, as well as V/Line's old L-class electric locos (hence the reason platform 8 at Southern Cross is electrified). It's a shame they didn't keep the overhead wires beyond Pakenham, in hindsight it was a bit of a backwards decision to remove all of it, as we could have had electric Vlocity sets for the line (which would be easy to make as Adelaide's suburban trains are based on the same Bombardier design and were also built in Dandenong just like the Vlocity). The new East Pakenham station will also mark the first extension on the electrified network that was also previously electrified. Thankfully a bypass track is being built at East Pakenham for Gippsland services to overtake. It's amazing how much has changed in the last 10 years on the Pakenham/Cranbourne lines, by the time all is said and done, there will be nine station rebuilds to remove level crossings, a new station to extend the terminus, and 5 more new stations in the CBD, so we've gone from one of the most run down and neglected lines to one of the best. Too bad it still runs through the crack capital of Melbourne otherwise known as Dandenong lol.

@danielmolino661

4 ай бұрын

Note that you can't use all Gippsland bound Vlines to get to Pakenham anymore as two of the down evening peak services are now pick up only but these are the only two like this at this stage. They are the services which depart Southern Cross at 4:17pm and 5:38pm and arrive at Pakenham at 5:25pm and 6:57pm respectively whilst another service between these two actually runs express through Pakenham. Yeah, the passing tracks at East Pakenham will be handy and will hopefully remove the bottleneck at Pakenham. Sometimes you get a quick run into platform 2 at Pakenham whilst other times you have to sit and wait until other trains depart.

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing :)

oh wow, 0:52 set 24 before it got the aboriginal livery!

could you link the photo you found of the comengs pushing the failed t set?

@kenodbogoda9546

4 ай бұрын

Yes we would like to see it

westall station i do remember tracks went to the Nissan // volkwagon plant !!!

so many hcmts btw what is your favourite big bash league cricket team

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Stars

@Nevergonnagiveyouup504

4 ай бұрын

@@StrayaTrains same i like maxi

How do you make the thumbnail?

@tonnyyyyyyyyy2

4 ай бұрын

victransport muckup

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Yes. App mentioned in below comment

straya trains have you met ELVIS at Hughesdale station ?

@woodypeckerspec4265

4 ай бұрын

Taz

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Haha yes I have met him before

@hilarybadger1231

Ай бұрын

I see him all the time, Hughesdale is my local station so I often stop and talk to him, he’s always saying hi to everyone 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

Why do you go Wwwwwwwwwwwelcome back toooooooooo out of curiosity

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Tradition

@JTransport

4 ай бұрын

@@StrayaTrains fair

STONY POINT PLEASE

@NickxCharlie4life

4 ай бұрын

he touched on it in the frankston video, but personally i want the same video

@StrayaTrains

4 ай бұрын

Will try

The Pakenham line is way too long it should be the Dandenong line or the Springvale line

theres some kid named "supremetrains" who is framing you

@theeverythingman1060

4 ай бұрын

It’s a pain