Page Text: — ABC 774’s Jon Faine , 19/6/2008
The PTUA is continually working hard to get improvements made to Melbourne’s public transport system. Here are some highlights from our successes in recent years:
All-night trains on New Years Eve — PTUA lobbying before New Year’s Eve 2003/2004, together with our video footage of train and tram overcrowding provided to television media, ensured that the state government announced all-night train services for New Years Eve as part of its contract renegotiation process in April 2004.
Coverage of this story won Channel 7’s Jonathan Creek and the Herald Sun a joint Quill award from the Melbourne Press Club
The Box Hill tram extension — Constant lobbying by the PTUA ensured that the Box Hill tram extension became reality.
Craigieburn & Sydenham electrification — The PTUA has long advocated for the electrification of Craigieburn and Sydenham to ensure better public transport for these growing parts of Melbourne.
Increased weekend frequencies – Throughout the 1990s the PTUA succeeded in lobbying for significantly improved rail and tram services on Sundays, which occurred in July 1999, in most cases doubling service frequencies.
The Boronia interchange — PTUA campaigning in Boronia saved the suburb from being split in two by a lowered Dorset Road. Although the design commissioned by the PTUA was not the one finally used, the new bus/train interchange and lowered rail line is a great improvement.
Increased services on SmartBus routes — Without the PTUA, the Smartbuses along Blackburn and Springvale Roads would have consisted of just new electronic signs. PTUA lobbying ensured that the upgrade included increases to services too. The PTUA is continuing to lobby for more SmartBus routes.
More St Kilda trams on Sundays — in March 2007, PTUA highlighted via the local media, and direct to Yarra Trams, that route 16 trams to St Kilda Beach on Sunday mornings were regularly overcrowded, with some passengers being left behind at stops. Yarra Trams reviewed the situation, and upgraded services from every 30 to every 15 minutes.
Bikes on trains — in December 2007/January 2008, PTUA ensured that the government’s proposed ban on bicycles on peak hour trains got prominent media attention , and lobbying by both the PTUA and cycle groups headed by the Bin The Bike Ban campaign got the ban overturned.
Coverage of this story won the Herald Sun’s Geraldine Mitchell a Quill award from the Melbourne Press Club
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