I have visited several railway stations during my campaign. Its a great opportunity to meet and hear from locals on their way to work and to highlight the many opportunities to improve our public transport system.
At South Kensington, accompanied by my partner Sally, daughter Georgia and volunteers, we had a pleasant morning handing out information to commuters.
This busy station is now unstaffed, and the "hole in the wall" vending stall - along with all the facilities - toilet, office and kiosk - are permanently closed. It would be great if you get a coffee, a croissant and a newspaper on your way to work.
There are too few trains stopping at South Kensington, even during busy commuting times. This means you need to plan your trip to avoid a lengthy wait, rather than just go to the station and get on train within a few minutes, as you can in London, Paris, Milan, Rome and Zurich.
There was a better service at South Kensington 80 years ago. In 1929 Melbourne's population was less than 1 million, and there were 16 trains on weekdays between 6:54am and 9:03am - an average of one every 8 minutes
In 2010 (with our population over 4 million) there are just 10 trains over the same period - an average of one every 12.7 minutes.
After 9:05am there are trains every 20 minutes.
This is not good enough. In Parliament, I would work for a better public transport service.
There were also many cyclists riding past the station using Childers St as a transit route, yet there is no bike line or route markings for what is obviously a popular bike path. I would work to make Melbourne a more bike-friendly city.
Afterwards, breakfast in Bellair Street, Kensington.
My campaign car - a Blade Electron Mark V electric vehicle
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The State Government, as a part of their Victorian Transport Plan, have recently informed residents that parking on the railway-side of Childers Street would be removed (near the station only) and marked bike lanes would be on both sides of the street.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this 'designated cycling route' also includes the footbridge at Arden St. Hardly appropriate for hundreds of cyclists.