Brother ugh

The train was already 10 minutes late departing from Southern Cross, now stuck on the train (haven’t even gotten to Footscray yet). And no announcements from the VLine staff as to why we’ve been stuck in the one spot for the last 20 minutes…

UPDATE: And now this express train is terminating early so 70% of the passengers need to get off and wait for another train…

Hey guys, I’m always travelling to Melbourne from Geelong for university and I just got diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and it’s always so busy on the trains, i have been trying to take earlier trains but it’s still so packed and the seats are always taken, after an hour of standing I really struggle and feel like I will pass out, I have been really struggling a lot because or it, but I’m a very non confrontational person and very anxious, so I don’t how to ask someone to give up their seat and do I need proof? What if they don’t give their seat up because it is an invisible disability.

I seem to recall Southern Cross having a Hungry Jacks, I think I saw a bloke drop his Coke there once

And Flinders has a nice cafe PM

So it’s a ‘full length’ train, not peak hour and already overcrowded. V/line clearly not keeping up with Tarneit and Wyndham Vale demand. I was supposed to work on the train. Luckily I can sit on the floor!

'No trains departing platform 2 for the next hour'... except that one right there

Does this train actually exist because I was at Wyndham Vale today and Friday - both days it was late and departed closer to the 5:38pm than 5:26pm as shown.

Both times a train from the city terminated there just before the service so I’m honestly puzzled.

Why don’t they just cancel it or change the timetable? People wouldn’t rush to catch a train that’s always seemingly late

Thought it was pretty cool seeing a Metlink platform sign as you don’t see many on platform signs compared to the other signage you see around the city with the old branding.

Hi everyone. I’m planning a trip to Australia for next year, traveling the Melbourne–Sydney route. My plan was to see the koalas at Kennet River and the Twelve Apostles, and maybe visit the outback a bit further inland. I came across information about "V/Line" and how you pay very little for transport across the entire state. Is this true, and does it apply to tourists as well? How does it work? Can I reach these places that way, or do I need to rent a car? I’d never heard of this before and find it hard to believe, given how expensive Australia is. Please let me know! 😃

Just as the track fault at Southern Cross Station was fixed…

A train fault at Sunbury around midday today has suspended the entire line

I have created an animation of all VLine revenue services using Claude AI.

It gives an interesting perspective of what trains are running on the network at any given time.

Zoom in and click on a service to follow it.

Zoom out and see the network as a whole.

https://docstash.ai/d33dc3

Don’t bother with the Geelong line this morning, all services seem to be getting cancelled.

After a few months out of work, I am about to return to the daily commute (and no doubt will start to reconsider my decision to decline the offer for a Geelong based job…) and am curious if the new station has made any difference at all for Geelong commuters? Like do the trains skip one of them and have half of those passengers compared to before? Or is it still just as bad?

Also very concerned about the number of delay and cancellation notifications I’ve been seeing recently - I definitely haven’t missed having to deal with those. 😩

3 cars in peak hour is cruel. Why the hell would you take 3 cars off at 5 pm. heading out the southern cross. It felt like my knees would dislocate the whole trip.

Coming home from Melbourne to Waurnponds this afternoon and couldn't belive my eyes when I saw a Vlocity on the up line to Werribee as we approached the flying junction between Wyndham Vale and Little River. It was closer, but I had to get my phone out to take the photo.
I thought you couldn't take trains that way as nobody has been trained to do it for years.

What's the go with the four seaters? Are they designed for group seating?

Can anyone explain the logic behind sitting in a four seater as a lone traveller when there are plenty of available two seaters? My brain can not rationalise the choice.

Sure in an empty carriage, yeah why not sprawl? But as a default when there's plenty of people, it just seems a bit selfish. Am I missing something?

I've noticed usually only the one seat is taken without placing belongings on the others, leaving the other three empty. So it doesn't seem to be a desire for space.

Even when travelling with multiple young kids, no one offered to move to a two seater so we could sit together. Even after we encroached and filled the other seats with kids they remained. Sure, I know I could ask them to move, that's not my point.

I'm just trying to understand the thought process. Is it loneliness, and a hope for some connection? Super sensitive claustrophobia? Desparation for that tiny bit of extra leg room? Is there actually just not really any thought to it at all?

Anyway, I've had a trawl through here and didn't come up with much. But I really really wanna know. 👀

If this is you and you're a serial four seater snagger, I promise I don't hate you. I'm just disappointed. Kidding. But seriously I'd like to understand. What other factors are involved in reaching this decision? Thank you in advance for enlightening me. 🙏

Just a warning that they have stopped trains from southern cross at Ballan due to tree on tracks between Ballan and Ballarat (12pm). I was able to jump into a taxi that had dropped a train driver off to drive a train back to southern cross. They were scrambling to get buses to pick everyone up. If you are in Melbourne check if it’s been cleared before you get on a train to come back to Ballarat

Has anyone else noticed an influx of authorised officers on Geelong Vline trains? I have been regularly commuting on the same services for ages and have recently noticed that groups of AOs will be present on the service, often checking mykis at the same time as a Vline staff member. The Vline staff have almost always done this on their own in my experience and are so understanding when something has gone wrong for someone, often tapping on their myki for them if they forgot. My experience of AOs has been almost universally negative, they use intimidation to try and get people to behave which makes so many people feel unsafe.

Today a woman had a fully topped up and valid myki and said she thought she had tapped on correctly but the reader seemingly said she hadn't, and instead of just tapping her on the AO sat down across from her and essentially leaned over her, going on about how it is an offence in a very aggressive tone. He was using the same machine as the Vline staff do, and didn't even MENTION the fact that he could tap her on to fix the mistake. The Vline staff member then came down the aisle and quickly tapped her on after witnessing the conversation.

Anyway, I don't really know what result I am looking for other than to find out if anyone else has noticed this. I'm not a fan.