FUTURISTIC MELBOURNE

Richmond

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:51:51 +1000

Current Situation
Richmond is the major station controlling all South-Eastern train lines of metropolitan Melbourne. With 10 platforms in total, each 158m in length, the five platform structures form the overhead bridge above Punt Road. The station complex and tracks also bridge Swan Street as the train lines head east. These aspects of the current design are extremely difficult to accommodate if any reconfiguration were to preserve the physical space limitation. Further, the overhead bridges and station structure are an iconic landmark of Melbourne.

The station includes the western-end subway that is used extensively for sporting and major events. When the external entrances are locked, the subway is still used as transfer between the platforms. The eastern subway connects passengers to the main entrance complex at the southern end and Swan Street, while the northern end provides direct access to Punt Road.

Station Redevelopment
The biggest consideration for redevelopments of Richmond in Futuristic Melbourne are the 10 railway tracks that lead westward to Flinders Street and the city loop.

For the purposes of Futuristic Melbourne, and in order to leverage the expertise that went into designing and implementing our current design of railway tracks and connections, signalling, etc... we will limit this redesign to the platforms only and assume that the distance required to preserve track connections will still be possible.

The underground rebuilding of the tracks leading to and from Richmond will deviate only in the configuration of the five platforms that support the 10 tracks. The five platform structures will be expanded to cope with and properly support large volumes of passengers. The actual location of the platforms and station is below the exact current location - with Punt Road immediately over the eastern side of the station.

Interchange Platform Configuration
The configuration of platforms and tracks retains the same set-up for through traffic of trains for all train lines. Instead, for the purposes of this reconfiguration, we will refer to each platform by their current number:
1. Platforms #7 through #10 (two central structures) on the first below-ground floor
2. A central mezzanine floor in between (1) and (3)
3. Platforms #1 through #6 (three central structures) on the second below-ground floor

It is also worth documenting that the total space occupied by the station from a birds-eye view of the deeper floor with three central platforms is the equivalent of the current station space. i.e. the current 10 tracks = future 6 tracks which means a lot more space for the central platforms.

The deeper platforms are connected by a middle common mezzanine area that is centrally accessible to all five platform structures via sets of escalators (three per each central platform) and sets of lifts (two per each central platform). This central mezzanine floor contains retailers, including a small size supermarket.

Station Access/Entrances
A total of 8 entrances lead off from the central mezzanine complex, in addition to entrances to other building/structure/complexes that are built in the immediate vicinity of the underground station:
1. North entrance corridor leads north under Punt Road to the North Foyer via a single-floor flight of escalators and lift. The North Foyer contains the ticket gantries, ticket machines and a ticket office. The North Foyer is positioned immediately under the Burton Avenue/Punt Road intersection. The foyer itself contains ground-level entrances:
a. A north-west escalator/staircase leading to the Richmond Football Club corner.
b. A south-west escalator/staircase leading to the south-west corner of the intersection
c. A single east escalator/staircase leading to the east side of Punt Road.
1. North-East corridor leads to the North-East Foyer via a single-floor flight of escalators and lift. The North-East Foyer contains the ticket gantries and ticket machines. The North-East Foyer is positioned immediately under the Margaret/Stewart Street intersection. The foyer itself contains ground-level entrances:
a. A north-east staircase leading to the north-east corner of the intersection.
b. A north-west staircase leading to the north-west corner of the intersection
1. South-East corridor leads up a single flight escalator/stairs to open foyer space within the rebuilt complex housing the Urban Edge Ceramics and Abbotsford Cycles businesses. The open foyer space houses the expected ticket gantries and machines. The main Richmond ticket office is located here. This underground storey of the complex includes additional direct entrances:
a. Corridor and staircase entrance on the south-east corner of Swan and Wellington Street
b. Corridor and staircase entrance on the south-east corner of Swan and Cremorne Street
1. South-West corridor leads up a single flight escalator/stairs to open foyer space within a new expanded sports complex. The open foyer space houses the expected ticket gantries and machines. Another ticket office is located here. This underground storey of the complex includes an additional direct entrance, via corridor and staircase on the south-west corner of Swan Street and Punt Road.

Other Complexes/Activity Areas
With the station being completely rebuilt underground, the ground surface is freed up for better use. The land on the east side of Punt Road (and north of Swan Street) shall be converted into a retail complex.

On the west side of Punt Road, the vast tracts of land freed up not only by the station, but also the tracks, is now available for use in the expanded Tennis Australia and MCG sporting complex.

The other redevelopment for the Richmond Station complex is to better integrated with the bus stops, which are currently located at the Swan Street intersection. The opportunity to also integrate the tram route into the mix is also there, and would possibly lead to grade separation of the tram line, perhaps via the current Punt Road overhead bridge and then connecting with Swan Street...

Holmesglen

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 19:45:23 +1000

Current Situation
Holmesglen today is a small railway station along the Glen Waverley line. It is strategically located to the west of Warrigal Road, with its southern boundary shared with Holmesglen TAFE. Part of its current design is the overhead bridge that supports the two railway tracks over Warrigal Road.

The central platform is fairly narrow, particularly at the western end, and it broadens out at the eastern end. Further, when examining the station aerially (Google Maps) it becomes obvious that the southern (city-bound) platform side is straight while the northern (outbound) platform curves to produce the widening effect.

The car-park facilities for the railway station are along the northern bank of the station, with the main entrance on Warrigal Road. A second entrance is provided from the side road Stirling Street. The other noteworthy feature of Holmesglen is the pedestrian overpass structure along the northern/outbound track bridge over Warrigal Road. On the east-side of Warrigal Road, the pedestrian track continues for a further 200m to Elliott Street. A ground-level crossing with the railway track connects Elliott Street with Collins Street on the south side.

Station Repositioning
The Glen Waverley line is rebuilt entirely underground. The alignment and positioning is also changed so that it is positioned slightly north of the Batesford & Warrigal Road intersection. The alignment of platforms runs at an angle slightly sharper than that of Batesford Road.

Interchange Configuration
As a metro interchange, a metro configuration applies to provide easy changing between the two lines and directions. Additionally, the design/configuration of other neighbouring interchanges applies:
1. Glen Waverley west (city)-bound, Warrigal south-bound
2. Glen Waverley (east) outbound, Warrigal south-bound

This configuration allows for quick transfer from the Glen Waverley and Warrigal lines, complementing the inverse configuration of Chadstone Interchange. The two central platforms are directly linked via escalator, lift and stairs. Both platform levels are also connected directly to the floor immediately below the road surface which contains:
• bus station, with bus lanes directly accessible from the train platform escalators (no ticket gantries in between)
• ticket gantries and machines
• 3/4 retail shops

Station Access/Entrances
Holmesglen Interchange has three ground entrances: two on the west-side of Warrigal Road and the other on the east-side in a redeveloped complex housing the local post office.

Holmesglen TAFE is directly connected to the below-ground station floor with roller-door entrance enabling the complex to restrict access as required based on different opening hours.

Of the two west-side ground entrances for the station, the northern one is located closest to the station, with single set of escalators leading from the sub-ground station floor, next to the Holmesglen TAFE entrance. The southern ground entrance is set further south, on the south side of the Batesford Road intersection, and is a simpler design - as a staircase only.

The eastern entrance is associated with the rebuilt strip of shops located along Warrigal Road, which is connected via a set of escalators and staircase.

Warrigal Metro

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:45:52 +1000

Motivation/Need
In metropolitan Melbourne, the importance of Warrigal Road is second only to Punt Road as a major North-South arterial route. This connector lies between the Nepean Highway at the southern end and Canterbury Road at the northern end, with the Princes Highway/Dandenong Road junction in the middle.

Route & Stations
Warrigal Road forms the backbone/basis for the Warrigal Metro in Futuristic Melbourne. In serving this North-South transport corridor, the key attractions that enhance the need for this metro are the major shopping centres - Southland, Chadstone, Box Hill and Westfield Doncaster.

1. Southland Metro (replacing Cheltenham)
The southern end of Warrigal Metro is the Southland Metro Interchange, which in Futuristic Melbourne is a realigned replacement to the current Cheltenham Railway Station.

2. Kingston Metro
The connection to the Warrigal Road alignment is via Argus Street, curving North under the Le Page school & park. Connection/alignment to Warrigal Road is achieved at the intersection of Warrigal Road and Kingston Road. It is at this location that the Kingston Metro station is positioned. The station/platform boundary is located on the North side of the Kingston Road alignment. Underground pedestrian walkways connect the station to:
• Kingston Centre at the south-east side of the station
• Entrance to the Corporate/Business complex at the north-east end of the station
• Entrance on the south-west side of the intersection Warrigal Rd & McGuire St
• Bayside Accident Repair Centre on the north-west side of the station

1. South Road Metro
Located under the intersection of Warrigal and South Roads. Escalator entrances to the metro are located on each of the four corners of the intersection.

1. Centre Road Metro
Located under the intersection of Warrigal and Centre Roads. Escalator entrances to the metro are located again at each of the four corners of the intersection. The north-west entrance connects to the Red Rooster/La Porchetta/McDonalds fast food outlets.

1. North Road Metro
Located under the intersection of Warrigal and North Roads. Escalator entrances are located at each of the four corners with the south-east entrance joining to the Safeway complex.

1. Oakleigh Interchange
Located at the physical junction of the Cranbourne/Pakenham railway alignment with the Warrigal Road/metro alignment. The dual tracks shall swap such that the North-bound track shall share a central platform with the West-bound track and vice versa for the second platform located immediately below. Read the details in the (future) article.

1. Chadstone Interchange
The four tracks merge in alignment to Chadstone. For details about the Chadstone Interchange read the article. The two Warrigal line tracks “swap” and merge in alignment with the Glen Waverley railroad switch that bends to the north-east towards Holmesglen Interchange.

1. Holmesglen Interchange
Holmesglen Interchange is positioned slightly north of the Batesford & Warrigal Road intersection. The alignment of platforms runs at an angle slightly sharper than that of Batesford Road, with three entrances, two on the west-side of Warrigal Road and the other on the east-side in a redeveloped complex housing the local post office.

1. Ashwood Metro
Following the Gardiners Creek reserve/alignment from Holmesglen, this section of the Warrigal line does have major implications and impacts on the environment. This is where the idealism kicks in, and somehow, magically, the metro line is constructed with minimal disturbance. Upon careful analysis of the map, the railway track alignment should follow the existing bicycle trail/track exactly, or slightly to the east, away from the creek itself.

The Ashwood Metro is located under High Street Road, with two entrances on both sides of the road. The Northern entrance includes a seamless link to the Nursing Home. A final third underground walkway heads eastward under High Street Road to provide two final escalator entrances - the northern one providing connection to Ashwood College while the southern entrance provides for access to the Gospel church.

1. Bennettswood Metro
Continuing along the path of Gardiners Creek reserve/bicycle trail, Bennettswood Metro is located at the intersection with Burwood Highway, between Elgar Road and the creek bridge. Bennettswood provides crucial access as the gateway to both the Presbyterian Ladies College and Deakin University Melbourne Campus. These two educational institutions also influence the location of entrances. The train station connects to a rebuilt underground tram platform and complete set of ground entrances at the Elgar Road intersection. The east-side ground entrances of the station are located at the Holland Avenue intersection providing direct access to Deakin University.

1. Box Hill South Metro
The Warrigal metro alignment deviates northwards away from the creek to align with the north-south axis of Station Street. The location of Box Hill South Metro is in between Stanley and Clifton Streets, directly under Station Street. This position allows for ground entrances to be located at the southern end at Piedmont Street, directly connecting to Kingswood College while the northern entrances link the four corners of the Canterbury Road/Station St intersection.

1. Box Hill Interchange
Box Hill Interchange remains intact, with the Warrigal tracks and supporting central platform positioned slightly to the west of Station Street and below the level of the present (unchanged) Ringwood/Belgrave lines. Additional underground passageways shall enable quick access to the interchange from Whitehorse Road.

1. Box Hill North Metro
This metro is located under the intersection of Station Street and Woodhouse Grove. Four ground entrances link the metro via stairs only. This station is a short walk to the Applewood Retirement Village.

1. Westfield Doncaster Interchange
The final section of Warrigal metro line follows the alignment of Tram Road and then deviates under the Officeworks complex so that the station is located directly under the Drum food-court wing of Westfield Doncaster. As an underground complex, entrances to the ground surface are included on the south side of Doncaster Road, providing a link between the Officeworks complex to the shopping centre.

Interchanges
The futuristic plans for the Glen Waverley see a number of new and/or redeveloped interchanges:
1. Westfield Doncaster - intersecting with the shopping centre
2. Box Hill - intersecting with the existing Ringwood/Belgrave metro line
3. Holmesglen - intersecting with the rebuilt/realigned Glen Waverley/Knox line
4. Chadstone - a brand new creation of a station, intersecting with the Dandenong and Warrigal metros
5. Oakleigh - intersecting with the Cranbourne/Pakenhan lines
6. Southland - intersecting with the shopping centre.

Glen Waverley Metro

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:42:04 +1000

History & Background
The Glen Waverley line today holds the record of being the last major train network work performed back in the 1930s. Its original track was laid out to Darling and the area around East Malvern was planned to be a part of the Outer Circle series of the then Melbourne Train network.

You can see the difference between the older Darling section and the newer "extension" in the way grade separation was inherent in the design of all track and stations from Holmesglen to Syndal.

It should be considered that originally that the train line had no direct raid competition - the South Eastern Freeway terminated at Toorak Rd while the Mulgrave Freeway built in the 1960/70s grew from the Dandenong side first and slowly extended further and further West until it finally reached Warrigal Rd.

When the Monash link between Toorak Rd and Warrigal Rd was built, politics and the then Caine/Kirner government upheld the "no new freeways" policy by including the three traffic light intersections of Toorak Rd, Tooronga Rd and Burke Rd!

The short-sightedness at government planning level was again evident when the Kennett government corrected the previous design flaw of grade separation for the three intersections. It was at this time when we again missed competent government and the opportunity to include the train line in the grade separation work...

So Melbourne has continued to pay the price for the politics played by 2/3 successive governments. The PTUA has published a detailed history of train management (or lack of) in Melbourne which acknowledges the effect of the new freeway in contributing to the decline of the Glen Waverley train line.

Current Situation
The Glen Waverley line currently suffers from too many level crossings. Compared to other lines, the spacing between stations is moderate, with the average time between stations being around 5 min. The land space and alignment of the line is related to the Gardiner Creek reserve which is also shared with the Monash Freeway alignment. The majority (9) of stations are designed with the tracks separating the platforms as opposed to a single middle platform (5).

Grade Separation & Realignment
The minimalistic approach to achieving grade separation would be to rebuilding all road intersections as overpass bridges over the existing ground-level track. At the other extreme is Futuristic Melbourne with the complete rebuilding of the line as an underground metro, including the modification of station platforms as necessary.

The program to rebuild the railway line as an underground metro line would commenced with the key interchange stations first, followed by all other stations.

Six roads currently intersect with the Glen Waverley line, all located on the older Burnley-Darling section of track. Each shall be discussed separately, and where applicable, shall be grouped with their accompanying rebuilt station as follows:
1. Madden Grove (new Swan St metro station)
2. Glenferrie Road / Kooyong Metro
3. Toorak Road
4. Realignment away from present Tooronga Road/Tooronga station > Tooronga Village Metro
5. Burke Road / Gardiner Metro
6. High Street / Glen Iris Metro

At Madden Grove, as part of the grade separation work, the creation of a brand new metro station “Swan St Metro” shall be built, allowing for convenient access to the GE Corporate Offices. This shall ease up the current inconvenience of pedestrian traffic along Swan St between Burnley and the GE offices.

For Tooronga, significant realignment of the railway track underground shall allow for the integration of Tooronga Village into the network. Naturally, the construction of the new metro shall run parallel and as part of the current building of the new Tooronga Village shopping complex.

Extension to Knox City/Ozone
Grade separation would be part of the extension beyond Glen Waverley to Knox City/Ozone. Plans have surfaced in the local media over the years of this kind of proposal; Futuristic Melbourne supports the idea in its own way, with the following additional stations:
1. Gallaghers Metro (intersection of Gallaghers Rd & High Street Rd)
2. Napier Park Metro (High Street Rd, near the Glen Waverley Nursing Home/Salvation Army)
3. Wantirna South Metro (Intersection of High Street Rd, & Cathies Lane)
4. Knox City Metro (Library side of the Knox City Shopping Complex)

The track alignment would largely follow High Street Rd and the course of Blind Creek from Cathies Lane to Knox City. The track between Glen Waverley Interchange and Gallaghers Metro would roughly be in a straight line under numerous properties which would make this part of the extension the most controversial and impacting on the local community. Indeed, this has been raised in the existing discussions of any future extension and has also been the main point of opposition to any future extension.

Interchanges
The futuristic plans for the Glen Waverley see a number of NEW interchanges:
1. Glen Waverley - intersecting with the new Springvale metro
2. Holmesglen - intersecting with the new Warrigal metro
3. Chadstone - a brand new creation of a station, intersecting with the Dandenong and Warrigal metros
4. East Malvern - intersecting with the Alamein metro

Chadstone

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:02:22 +1000

Current Situation
Chadstone Shopping Centre. An iconic destination known throughout Melbourne. The joint management between Gandel and AMP has over the years done a great job to continual upgrade the centre. As of 2010, the entire centre has been totally revamped and is unrecognisable from the original Myer complex that the Myer company first built in the 1960s.

Chadstone has played a big role in promoting use of cars as a preferred mode of transport. While buses do connect the complex to public transport, Chadstone has really thrived from the constant freeway upgrades. The 40 hour shopping tradition on 22-23 December turns the Warrigal Rd exit of the Monash Freeway and the local roads into bumper to bumper queues of cars in spite of the massive upgrades made to the Middle Rd entry to the complex.

Futuristic Public Transport Hub
Chadstone is already an activity centre. Arguably it is THE activity centre outside of the CBD in Melbourne. In addressing the lack of train connectivity and turning Chadstone into a premiere public transport hub the challenge is how any underground metro interchange can be optimally positioned for all connecting train lines.

In Futuristic Melbourne, Chadstone becomes a significant focal point for three existing lines and a brand new metro:
1. Glen Waverley
2. Dandenong (Pakenham/Cranbourne)
3. Alamein
4. Warrigal

The angle and curve of the Glen Waverley line is the most challenging to accommodate so to reduce the complexity, my design is for the station to act as a V end-point. That is trains will continue in a straight line from East Malvern to the Chadstone end point, at a 135-degree angle. To progress from Chadstone to Holmesglen the train will “reverse” onto a right-hand railroad switch that rotates about 90 degrees to the right so as to align with the current Holmesglen station. The “compromise” made by the Dandenong line requires the repositioning of Murumbeena station to further north, close to Dandenong Rd. The addition of the third Warrigal line can then follow this new track alignment to enable a triple series of interchanges Oakleigh > Chadstone > Holmesglen.
Also added on is the restoration of track extension between Alamein and East Malvern. This enables the Alamein track to follow the alignment of the new Glen Waverley line through to Chadstone for easy interchange.

Based on the above descriptions, the approximate placement of the Chadstone metro interchange is likely to be located under the current David Jones - Myer south wing. An additional three floors would constitute the metro station, with the bottom two holding the six tracks while the top floor providing the main station ticketing area. An additional mezzanine level would be positioned between the two lower floors dedicated to the Alamein platform.

Interchange Configuration
As a metro interchange, the three lines shall connect at Chadstone such that each station platform floor contains one platform for each line:
1. Glen Waverley west (city)-bound, Dandenong east-bound, Warrigal north-bound
2. Mezzanine level in between for the Alamein single platform/track terminus.
3. Glen Waverley east-bound, Dandenong west (city)-bound, Warrigal south-bound

This configuration allows for quick transfer from the Glen Waverley and Dandenong lines. The interchange to and from Warrigal line is not as important since the line shares additional metro interchanges with both lines, where the majority of transfers are likely to occur. Further, the single Alamein platform on a separate mezzanine level is designed since it too shares other interchanges besides Chadstone. The mezzanine concept makes the single platform/track easily accessible to both floors above and below.

Chadstone on Steroids
To further develop the futuristic ideal design of Chadstone means that land space shouldn’t be a constraint. So, the “steroids” here is the acquisition of all property south from Midlothian St and the Treyvaud Memorial Park. This includes all property in the Capon/Webster/Castlebar region to the east. Now when you look at a map of this area, this kind of land acquisition effectively doubles the entire space allocated to the Chadstone Shopping Centre complex!

Now, the immediate question that arises from this is what could you possibly fit into that space? What retailers could you add to Chadstone that aren’t already there... So, in my futuristic Chadstone the following retailers have joined the retail crazy that is Chadstone:
★ Ikea - as of June 2010 the rumour is that Ikea is building a second massive warehouse store in South East Melbourne. I merely link the two together...
★ 5-Star Hotel & conference centre
★ Two additional eating areas (food courts)
★ Big W department store
★ National Geographic Store
★ Apple Store (relocated & bigger!)
★ Harris Scarfe department store
★ Dimmeys Store
★ Airport Express Terminal complex for major airlines
★ Guggenheim Museum

This list of majors should highlight the diversity of experience that my designs seek to bring to the activity centre that is Chadstone. It takes the experience beyond retail shopping and makes Chadstone a much more attractive destination. I have identified a handful of key retailers who are not currently operating at Chadstone, but added in the non-retail businesses to add value to the Chadstone experience - the accommodation and conference facilities, art attractions and finally the airport express terminal.

The airport express terminal service is something I have read about overseas - allowing passengers to check-in at a central location separate to the airport itself. This service complements the hotel and conference facilities.