MEL Airport Trainline delayed

[justinbrett]

I guess Skybus are happy.

Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan blames Melbourne Airport as airport rail delay confirmed - ABC News

amp.abc.net.au

 

[Scr77]

I guess Skybus are happy.

I guess our State is broke….

 

[ChillingDemon]

It reads to me far more like Melbourne Airport's operators are pushing for a much more expensive version of the station and the State government are playing hard-ball over it.

As I understand it, the airport want the station to be underground, and the State gov have said no to that. Certainly an underground station would be much more expensive, even if it seems cooler

 

[justinbrett]

As I understand it, the airport want the station to be underground, and the State gov have said no to that. Certainly an underground station would be much more expensive, even if it seems cooler is more like Sydney

Fixed it for you

 

[ChillingDemon]

Fixed it for you

Exactly! It seems like a bit of a pointless debate to me, just get the bloody line built.

 

[jrfsp]

I wouldnt have thought theres a whole lot of space around the terminal area for an above ground station, its congested as it is.

 

[justinbrett]

I wouldnt have thought theres a whole lot of space around the terminal area for an above ground station, its congested as it is.

It's elevated, similar to Brisbane.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Wasn't privatising Airports such a good idea!

 

[justinbrett]

Wasn't privatising Airports such a good idea!

Although it was privatisation that got train lines to SYD & BNE over 20 years ago!

 

[SeatBackForward]

Although it was privatisation that got train lines to SYD & BNE over 20 years ago!

Sydney's went bust as a private enterprise. And Brisbane's is one of the few PT operators in the world that runs at a profit. So I doubt whether its a private/public is the critical factor.

I can't recall the last time I used a taxi from Brisbane airport into the city, the train is so convenient.

 

[justinbrett]

Sydney's went bust as a private enterprise. And Brisbane's is one of the few PT operators in the world that runs at a profit. So I doubt whether its a private/public is the critical factor.

I can't recall the last time I used a taxi from Brisbane airport into the city, the train is so convenient.

The point was public funds were never going to be spent to build the infrastructure.

Brisbane's ran at a loss for a long time - there was talk about the government taking ownership. But then traffic got worse, tourism went up, and more and more people used it.

This is the forward thinking the governments should be doing, willing to take risks - but they don't.

 

[RooFlyer]

Although it was privatisation that got train lines to SYD & BNE over 20 years ago!

I've told this story before, so apologies those who have seen it.

I was in investment banking during the airport privatisations, and we were advising a Brit consortium who were looking at buying BNE and a few others. At the time AirTrain was just being built, or maybe planned.

During a meeting, one of the buyer principals asked - "If we buy Brisbane Airport, can we stop the train from stopping at our airport?"

Stunned silence. Eventually someone got the courage to ask "Why would you ...."

Answer - because of the $$ brought in by parking and taxi concessions (1997 remember). Now, that was just an off-the-cuff comment, but airport operators do sometimes have a unique way of looking at things.

They weren't the eventual purchasers.

[Another comment was how badly designed the new-ish Darwin terminal was. Having lived in Darwin, I thought it was great - very efficient. They were scathing about the lack of a maze of shops between check-in and the gates!!]

 

[justinbrett]

I've told this story before, so apologies those who have seen it.

I was in investment banking during the airport privatisations, and we were advising a Brit consortium who were looking at buying BNE and a few others. At the time AirTrain was just being built, or maybe planned.

During a meeting, one of the buyer principals asked - "If we buy Brisbane Airport, can we stop the train from stopping at our airport?"

Stunned silence. Eventually someone got the courage to ask "Why would you ...."

Answer - because of the $$ brought in by parking and taxi concessions (1997 remember). Now, that was just an off-the-cuff comment, but airport operators do sometimes have a unique way of looking at things.

They weren't the eventual purchasers.

[Another comment was how badly designed the new-ish Darwin terminal was. Having lived in Darwin, I thought it was great - very efficient. They were scathing about the lack of a maze of shops between check-in and the gates!!]

Surely BNE gets a healthy slice of the $15-20 station access fee

More than they'd get out of an Uber I would have thought.

 

[RooFlyer]

Surely BNE gets a healthy slice of the $15-20 station access fee

More than they'd get out of an Uber I would have thought.

It was a high level comment and probably the access fees weren’t nailed down yet. Well before Uber.

I’m not disagreeing with your sentiments - but I also heard some recent figures on the average annual revenue of *each* parking spot at MEL. Very tasty - I can see why the MEL management aren’t racing to get a train.

 

[jase05]

Have still never used the SYD or BNE train and most probably will never use the MEL one either. Even when doing day trips to Sydney for work I still prefer door to door service.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Have still never used the SYD or BNE train and most probably will never use the MEL one either. Even when doing day trips to Sydney for work I still prefer door to door service.

My wallet still prefers train and bus options.

Looking forward to the train being built to Melbourne airport, but may not occur in some peoples life time. Hopefully seat pitch is better than Skybus which is built for short people sitting upright to attention.

 

[jase05]

My wallet still prefers train and bus options.

Looking forward to the train being built to Melbourne airport, but may not occur in some peoples life time. Hopefully seat pitch is better than Skybus which is built for sort people sitting upright to attention.

Definitely better for the wallet but I’m not a fan of swapping trains/trams/busses constantly especially if I have luggage. I’m not a huge PT user at the best of times though

 

[justinbrett]

Have still never used the SYD or BNE train and most probably will never use the MEL one either. Even when doing day trips to Sydney for work I still prefer door to door service.

Depends where you are going.

When I lived at Bondi Junction, even when work gave me a cabcharge I stopped getting cabs to the airport. I once spent 90 minutes going from the airport to home on a Friday night. It's less than 30 minutes by train.

It wasn't about the money, the trains are just quicker. Quicker to the CBD too, usually.

Brisbane is debatable. Useful if going to the CBD, not so for most other places. But lots of people use it.

 

[jase05]

Depends where you are going.

When I lived at Bondi Junction, even when work gave me a cabcharge I stopped getting cabs to the airport. I once spent 90 minutes going from the airport to home on a Friday night. It's less than 30 minutes by train.

It wasn't about the money, the trains are just quicker. Quicker to the CBD too, usually.

Brisbane is debatable. Useful if going to the CBD, not so for most other places. But lots of people use it.

Yeah, I get that it works for many I’m just not one of those.

 

[jrfsp]

Have still never used the SYD or BNE train and most probably will never use the MEL one either. Even when doing day trips to Sydney for work I still prefer door to door service.

For SYD, BNE, and PER. The airport is pretty close to the cbd and travel time is usually as quick as the train. MEL is comparatively a lot further out so would benefit the most for a rail connection