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Railmaps

@railmaps.com.au

3.3K followers 780 following 4.4K posts

Publisher of rail maps & public transport timetables. Photographer, public transport advocate and enjoyer of irony and life’s little incongruities. Ethics matter more than politics.

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Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · Jun 17

You know he’s an idiot, I know he’s an idiot, we all know he’s an idiot

We all know everyone knows we all know he’s an idiot. And you all know exactly who I’m talking about.

It’s time to break the kayfabe
Surely, regardless of our politics, we can all agree it’s not good to have an idiot in power

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 10h

That drove the date, but not the choice of how the soft opening runs, and that's the main problem. It's a very conservative choice. Either they were over-conservative and are unnecessarily wearing the costs and reputation hits, OR, the decision is appropriate for a technical reason we don't know.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 10h

Thank you!

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 10h

As of this afternoon, the real time functionality for VLine trains is now working on railmaps.com.au for all VLine train timetables.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 15h

And it is unnecessary. A better, low risk, more impressive soft opening would have been to just divert the 6 current off peak trains per hour from the East Pak/Cranbourne lines into the Tunnel. It would have given 10 minute intervals from day 1 and avoided the risks of inter-working they'll now cop.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 15h

Today's historic pic: 36 years ago today, carriages stabled on a trainless Sunday at Auckland, NZ, October 8 1989.
Suburban trains now bypass this station to and from Britomart, but the few long distance trains now depart from Strand station roughly on this site.
Can anyone identify these carriages?

Taken from the edge of a railway yard in a downtown location, rakes of green and white liveried narrow gauge passenger carriages sit stabled. Downtown office and industrial buildings are in the background.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 15h

In truth, both.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

It's terrible PR.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

Ah there it is!

A VANA exercise book

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

So, even though I’ve been waiting for decades now, just like that schoolkid doodling in exercise books, I can still hardly believe it will happen. The next couple of months will crawl.

Now, where’s my VANA? I need to draw the next diagram.

(end)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

Yes, I was disappointed yesterday at the meagre 20 minute frequencies that will run from opening day. But that setback will eventually fade into history once the broader network changes come in from February, and in the overall scheme of things, the Tunnel is opening!
(11/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

And from what I saw at Arden and Anzac stations on those public open days, MetroTunnel is going to be spectacular. More impressive than the City Loop, and it will every bit as good, and better, than we've imagined.
(10/12)

Image of the above ground brick skew arch at Arden station when under construction on an open day in 2022.

Image of the below ground foyer at Anzac station, looking upward towards the roof on an open day in July 2025.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

I've not had the privilege of visiting the downtown stations, but I have seen Arden and Anzac stations on public open days. Those visits brought back very fond memories of a public open day I attended in about 1980 at the under-construction City Loop Museum station (now Melbourne Central).
(9/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

Yesterday, I got to publish, on my website, an updated version of my Melbourne train and Tram map showing services from early December – including MetroTunnel.

I got to publish that map from the VANA exercise book. And it’s real.

(8/12)
railmaps.com.au/melbourne_dr...

Screencap of downtown section of my December 2025 Melbourne train and tram map, showing Metrotunnel running north-south in its mid blue colour.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

But it was just a fantasy. It would not and could not ever happen. Nah, no way. Not in little ol’ Melbourne. Could it?
Life went on, but I never forgot that diagram in that VANA exercise book. But sometimes, if you wait long enough, dreams do come true.
(7/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

But then I asked, what comes after the Loop? I grabbed my VANA Exercise book and drew a new map of the city loop, and it also had a north-south line running across the city, with interchanges at Flinders Street and Museum stations. I had drawn #metrotunnel in the mid 1970s
(6/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

I drew hundreds of City Loop diagrams, experimenting with line colours, station styles, interchange symbols and all the rest. I probably spent too much time on it to be quite honest, both inside school time and out. My friends thought I was weird – nobody else cared a jot.
(5/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

But back to Melbourne #metrotunnel. Why is it so special to me?

Well as a youngster in the 1970s, I eagerly followed construction of the Melbourne City Loop. This was going to be Melbourne’s Circle Line, and it meant a map looking like the London UndergrounD could be drawn
(4/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

That website is still going today, it'll turn 30 next year, and I’ll keep it going forever if I can. But the massive improvement in official rail network diagrams since then has removed one of the reasons for me starting it in the first place. And I think that's brilliant! (3/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

I've been drawing rail diagrams all my life. In 1996, I started the Australian Rail Maps website. I wanted to make it easier to understand Australian train travel and to show how Australian cities could have beautiful rail network maps just like great cities overseas.
(2/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

Melbourne #metrotunnel is special to me.
And with yesterday’s announcement, I want to now tell you why in a thread.
I love rail maps. Inspired by Beck’s London Underground diagram since a youngster, I've long thought every big city needs a map and an UndergrounD just like London (1/12)

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 16h

The way they've done it is higher risk and lower benefit I'm afraid.

Reposted by Railmaps

Rob Arnol @robertarnol.bsky.social · 19h

Timeline cleanse.

This deadly gingin jarjum.
🖤💛❤️

Keeping culture strong.

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 19h

Pardon my ignorance here from this side of the Pacific Ocean, I don't mean any offence, but what are the stereotypes about women of colour that is this breaking? Why wouldn't any young woman want to be a ballerina?

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 20h

See here:

yarratrams.com.au/media/3krceo...

yarratrams.com.au

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 1d

It works!

Realtime data for VLine trains is now on railmaps.com.au

Only currently working for Geelong & Ballarat lines (for reasons at my end). I'll add other lines in coming days.

Check it out here: railmaps.com.au/routedetails...

Click on column headings to see real time updates for each train

Scrrencap of VLine Geelong line train timetable from railmaps.com.au website, with popup timetable for the 21:27 Waurn Ponds to Melbourne train showing real time updates on its progress.