Modern Trains in Victoria: Modern Problems, Modern Solutions

As I was mindlessly scrolling YouTube recently, a video popped up discussing some of the problems of modern rail travel. And while it was talking about Britain specifically it still has relevance to how we view rail in Australia, and to be more specific, Victoria.

In the video Lawrie (and seriously, check out his channel; it’s one of the more entertaining on YouTube), identifies what he sees as the three main problems of the modern train: Cost, Convenience and the Experience.

These are issues I’d like to explore.

1. Cost

Trains are expensive to buy, run and maintain. The infrastructure required to keep the system running is similarly expensive. Any new investment in rail transport or routes takes years to see a return, if a return comes at all.

But, it is also much more efficient than any other method of transport yet discovered. Certainly, it is much better than road transport, where traffic, road wear and car maintenance are constant issues. And is much safer too, something that is not always considered in transport planning. So it is in Governments’ interests to make sure that people are encouraged to take a train as much as they possibly can. But, especially in a cost of living crisis, this cannot be done simply by making car travel more expensive. People still have the right to move around as they wish, and a car is an easier option for many trips. This, though, must be balanced by the simple truth that with road travel, more people equates to more wear and tear and more maintenance, which leads only to more costs. Cars aren’t cheap, but until a better solution comes up they will remain necessary, and therefore it is unfair to increase the costs associated with them (by much).

But there is another truth. With trains, more people using the service does not increase the amount of maintenance required, nor the costs involved. In fact, more people using the service should, in an ideal world, decrease the cost to the public, as costs are spread out amongst more people. Also, more people using the service increases the efficiency of that service, as more people are being moved at the same time, for basically the same amount of energy use.

In his video, Lawrie suggests that the price of driving is vastly cheaper in Britain than taking the train. In Victoria at least, this problem has been solved. $10 a day as a maximum is a perfectly reasonable price for rail. This price has also raised usage, which proves that with a competitive price, rail travel is an attractive option for people.

Something that needs to be considered though is a cheaper minimum; $5 is too high for short trips, and does turn people away from taking public transport for those kind of trips. The aim of any policy regarding transport has to be encouraging train travel for as many trips as possible.

2. Convenience

Lawrie identifies the main problem with rail travel is that it’s not as convenient as a car. There’s no way around it, this is true. A road can take you from where you live to where you want to go in warmth, comfort and your own bubble. It keeps you out of rain, cold and heat, and keeps you in control of your own life. You can leave when you want to; you’re not the slave of the timetable.

Even modern “turn up and go” services cannot replicate this convenience. And, in Victoria at least, these services are only going to exist on very specific suburban lines anyway. Most will not get them, and regional services will, most likely, never be in a position to get them.

And then, there’s the other problem, railways don’t get you exactly where you need to be, only in the general vicinity. Once again, there is no way around this problem. (Of course there needs to be an asterix here too; car travel rarely gets you exactly where you need to get to either. Finding parking right outside your destination is rare; most car trips will end up in a walk anyway.)

But railways can mitigate their disadvantages in a couple of ways. First, they must increase services and the coverage area of railways. Of course, to justify this, they need to increase patronage. But to increase patronage, they must first increase services. It’s an interconnected chicken and egg problem. Although, as we’ve seen, making rail affordable increases patronage too, and drives the need for more service frequency.

Increasing the range that trains travel is more difficult, because it involves changing the lifestyles of entire communities, which can’t be done quickly. Taking the train to a place where there is no train, and encouraging people there to use it, is not simply a case of ‘build it and they will come’. It requires much more planning than that. Car culture and dependency is a thing, and changing this to a culture of train travel requires making that travel a lot more attractive.

The problem of getting people to where they need to get to by train is harder to mitigate, but it can be done. First, cities, suburbs and towns must be made much more pedestrian friendly and walkable; a longer walk is much more doable without traffic everywhere. Secondly, various other types of public transport must be improved around stations. That means better buses, trams, taxis and even bike paths and infrastructure. More routes, more services and more options. This lessens the distance between stations and destinations.

3. The Experience

Modern rail travel is mostly a bland, beige, and boring experience. There is no adventure, no drama, no real story. Of course, this is by design. A commuter doesn’t really want drama or adventure on their way home. And no transport provider gets any extra kudos for providing that drama. So now all trains basically look the same, feel the same and work the same.

Modern trains are the triumph of function over form. Of ease of use over art. Of brains over beauty. But, I would suggest, trains can be both, and indeed need to be. And not only trains, stations too. Use the lessons of the past to make something that is of greater use to the public than just transport; make it art.

It was for this reason I was happy to see an advertised position for an artist for the new Marshall Station in Geelong. But, even there, while art is a part of the station, it’s not built into it. Architecture can be artful, and contractors and Governments need to realise this. Art lifts people up, art built into a functional building creates an experience. It’s the reason that grand railway stations became Cathedral like in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was all part of the excitement and experience - this has been a viewpoint that has been lost since car culture took over.

But back to the trains. The major problem with modern trains, especially in Victoria, is the move away from locomotive driven trains, with a rake of carriages, to Diesel Multiple Units or DMUs. All over the world, DMUs now have a similar design (it’s tried and tested and therefore uncontroversial), and they are quite efficient in moving people around. Some even look quite good and modern. But, there is nothing beyond efficiency in their design.

When steam locomotives were king, of course efficiency was still the first priority. But with that came a belief that looks are almost as important, especially from a marketing perspective. And certainly, the marketing gurus of the early to mid 20th Century knew how to make rail travel an experience. It’s them who came up with the idea of naming trains, them who made travel posters into some of the finest art nouveau, art deco and modernist poster designs to encourage people to take the train and them made the train as a symbol of a society moving towards the future. Just look at the Spirit of Progress; the design of that locomotive and that train was about more than just efficiency, it was about beauty.

That is what has been lost in modern train travel. It has become almost purely functional; there is no symbolism behind it. No feeling of adventure, no exploration. Of course, this is also a reflection on modern society, we know the world so well and are so interconnected, that travel is much less of an adventure than it used to be.

But, it is possible for modern railways to recapture at least some of the romance connected to the golden age of rail, while not sacrificing the innovations that have made rail travel more accessible for a greater number of people.

Solutions

Livery

First off, livery. Victorian trains have no identity right now. A few days ago V/Line celebrated 40 years of existence. When it was birthed, its main identifying factor was the striking Orange and Grey livery. Before that, the Victorian Railways based their identity on the blue and gold trains for country trains, and the red for suburban.

But what do we have now? No livery, just shades of grey and white with a little bit of accented, nondescript purple. Or washed out, generic blue on suburban stock.

Bringing back a unique livery will bring back some identity to the railways, at very little, real, cost.

And from there, more lessons from the past can be learnt.

Seating

Currently, seating on trains is similar to that provided by economy class airlines at worse, or an outdated bus at best. And while this is acceptable on suburban trains, and has been so for almost a century, on regional and inter-urban trains it is a shame. Or a disgrace, depending on how hyperbolic you wish to be.

This is another thing that can be easily solved.

Firstly, order and buy more carriages, to give passengers more room. Secondly, improve the layout of these carriages. Forget rows of seats, give passengers seats with usable tables and ample, proper leg room. Make the experience on the train as pleasant as possible. Remember, it’s not a bus, it’s a train.

Food and Drink

And bring back proper catering. Not just on trains, at stations too. The lack of any kind of cafe, refreshment room, restaurant or anything similar at Southern Cross station is an actual disgrace, there’s no hyperbole needed there. Fixing that problem is not difficult, it just requires a bit of political will.

But on trains themselves, catering is even more important. It emphasises the freedom of the experience. You can, mid-trip, get up, go for a walk and get food and a coffee, or something harder depending on your temperament.

On well designed trains, the specialty dining, club or cafe car allows you to eat there in peace, without having to disturb other passengers. No other form of transport (apart from ferries maybe) allows you this freedom.

Art and Culture

Bring back artwork on trains. Sure, in the Golden Age this was mostly tourist advertising, but today it could be so much more. When designing new carriages, leave space for artworks, and then commission artists to fill those spaces.

But also, don’t design trains simply for comfort. Design them with art in mind. Make something that is both beautiful and useful; that is, make trains nice places to be. Not only does this improve the mindset and mood of people on the train, it increases the number of people who want to experience train travel.

And think about how stations can be artful and nice places to be.

Station Design and Facilities

Let's talk about Southern Cross as the hub of the Victorian Rail network. It's horrible. It is not a pleasant place to be, lacks any charm and lacks the most basic feature a station needs, somewhere nice to wait for a train. But it also doesn't make the most of its striking architectural features, doesn't have easy access to any restaurants or cafes and the access to some platforms is very difficult.

It basically fails as a central station, and makes the start or end of journeys unpleasant, which makes the train trip similarly unpleasant.

And this is why design is important. Give every station a clean, comfortable and safe waiting room, give it a cafe with decent food choices and decent seating, give it art. Make them an inviting place that people want to be. This is a case of "build it and they will come". And start this 'revolution' (it's not really a revolution it's just realising what worked in the past, but that can be revolutionary too) at Southern Cross. Make it the true entrance to Melbourne; a station worthy of the city, and the start of a new movement that puts rail at the centre of Victorian planning.

Of all the problems that face the Rail network, Victoria has solved the first; Cost. In a lot of cases it has also solved the second problem, that of Convenience, or is at least on its way to solving it. But the actual Experience of catching a train is something that is currently lagging. And its a big problem to solve. But by solving it, the rail network may get back some of the magic that it has lost over the last 50 years.