As Rick and I do not yet have a car to get around the city, we have been relying on the Melbourne train system to get us from place to place. Now we are both relatively intelligent people and are capable of making adequate transportation arrangements for ourselves, but what we didn't count on was the crazy and kooky Melbourne train system! It seems to have been created to thwart us at every turn. On paper it looks relatively simple, with all lines radiating out from the Flinders Street station hub! What it does not tell us, however, is the intricate daily interweaving of each train line - changing seemingly at will from one track to another on successive days, changing from an "all stations stop" train to a "limited express", changing direction on its route at different times of day, changing from a train travelling down the entire length of the line to one that goes down only down a partial line! Thus we have made it a challenge to try to master its complicated system. With four separate blue schedule planners in hand, plus the "Melbourne's Guide to Myki" pamphlet plus the "Metlink Fares and Travel Guide", we set out for school or desired activities each morning, afternoon or night. So far, after a fortnight of riding trains, we have still to make sense of the system! The redeeming factor is that the Melbourne people who ride the trains plus the Metro staff who are usually around the station platforms are always more than helpful to set us in the right direction and to steer us onto the correct train! And an added great bonus has been the weight loss we have achieved, running from one platform to another when we have less that one minute to catch that train!! I exaggerate, you say? Let me recount....
First day on the train - we arrive at our station stop with our newly acquired Australian “notes” (paper money), to discover that coins only are required to purchase a daily ticket. What to do? When the train arrived we confessed our lack of correct change to the driver, and he told us to hop on the train gratis. At Flinders station, as the train was switching drivers, he actually walked up with us to the Metro information booth and told us to explain to the ticket agents that "John had told us it was OK to drive for free". We were grateful - Kindness # 1!
Second day on the train - already nervous because we were going to a very important government orientation meeting, we started off on the wrong foot by missing the first train, which arrived somewhat EARLY at our station. So, after waiting what seemed to be an interminably long time, we boarded the next train, hopefully to go to Parliament station. Alas, the train went only as far as Flinders Street, one stop prior to the required station, which meant we had to change trains and tracks. Running along, we saw that the second desired train was already on the platform. I bounded in, and the door closed...right onto Rick's hand. Of course I screamed...the only sound in an otherwise silent car full of passengers. Fortunately, Kindness Number 2 occurred...the train driver opened the door to allow safe passage onto the car for Rick and his hand, which thankfully was not injured! Then the new train departed, but changed direction going around the city loop the opposite way, now stopping again at stations we had already visited, before finally arriving at the desired Parliament station! We were frazzled and exhausted before we even met the government officials!
If you came in on a train on Track 10, would it not make sense for the train to go back home on Track 10? Of course that is what we thought one evening after tennis. Confidently we headed to the track, just to find that we were the only passengers on the platform!! The notice board read "Train not taking passengers”! Shocked, we headed up to inquire, thinking that we would have to spend the night at Flinders Street Station, just to find that the trains had now moved to Track 4 for the night runs! And then we couldn't even take all the usual lines, because some were now on "limited express”, meaning that they would run right past our desired station without stopping!
Now if I were to take the same train daily at the same time each morning, I naturally assumed that the train would always follow the same given routing. First day of school, and I had been told to take the 7:27a.m. getting in to Flinders on Track 10, transferring via the tunnel to Track 8 for the next train. No problem, worked like clockwork! Wouldn't you think that this would be the same pattern each successive day? Surprise happened the same time next day, when we came in on Track 9 instead. Upon exiting, I discovered that the my train was actually the desired second train I needed and I would not need to transfer at all, but just re-board the same train! Wow - I was hoping for this arrangement every successive day. Alas, on the third day, I came in on Track 13 - now this was a new and rather unusual one, seemingly in the bowels of the huge station. I rushed out to track 8 for the transfer, just to find it pulling away from Track 9. Next train came along and promised to stop at my desired Caulfield stop, but it was unusual, just going partially along the same track as a "limited express" to a station that was not even designated at all as the end of a line. Go figure?! If you can't figure things out by reading this, then you know just how I felt actually taking this train. I have not found the "Cheltenham" train since!
Homeward bound after school was not much better! Track 3 train was a "limited express" getting me back to Flinders Street station in record time. On successive days, however, the trains have left from Track 1 or 3 without rhyme or reason as to whether they are the slow or fast-tracked trains! But I do get home eventually!!
Next came a real peculiarity - the decoupling train! We boarded the needed homeward train at Flinders one evening, just to be told to exit it again. Then the announcement told us that the train would be divided into two trains - the first three cars were what we needed to take and the last three cars would make a train going a different line! How to count the cars accurately to ensure that we were on the right portion? We did manage to get home.
Allow me to conclude with the best story yet. We had taken a bus tour to Phillip Island, arriving back at the Flinders station at 12:23 a.m. Now we had taken a late train before on a Saturday night after a movie with no incidence, so we were not worried about catching a train home. What we didn’t realize was that it was Sunday, and trains operate on a reduced number of runs that day. When we arrived, we found several train officials milling around a train already on the platform, but with no designated route for it up on the notice board. Upon asking them if this was our correct train, we were informed that we had missed the last train to our South Kensington stop, and that this train was the very last train of the entire night, running past our stop but NOT stopping there. Our dilemma caused great discussion amongst the officials. If we were to stop at the stop prior to our home station, there would be no place for us to call a taxi to take us home from there. If we went to the stop following our home stop, the area was not deemed safe for us to walk at night. What to do? It was decided that the officials would call for a taxi to meet us at the North Melbourne station. When we alighted there, we began to walk to the exit, the lone passengers in this cavernous station! Suddenly the officials called us back, knocked on the train driver’s window, and asked whether he would consider making a special stop for us along his route. After getting the go ahead from the dispatcher, he agreed and we clambered again onto the same train. As we drove off, an announcement came over the loudspeaker, advising the other passengers in the six cars of the train that there would be an unscheduled stop to let some travellers find their way home safely. We were greatly embarrassed, but as we exited, we were sent off with smiling passengers all giving us the thumbs up sign, Kindness #3 - the great Melbourne train system, and driver Bill in particular, had moved the transportation wheels to assist stranded passengers!
Now I am riding the train daily with more confidence – reading the newspaper or a book, feigning sleep when the heart is palpitating underneath, trying to look or act as cool and calm and composed as all the local Melbournians riding the train. Have I succeeded yet? Well, this morning I hardly flinched when a train from yet a different train line stopped to take me to my usual school station! Will we ever get regularity? Will we really be able to conquer the Melbourne train system in the mere year that we are here? I have decided that it doesn’t help to try to figure everything out in an orderly or methodical fashion – just go with the flow, take a deep breath, and hope for the best! And when in doubt, ask!
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