The dreadful So Cross Station

I didn't know but I was at Southern Cross Station on the last day of operation for the H Class train carriages. I still think of the station as Spencer Street and I expect one day a government will receive praise for returning the original name. 

H Class carriages are hauled by a locomotive, mostly between So Cross and Seymour but at times to Geelong. They were built at suburban passenger carriages in the 1950s. In the 60s with my early train experience, the blue Harris trains were luxury suburban travel compared to older red rattlers. They were so smooth and so quiet, so quiet because they were packed with asbestos. In the eighties it was decided that asbestos filled train carriages weren't a good idea and most of them were buried at a rubbish dump pit. 

A few were kept, the asbestos stripped out, air conditioning added, and renovated to a standard suitable to travel on the regional rail network. They were quite a comfortable train for regional passengers in spite of their age. 

I am quite chuffed that I accidently took a photo of the H Class carriages on their last day of service. I had noticed a couple of lads taking photos of the train, so now I know why.

The reason for taking the photo was to demonstrate the purple colour used for VLine regional services. Blue is used for suburban train services, green for trams, orange for buses. So why does this destination board use an orange/red as a headline colour for VLine services. It should be purple. I do like that it uses 'Country Departures', rather than Regional Departures. 

So, I was travelling to Sunbury using a Bendigo train. I was outside at the upper level of the station and I had six minutes to get to the train. Simple, enter the station, check the platform number and drop down using the escalator to the platform. Ah, platform 8B. That's a bit of walk. In fact it was a walk from Collins Street to I estimate Lonsdale Street being only a short three carriage train. A lad ran past me to catch the train. I can't run. I purposefully strode along the platform and the train conductor held the train for me. The door closed behind me and we were off. There wasn't a single seat of two available so I sat next to someone. Without a window seat, it wasn't a pleasant trip. It was the same on the return journey, a short three carriage train with all window seats occupied. 

My issue is that I would have left the 58 tram at a different stop and that would have meant much less walking to Platform 8B. I checked the PTV app, the VLine app and I could not find out which platform the train was leaving from in advance. 

This person did not enjoy her Southern Cross Station experience. She is right about some things. It is hard for someone who knows how things work to understand what it is like for a stranger. It is hard for someone like me who thinks they know how things work and doesn't. Transport for London seems to understand this and uses strangers to test wayfinding for its services. 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/southern-cross-station-s-user-experience-is-an-epic-fail-here-s-how-to-fix-it-20240207-p5f32f.html

So Cross Station is not an easy station to use. It is modern grim, full of closed retail outlets, full of commercial advertising, very busy, full of diesel fumes from idling trains, bound to leave an asthmatic gasping for air. Worst of all, very confusing.

Maybe our State Government should take back control of the station from the private company.