Why Did The Kew Line Fail?
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- čas přidán 5. 12. 2022
- In 1887 a short railway branch from Hatwthorn to Kew opened, in 1952 service ceased for good. Why did it fail? Lets explore the remains, the history, and reasoning for the lines short operation.
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Enjoyable video. While trams may have been more central generally, they stop more frequently and would have been much slower. It failed simply because it only had 2 stations. It had no reason to exist. It needed to be extended.
I lived in Linda Crescent during the Second World War. I often played with my brother around the tracks of the old railway.
Thanks for bringing back some memories!
What do you played on the tracks of the 'Old' railway in during the second world war?
The Kew line was still being used in the 1950s because my Mother lived in Hawthorn then and used that line many times.
I believe the last train (red rattler) was around 1956?
@@garynewton1263 Thank you for your correction. Please delete the adjective "old".
@@bruceackland1 Correction?
I was just commenting on what I've read.
I saw a photo a couple of years back showing a Tait swing door train sitting at Barker station. Apparently it was the last passenger train on the line, 1956 I believe.
And my Mother told me about riding the train in the 50s from the city and getting off at Barker as her and her mother lived close by in a dress shop on Glenferrie rd.
I wasn't sure whether you mean't trains weren't running along the line anymore?
So if they did extend the Kew line, would they have renamed it the Far Kew line?
It’s perverse that VicRoads built its HQ and extensive car park on the reservation of the Kew railway line.
It would've been the Country Roads Board back then. I doubt there was any real conspiracy from the road builders to close the railway line by building the CRB offices, since the railway was already a failure by the 1930s.
@@zoomosis I wasn’t claiming any conspiracy. And I agree it was a failure of a railway line. It’s simply the fact that the roads authority built on the rail reserve, almost a talisman for what has happened more widely.
Why? It wasn't being used when they built there.
Back then it was the Country Roads Board.
Some rail projects never happened.
There was a proposed rail line from I believe East Kew where a line would branxh off and proceed to Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte in the 1890s.
Maybe this Kew line may have survived if it had been extended to serve more needy areas?
Not emphasised by your video is just how short the Kew extension was. It was only about 2 km between Hawthorn and Kew stations, and it was only that far because of the indirect route it took. To run a train on a branch line that short is terribly inefficient, especially in the steam era. To have an intermediate station at Barker was even more ridiculous. I doubt it saw many passengers.
I'm surprised they went to the trouble of electrifying the line.
It's only about a 10 minute walk between Hawthorn station and Kew Junction.
Exactly. That's the real reason it failed. Not trams. Trams are much slower specially into the city. It failed because it was only 2 stations and short. It served no real purpose. It needed to be extended.
You're a very quick walker. The average walker would take at least 20 minutes but I take your point.
Ah... the (infamous) Doncaster line appears once more with several proposed routes and branch lines.
Nice video. Would have been interesting if it had been retained - I wonder if it would have become a light rail or just been closed later on?
Closed, since it was made redundant by the tram line along Church Street and others in the area.
By far the biggest factor in the Kew line decline was the opening of the electric tram services from Victoria bridge to Kew and beyond around 1915. I had read in a more detailed history of the line that patronage on the railway virtually halved overnight after the new electrified tramway opening, This was especially noticable from those paying extra for first class travel on the train. The Kew line being reported as having the highest proportion of people paying for first class travel of any line in the state. Even back in those early years Kew was an up market suburb with lots of high income Doctors, Dentists, Bankers and Lawyers etc. The tram provided them with more direct services to Collins St and surrounds. This early patronage collapse was well before the 1930s depression further collapse and before the 1920s boom in car ownership from those with high incomes also contributing. The Railway annual reports were quoted as a source of tracking the decline from formally good levels of income for the line.
The cannibilisation of patronage between trams and trains was a significant case study and a cause of concern for the state government once they took over the tram systems to form the MMTB. I understand there was legislation passed to prevent tram extensions getting to close to existing railway passenger catchments. Government not wanting expenditure to cause income losses for other parts of Government services. This Railway Tramway antagonism was still significantly present into the 1980s.
This is also the first time I had heard that Xavier owned the car park built on the line route off Barkers Road. It was always a CRB the Vic Roads head office car park. So I must look into this to see if is a recent cash strapped Government move or just a mis understanding on your part. Vic Roads may have made the car park available to Xavier for week end events etc.
Good job.
This was an excellent video, so thank you.
Had the Kew branch line infrastructure remained, it would have been an excellent candidate for conversion to Light Rail.
Meanwhile, the fact that bo rail has ever been run to the post-war Balwyn-Bulleen-Doncaster-Templestowe development corridor is a complete failure of urban planning.
Very nice!
Nice vid
Ironically,where the Kew Railway Station was,is now where a VicRoads Depot is today!.
Yes but what's ironic about it?
I hadn't heard anything about Metro 3, where would one get information about this?
It’s quite a loose concept for a rail line, originally it was proposed by Melbourne city council in a transport planning study. The route recommended was: Melbourne Airport-Maribynong-North Melbourne-Southern Cross- Parliament-Richmond-Kew-Doncaster-Ringwood. There isn’t much information on it as it’s quite a new idea so the best way to find out more would just be to google.
kew LINK railway line
What's the source of the photo at 7:19?
It would be handy if you could mention some street names, and where some of these old buildings were and where cuttings were filled in etc. etc.
There was a planned extension of the Kew line out to Doncaster that was given the green light before the Kew line was closed, they should not have closed the line the extension should have gone ahead because now they want to put a station in Doncaster as part of the Suburban Rail Loop.
The Suburban Rail Loop is just a replacement for the old Outer Circle Line, that shouldn't have been closed either but now the Victorian government wants to spend millions on the Outer Circle Lines replacement and call it the Suburban Rail Loop, what a joke!!!!.
Yes what a painful lesson they learned with the outer circle. It was not a success and what makes them think that this suburban rail loop will suddenly be a success. It would be good if it was but it seems they are talking themselves into believing that passengers will want to travel around the suburbs. Passengers would still most likely need to change to a second transport so why not just go via the city.
Wow the people of Kew were sooks.
Really? What suburb do you live in? Lets remove train services from your suburb and see the outcry!
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