Melbourne Airport Terminal Bucket list- The place is an embarassment

[serfty]

So at what stage does Melbourne Airport management (I think APAM) become accountable for what they dish up at the International arrivals hall. It's just second rate.

Are they fair dinkum about running an airport?

They just don't seem to be managing. Unfortunately for them, there are so many benchmarks at airports around the world that are set much higher, the expectation of the traveller is also raised.

But what are they doing about improving the facility to make it world standard?
...

In recent times the International arrivals has been undergoing renovation. Last time though (about two weeks ago) the northern end was blocked off and PAX wanting T1 have to either go outside or head South and come up into T3 to get there.

 

[drewbles]

let me enlighten you...

Getting luggage on and off a train is a lot easier than on and off a bus. Wide sliding doors and am platform level with the carriage mean you can wheel your luggage onboard. A lot of travelers are toting fairly heavy luggage. When was the last time you lifted a 15kg bag to shoulder height in order to get it onto a bus luggage rack and off the floor? If you are short those high luggage racks are diabolical. Unlike trains you can't park your luggage in the middle of a bus, it stops people getting on and off.

Train stations have amenities that bus stops rarely afford. The luggage friendly platform is one of them. Automatic ticketing machines are another. Even if you don't speak or read the language of the city you are in you can still navigate a rail system with a ticketing machine and a network map. Other amenities include lifts and escalators, and waiting spaces out of the weather. Road-side bus shelters are rarely adequate or pleasant.

The only bus system I have encountered that was even a close rival for a rail system is BKKs BRT system. This is basically a dedicated bus lane that is serviced by bus stations that look and work exactly like train stations, complete with automatic ticketing and platforms that are level with the modified bus door for ease of access. It's basically a rail system without the rail but it's nothing like a traditional bus system except for the fact it utilizes roads.

A bus transfer system is better than no system at all, but rail systems tend to better because of the way rail networks are equipped.

Take the tube from LHR to the city and tell me you still like trains to the airport. As mentioned, the MEL one would be like that, not like the heathrow express or HKG trains.

 

[Justchecking]

Take the tube from LHR to the city and tell me you still like trains to the airport. As mentioned, the MEL one would be like that, not like the heathrow express or HKG trains.

Like anything the implementation of it is everything. I'm not adverse to a bus system if it has the aforementioned amenities. Thailands implementation of that is extremely good, user friendly and convenient. Unfortunately Australia is particularly short-sighted at these things. We adopt concepts begru
dgingly and then implement them in a half coughd manner. A bus platform and modified bus with large sliging doors in the side of the bus, rather than the coughpy tiny one at the front, standing space instead of rows of seats and plenty of hand holds is something a bit too difficult for the 'lucky country'. Instead we get bog standard buses that aren't
designed for luggage capacity, roadside pickups and ticketing booths that may or may not be open when you need to use them. Sydneys bus system is a prime example of an overly complex bus system without proper amenities. You can't even buy a bus ticket at the railway station where you will change services, some buses only accept electronic tickets which you must purchase from an agent but there isnt a list of agents anywhere. Just looking up a bus timetable online is a very tiresome event as you must scroll through page after page of timetables arranged by direction, day and times. You actually also have to know the exact bus route number in order to look up a route map. What if you don't know the number? Very, very poor.

In contrast you can walk up to a BRT ticket machine in Bangkok, view the map, touch where you went to go, pay the fare and grab your ticket. Wait on the platform, get on the next bus and the onboard screen will tell you where you are and when you should get off.

 

[rechoboam]

let me enlighten you...

Getting luggage on and off a train is a lot easier than on and off a bus. Wide sliding doors and am platform level with the carriage mean you can wheel your luggage onboard. A lot of travelers are toting fairly heavy luggage. When was the last time you lifted a 15kg bag to shoulder height in order to get it onto a bus luggage rack and off the floor? If you are short those high luggage racks are diabolical. Unlike trains you can't park your luggage in the middle of a bus, it stops people getting on and off.

Train stations have amenities that bus stops rarely afford. The luggage friendly platform is one of them. Automatic ticketing machines are another. Even if you don't speak or read the language of the city you are in you can still navigate a rail system with a ticketing machine and a network map. Other amenities include lifts and escalators, and waiting spaces out of the weather. Road-side bus shelters are rarely adequate or pleasant.

The only bus system I have encountered that was even a close rival for a rail system is BKKs BRT system. This is basically a dedicated bus lane that is serviced by bus stations that look and work exactly like train stations, complete with automatic ticketing and platforms that are level with the modified bus door for ease of access. It's basically a rail system without the rail but it's nothing like a traditional bus system except for the fact it utilizes roads.

A bus transfer system is better than no system at all, but rail systems tend to better because of the way rail networks are equipped.

Well that all makes sense. But it's a pretty big step from "bus that drops down 50cm using pneumatics" and "enclosed bus station with platform at same level as floor of bus" to the ideas I often see bandied about in the papers, where people think a maglev link from Melbourne to Brisbane is what our country urgently needs. A bit like installing fibre optic cables to a village back of Bourke so the nine inhabitants can download "Curb Your Enthusiasm" one hundred times faster. Oh, I forgot, we are actually doing that one...:shock:

 

[Justchecking]

Well that all makes sense. But it's a pretty big step from "bus that drops down 50cm using pneumatics" and "enclosed bus station with platform at same level as floor of bus" to the ideas I often see bandied about in the papers, where people think a maglev link from Melbourne to Brisbane is what our country urgently needs. A bit like installing fibre optic cables to a village back of Bourke so the nine inhabitants can download "Curb Your Enthusiasm" one hundred times faster. Oh, I forgot, we are actually doing that one...:shock:

Point taken. However I do think what this country urgently needs is some exposure to how similar problems are solved in other countries. Our biggest airports are currently on a par with dodgy regional airports in SE Asia. For a country separated by massive distances we've certainly done little forward planning of our airports which were always going to be a major form of transport here. Not only that but we've done nothing about providing a viable alternative to air travel either. It's as if we've pretended that no-one ever travels domestically for 30yrs and now we're surprised that demand for travel has outstripped our facilities for it. :shock:

 

[Austman]

I often catch the train from the city to MEL airport. Well most of the way. It's a 10-15 minute bus 901 ride from Broadmeadows station (for no extra cost - it runs every 15 mins during the day) and you are there. Well... if T4 is there...

 

[serfty]

I often catch the train from the city to MEL airport. Well most of the way. It's 10-15 minute bus 901 ride from Broadmeadows station (for no extra cost - it runs every 15 mins during the day) and you are there. Well... if T4 is there...

I often catch the 478/479 bus to/from Essendon Station. Works well as I generally have a zone1/2 myki pass active -so no extra financial cost.

 

[BD1959]

My major gripe: $4 for a trolley in the QF Domestic Terminal. Not everyone arrives in the country via MEL INT Terminal (in fact if QF had their way, I'm sure we'd all have to transit via SYD).

Try scraping around for $4 in change after having semi-circumnavigated the globe and a.n.other Australian airport - oh, yes, they are supposed to accept credit cards ... except you get a "Network Connection" error if you try that - probably after their cc surcharge!!

Then push said trolley all of 50m to the taxi rank where you can't get to the first two bays because .... the airport authority haven't used the collected $4 to remove the 30 previous trolleys used which are now in your path!!

Welcome to Melbourne, have a nice day

BD

 

[VHOEJ]

The Skybus is great. Quicker and cheaper than 2 stops on the airport train in Sydney.

 

[Boof1]

I'm always amazed at the pax growth at MEL and how well the skybus copes with demand but I do get a laugh when you can catch a tram to the sex shop in Essendon but cannot get a train to MEL airport!!

 

[samiam]

I'm always amazed at the pax growth at MEL and how well the skybus copes with demand but I do get a laugh when you can catch a tram to the sex shop in Essendon but cannot get a train to MEL airport!!

I note you were careful not to quote the tram number

 

[el_rooto]

Look at how well Sydney's rail link to the airport is going...

 

[pshepvic]

A bit like installing fibre optic cables to a village back of Bourke so the nine inhabitants can download "Curb Your Enthusiasm" one hundred times faster. Oh, I forgot, we are actually doing that one...:shock:

I think you'll find that's not really the case. The fibre optic component of the national broadband network is being rolled out to 93% of the country, which is towns of approximately 1000 premises or more. The rest will get wireless or satellite, which is at 12mbps, including those people in that village you talk about. That's not a lot more than the average speed you'll get in a capital city today, but don't you think it would actually be a good thing for those 9 people to even be able to get that? Today they probably barely get dial up.

I'm guessing you probably live in a capital city, or at least a large town with half decent services, because if you lived in a regional area you'd understand how important the NBN actually is.


Sent from my iPhone using AustFreqFly app

 

[thewinchester]

Look at how well Sydney's rail link to the airport is going...

Well that's due mainly to a useless private owner of the tunnel infrastructure, and a state corporation that couldn't find its cough with both hands.

There's also the lack of integration between transport modes and consequently planning in NSW which hampers their Airport Rail link, which will at least in part be resolved once T4NSW starts to do its job.



----
Sent using my Roman era abacus.

 

[markis10]

Look at how well Sydney's rail link to the airport is going...

Westpac ( the owner) seem very happy with it's performance as an asset over the last 5 years.

 

[dfcatch]

With all this griping about MEL, one of the things that IMHO makes MEL an awesome airport is the single terminal integration.

Now, I know that this places an upper limit on expansion. But how good is it that you can easily walk from DOM-INT vv without having to catch a bus, train, taxi etc.

Oh, and no curfew.......

The arrivals hall is more than adequate, I honestly don't know what you're complaining about.

Yes, it's not as big as Sydney's quarantine processing area (which can be packed at times), but there are a lot less flights arriving into Mel.

Parking is easy and close to the terminal, they need a "cell phone waiting lot", but so do all Australian airports.

Oh, and if QF were to actually utilize MEL to it's potential, then there would also be a stronger case for a rail link. But atm, simply not the demand.

 

[777]

Medium term what i think MEL needs is a major overhaul of the Virgin terminal and an expansion of the international terminal - i dont' really see why these two things couldn't be part of the same project.

1. Expand T3 (Virgin and Rex) to the South (?) into the area that is currently the express car park and perhaps t4 (Tiger).
2. Move the road network to align with the new terminal
3. Take some of the "old" T3 Space and use it to create an extra pier and/or facilities for T2 - should be fine providing adequate space for Virgin/ Rex (and potentially Tiger) are created in the "new" T3.

Would solve a lot of problems IMHO. Wouldn't be cheap but need not be madly expensive either and seems to make perfect sense in 5-10 year time frame.

777.

 

[serfty]

In recent times the International arrivals has been undergoing renovation. Last time though (about two weeks ago) the northern end was blocked off and PAX wanting T1 have to either go outside or head South and come up into T3 to get there.

I came off the Skybus last Frinday and on the way through T3 I noticed the Northern end renovations seem to have been completed and the Southern end is now being remodelled.

 

[straitman]

I'm guessing you probably live in a capital city, or at least a large town with half decent services, because if you lived in a regional area you'd understand how important the NBN actually is.


Sent from my iPhone using AustFreqFly app

As someone who does live in regional Oz I have to disagree.

IMHO it is important BUT we have a whole host of other much higher priority items that need the money first.

 

[browski]

MEL needs:

1. Non-ANZ ATMs in the Int'l terminal.
2. A second SkyBus to/from Nth Melbourne station, with tickets that can be purchased dutyfree on incoming Qantas/VA/JQ flights.
3. Free, fast wifi throughout the Int'l terminal
4. A far quicker system which would provide luggage onto the belts. Let's try for 10 times faster.
5. Extra aero-bridges (gates) for Int'l arrivals. How many times do I sit on the tarmac in Singapore because the plane cannot arrive in MEL before a designated gate slot time. And they only recently added a few!; but obviously not enough.
6. The removal of all air crew from my immigration APEC line. Send them to the public lanes where they belong.
7. The removal of all sniffer dogs; only thing more stupid than those dogs are their in-bred, deluded handlers.
8. An Ajisen Ramen noodle restaurant and a Ben & Jerry's outlet.
9. To get rid of the all the flouro-clad morons at the curbside departures. These revenue raisers are a disgrace and unnecessary.
10. A place to buy cold, Duty-free beer by the can/bottle........and a nice place to drink it (maybe an outdoor garden; airside of course.).