u/Other_Awareness_9295

Hey all. For the past few months I've been building TransitAlert (transit-alert.com), a free, unofficial app for Melbourne public transport. It started because I wanted one place to see where my train actually is, not just the timetable.
What it does:
Live map of every Metro train, V/Line, tram and bus, using PTV's live data
Departure boards for any station or stop, with live countdowns and platforms
Disruptions, grouped by line, with notifications you can filter to just your lines
Trip planner across trains, trams and buses, with live "next service" times
Train details like stopping pattern, consist and which carriage you're in. HCMTs show all 7 cars.
Report a problem from any screen if something looks wrong. Every report gets an ID so you can see when it's fixed.
It's free, has no ads, and isn't affiliated with PTV or Metro. It's just me building it in my spare time.
Join the tester group: https://groups.google.com/g/transitalert-testers
Open this link in Chrome on your Android phone, signed into the same Google account, and tap "Become a tester": https://play.google.com/apps/testing/app.floot.u444d0d60f01f4a67a474ba6f61aabb9f
Give it 15–30 minutes, then install it from Google Play.
iPhone users can use the website, which works well added to your home screen.
Would love to hear what's broken, what's confusing, or what you'd want added. Cheers!

What if instead of leaving the Alamein Line as a dead-end branch forever, we extended it underground?

Camberwell

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Ashburton

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Alamein

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Holmesglen (interchange with the Glen Waverley Line)

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Chadstone (finally gets a railway station)

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Oakleigh (interchange with the Pakenham/Cranbourne corridor)

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Moorabbin Airport

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Southland (interchange with the Frankston Line)

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Sandringham (interchange with the Sandringham Line)

The reason I think it’d work is because it doesn’t compete with the SRL—it complements it.

SRL is the outer orbital, connecting places like Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley and Box Hill.

This line would be more of an inner orbital, connecting places that still don’t have good rail links like Chadstone, Holmesglen and Moorabbin Airport.

It would also make getting to the SRL easier. Instead of everyone having to travel into the CBD first, you could do things like:

* Sandringham → Southland → Chadstone → Holmesglen → SRL at Glen Waverley

* Frankston Line → Southland → Chadstone → SRL at Glen Waverley

* Pakenham/Cranbourne → Oakleigh → Chadstone → SRL

* Belgrave/Lilydale → Camberwell → Alamein extension → Chadstone

If it was ever extended further north from Camberwell, it could even connect into Box Hill, giving another direct interchange with the SRL there.

I know it’d cost billions and probably won’t happen, but Melbourne keeps building radial lines into the CBD. An inner orbital like this could connect a lot of the south-east’s biggest destinations without forcing everyone through the city.

Curious what everyone thinks—is this completely cooked, or is there actually something here?

I built a free live tracker for Melbourne trains, trams and buses — looking for feedback (and Android testers)

Hear me out: an Alamein Metro extension instead of leaving the line as a dead-end