Submitted by Philip, who says:

I put together a map showing a redesign of Melbourne’s rail network with the newly-announced Suburban Rail Loop (SRL). Given that this is the first radial railway proposed for Melbourne for many decades, I have built the rest of the map around a central straight line of the new Loop.

More explanation and links to the map on Philip’s website.

Transit Maps says:

The recent announcement of this new underground railway connecting the outer suburbs of Melbourne certainly has people talking. This is not the first map I’ve received on the subject, and I doubt it’ll be the last.

I find this one particularly interesting because of the way that Philip has chosen to straighten out the new line – which isn’t really a “loop” as it doesn’t form a complete circuit around the city – and then diagrammatically connect the rest of the lines to it. For the most part, it holds up pretty well as a representation of the network as the SRL still runs from west to east across the map, just without the bends. Obviously, some liberties have had to be taken (the placement of the Flemington Racecourse branch being the most obvious example), but the regular grid holds the whole thing together nicely.

Philip has chosen to render the rest of the network in a uniform blue for simplicity’s sake, but I’d certainly be interested in seeing a version that uses the official colours for all the lines, as I feel it would help users orient themselves better within this unusual layout. Perhaps the line colours could stack on top of each other where they overlap, multiplying up to black through the City Loop?

Some minor thoughts: the planned station complexes at Melbourne Central/State Library and Flinders Street/Town Hall could be joined by connecting lines to indicate pedestrian transfer. In the same vein, Melbourne Central itself should be shifted off the intersection of the City Loop and the Metro Tunnel and changed to a tick, as it’s my understanding that it will not directly serve the Metro Tunnel (passengers will transfer by walking to State Library). Lines that cross but don’t interact with each other could be separated by a thin white keyline – the new line from North Melbourne to Parkville could pass “under” the line south of West Melbourne, for example.

Overall though, this is an unusual and imaginative look at a major new transportation project, nicely executed. It’s always fun to look at things with a fresh perspective, and I think the map certainly succeeds in that regard.

Source: maps.philipmallis.com