Melbourne Express: Tuesday, November 15, 2016

• 9:25am on 15 Nov 2016

That's it for Melbourne Express for today.

Thanks for all those great supermoon pictures and to Justine Baranauskas for her tip off about the Sensible Sandwich fire in North Melbourne.

Expect more on the Mernda railway extension today and on the charges against the teenagers who ended a car chase on the top of the West Gate Bridge.

We will leave you with the kookiest of the supermoon pictures, from Kai Anderson, who takes dinner by moonlight seriously. Have a good one.

Supermoon over fork in Melbourne. Photo: Kai Anderson

• 9:18am on 15 Nov 2016

It is 15 degrees now with a cloud top of 17 predicted. There is a high chance of showers over the eastern suburbs in the afternoon but only a medium chance elsewhere. A little less windy than yesterday, west to southwesterly 15 to 25km/h tending south to southwesterly 15 to 20km/h in the afternoon.

• 9:15am on 15 Nov 2016

Updating the headlines: The Mernda rail extension is expected to be complete in three years and an extra station has been added; the ABC and "elite media" are to blame for distracting people from the government's focus on economic growth, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said, and three teenagers are charged after two robberies in Melbourne's north ended in a car chase on the West Gate Bridge.

• 9:08am on 15 Nov 2016

Yarra Trams says its trams are moving more slowly, partly due to free city trams.

• 9:02am on 15 Nov 2016

An artist's impression of what the Hawkstowe station will look like on the Mernda rail extension.

• 9:01am on 15 Nov 2016

The 9.09am Blackburn to Flinders Street service will originate at Box Hill at 9.14am today.

• 8:58am on 15 Nov 2016

Feeling the St Albans love this morning.

• 8:55am on 15 Nov 2016

More on the Mernda rail extension. Adam Carey reports that more than 8000 commuters a day are expected to use the three new stations when the extension opens in three years' time.

There will be a heavy focus on park and ride commuting at the three new stations, with almost 2000 new parking spaces to be built, including 1000 at Mernda's planned town centre alone. 

• 8:53am on 15 Nov 2016

Here is neat video showing the Mernda rail extension from Premier Daniel Andrews' Facebook account.

• 8:47am on 15 Nov 2016

It was not all supermoon in the skies. Hot air balloons also made an appearance, over the West Gate Bridge.

Balloon over the West Gate Bridge avoiding the morning traffic. Photo: Leigh Henningham.

• 8:42am on 15 Nov 2016

A third railway station will be built as part of the Mernda rail extension, one more than was promised, after the Andrews government bowed to strong community sentiment, transport reporter Adam Carey reveals exclusively, first in the Melbourne Express.

The station will be built with elevated platforms above what is now parkland near Hawkstowe Parade in South Morang, Australia's fastest growing suburb over the past 10 years.

Before the 2012 election, Labor promised to build an eight-kilometre rail extension from South Morang to Mernda, with two new stations and a possible future third station. Expected to cost $588 million. Expect an announcement this morning.

• 8:38am on 15 Nov 2016

Thanks to Jorge - regular snapper for Express.

• 8:35am on 15 Nov 2016

Turns out all those pizza boxes we have been putting in the recycling are going to landfill. Blow.

Small Print, at 388 High Street, Windsor has the answer though and it turns out it is quite simple.

Mushroom pizza at Small Print in Windsor. Photo: Supplied

• 8:31am on 15 Nov 2016

Travel times in from the north and west.

• 8:28am on 15 Nov 2016

Not really a scientific poll, but kinda funny.

• 8:26am on 15 Nov 2016

Finding a handsome prince might mean kissing a lot of frogs, but for Victoria's frog populations that often means becoming kissing cousins.

A study published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology shows that the increasing intensity and frequency of bushfires is affecting the genetic diversity of Victoria's frog populations.

Inbreeding is increasing and there is an effective decline in the population size (the number of adults able to contribute to the next generation of offspring).

Museums Victoria senior curator of terrestrial vertebrates, Jane Melville, said: "It is disturbing that these once common and abundant frogs are so significantly impacted by bushfires. Frogs could be in real trouble in south-eastern Australia with bushfires expected to increase in both frequency and intensity with climate change."

Victorian Southern Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingii). Photo: David Paul/Museums Victoria

• 8:11am on 15 Nov 2016

Passengers are cramming onto delayed trams on routes 55, 57 and 59. I do not love the smell of armpit in the morning.

• 8:09am on 15 Nov 2016

Another great supermoon picture as it peaks over the 

The supermoon pokes through the clouds over Melbourne CBD. Photo: Evelyn Suk Yi Looi

• 8:06am on 15 Nov 2016

Bruce Road, near the Nepean Highway, at Mount Martha is closed in both directions at the Nepean Highway after a crash this morning.

Emergency services are on the way, but avoid the area, VicRoads says.

• 7:59am on 15 Nov 2016

Yarra Trams 55. 57 and 59 are back up, but the delays have caused some overcrowding.