Free train travel before 7am on the Frankston and Sydenham lines.

[ozbob]

ABC click here!

Free train travel before 7am on the Frankston and Sydenham lines.

Early commuters will get to travel for free on some Melbourne train lines this morning, as part of a new push to reduce peak hour congestion.

Commuters on the Frankston and Sydenham lines arriving at a city station before 7 am will travel for free.

Connex spokesman John Rees says it is a trial, aiming to encourage people to take earlier trains.

He says it is part of a three-month trial and if it is successful, the Victorian government will introduce the plan across the entire network next year.

"The point is there's not that many people who actually use the trains before seven o'clock to make their journeys into the city," he said.

"I think if we see people actually coming on to the early bird trains, and we'll see the numbers rise there," Mr. Rees said.

"Then we'll see that whole am peak load actually spread across the entire period, as opposed to being more or less sandwiched between 7 and 8.30 or 9 o'clock.

[ozbob]

All reports so far that this trial has been very successful.  Recently visited Melbourne, here is a photograph of a train (Siemens) at Carnegie heading to the City via the Loop. 




Photograph R Dow 23 Dec 2007

[ozbob]

Photograph R Dow 21 Dec 2007

Suburban service to Cranbourne,  at Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer St Station)

[ozbob]

Has now been rolled out system wide.

See -->  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=598.0