New timetables, discussion and articles

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here

New timetable may anger some city train users

New timetable may anger some city train users
Clay Lucas and Royce Millar
January 19, 2011

MELBOURNE commuters can expect a more reliable service but fewer trains through the City Loop under a shake-up of train timetables — to be phased in from May by the Baillieu government.

Clearly mindful of a potential political backlash only weeks into his role as Transport Minister, Terry Mulder yesterday confirmed he had backed a proposal by rail operator Metro that will cut its penalty payments but risk angering Melbourne's frustrated public transport users.

Under the changes, three lines — Frankston, Werribee and Williamstown — will begin "cross-city running" at off-peak times, meaning they will run from Melbourne's southern suburbs to the west, instead of terminating in the city.

A five-page summary of the changes was written by the Department of Transport and obtained by The Age.

It is the first stage of a wider overhaul of all 15 of the city's lines, to be completed by next year, according to the Department of Transport summary.

The timetable change will enable Metro to more easily schedule 38 new suburban trains ordered by the previous government — 17 of which are already in service — to begin running in the next two years.

But it will also mean hundreds of services each week will no longer run through the City Loop, and there will be fewer express trains on some lines at off-peak times.

Many Glen Waverley line commuters will be angered by the withdrawal of services from the City Loop until noon each day, while others on eastern suburb lines will have to change at Richmond because of the new timetable.

Mr Mulder said supporting the Metro scheme was a difficult decision.

He said Metro and his department had advised him the timetable changes were necessary for more punctual and reliable services. But he admitted they would not be popular with many commuters.

"There will be some inconvenience," he said.

Appearing to want to hedge his bets on the changes, Mr Mulder stressed he inherited the situation because of agreements between Metro and the former Labor government.

"The introduction of a new 'greenfields' timetable was part of the contract the previous government entered into with Metro," he said.

Under its $8 billion contract with the state government, Metro is required to devise a new timetable by May.

"I can only go on the advice that I have been given, and that is that untangling the network will provide more [routes] for trains, and do away with trains crossing one another when something goes wrong," he said.

A new timetable also needed to create time slots for 38 new trains. Without a new timetable, "those trains will be parked", Mr Mulder warned.

Metro chief executive Andrew Lezala said the existing timetable had been in place since 1996 but more services had been gradually added without a major review, making it cluttered and clumsy.

"We need to change the timetables, and design them from scratch so that they can work properly. We have spent a lot of money doing that," he said.

The Age revealed yesterday Metro had posted a $20 million profit in its first seven months operating in Melbourne, despite failing punctuality targets set by the government in all seven months.

The new government's nervousness about a major rework of the timetables may well stem from the high-profile role of public transport — trains in particular — in November's state election.

The former Labor MP for Bentleigh and parliamentary secretary for public transport, Rob Hudson, told The Age after the poll that changes on the Frankston line had cost him his seat. "People were just furious that we had taken away all their part-express services," he said last month.

Last night, Metro spokeswoman Geraldine Mitchell said full details of the timetable change would be made public in the first quarter of the year after all aspects were finalised.

[ozbob]

Some comments by Daniel Bowen PTUA --> http://www.danielbowen.com/2011/01/19/new-timetables-in-may/

[#Metro]

A five-page summary of the changes was written by the Department of Transport and obtained by The Age.

It is the first stage of a wider overhaul of all 15 of the city's lines, to be completed by next year, according to the Department of Transport summary.

The timetable change will enable Metro to more easily schedule 38 new suburban trains ordered by the previous government — 17 of which are already in service — to begin running in the next two years.

That's interesting- The Department of Transport writes the timetable?
And I take it that through-routing will return to the Melbourne train network. That's good news.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

'Confusing' timetable will cut services to west

'Confusing' timetable will cut services to west
Clay Lucas and Royce Millar
January 20, 2011

METRO'S radical new timetable for Melbourne's rail network will confuse many commuters and halve off-peak services to some western suburbs, the Public Transport Users Association says.

And the user group argues that a new public transport authority promised by the Baillieu government is desperately needed - to better co-ordinate the city's train, tram and bus timetables before a major re-write is completed, the group's president, Daniel Bowen, said.

In May, Metro is set to introduce a new train timetable for Melbourne in the first major re-make of rail scheduling since 1996.

Under the changes, some Frankston, Werribee and Williamstown line services will no longer terminate in the city. Instead, they will become ''cross-city'' services, running from the southern suburbs though to the western suburbs, passing through Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations along the way, but not the loop.

The cross-city services will run at off-peak times and during some peak hours.

Among other changes:

■ Off-peak services on the Werribee line will be halved and no longer run through the loop. They will terminate in Frankston.

■ The number of trains running via Altona in peak times will be cut to every 22 minutes. During off-peak times, Altona passengers will have to change trains at Newport.

■ Trains from Williamstown will run less frequently - every 22 minutes. But passengers will no longer need to change at Newport.

■ Sandringham line trains will run more frequently at peak times - every eight minutes.

■ Glen Waverley line services will run direct to Flinders Street Station until noon, instead of through the City Loop, but with increased frequency.

The changes are the first stage of a wider overhaul of timetables on all 15 of the city's lines, to be completed by next year, according to a Department of Transport summary.

The Public Transport Users Association argues the changes have been poorly planned, and make obvious the need for a new public transport authority promised by the new government.

''This just shows what a truly woeful state our public transport planning has been left in,'' said Mr Bowen, labelling the new timetable ''a textbook example of poor planning''.

The government is working on its plans for its Public Transport Development Authority, which Transport Minister Terry Mulder has promised will provide ''better co-ordination, better analysis of what's going on out there, and better benchmarking of where we are spending our money''.

The new authority is expected to be established by July.

The government is yet to find someone to lead the authority.

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Passengers angry at new train times

Passengers angry at new train times

    * Amelia Harris
    * From: Herald Sun
    * January 20, 2011 12:00AM

COMMUTERS have slammed proposed train timetable changes which would see fewer services run through the City Loop.

Under the plan to improve reliability, the Frankston, Werribee and Williamstown lines would run "cross-city" - or from south to west - during off-peak times instead of ending in the CBD.

The five-page Department of Transport document recommends Glen Waverley services through the loop are scrapped until midday.

Student and retail worker Hamish Low said he would most likely be forced to swap trains at Richmond when travelling from Tooronga on the Glen Waverley line to work in the city.

"Choo Choo of West Melbourne" said she couldn't afford to board several trains because she was a single mum with a two-hour daily commute.

[#Metro]

These cross city services are a good idea.
Looks like they are finding more capacity on it, when previously it was claimed that there were none...

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

New Metro timetable as trains struggle to cope with commuter numbers

New Metro timetable as trains struggle to cope with commuter numbers

    * Ashley Gardiner
    * From: Herald Sun
    * February 14, 2011 12:43AM

MELBOURNE'S trains are so overloaded with passengers, they're struggling to move.

Metro's chief executive has admitted the packed carriages are putting a strain on the company's engines and playing havoc with schedules.

"They just can't do it," Andrew Lezala said. "Physically, they don't have enough grunt in accelerating or braking."

"With the amount of heavy loading we've got now on Comeng trains, they can't keep the timetable on Frankston and Pakenham."

He said the company had been forced to stretch train journey times to allow for the hold-ups.

New timetables to be introduced on Sunday May 8 will see a radical shake-up to the way Melburnians travel by train.

The biggest overhaul since the mid-1990s will see an extra 127 services a day added to the schedule. A major test for Metro, it's the first of three timetable changes it claims will make the system more reliable.

But there will be big changes for some commuters, especially those on the Glen Waverley and Altona lines.

Some passengers will need to change trains to complete their journey.

Mr Lezala said train services were being untangled.

"We've got what I call spaghetti in the middle. If you trace the trains it looks like spaghetti -- all over the place," Mr Lezala said.

"We're making it lasagne, were making it linear, if one line runs late it doesn't affect the others."

Peak-hour departure times were also being more evenly spaced to avoid overcrowding.

A Metro investigation found the Comeng trains, introduced in the 1980s, were struggling to cope with booming patronage.

Metro has added two or three minutes to the journey time to some services so the schedule can be kept.

"The timetable has been designed for (the modern) Siemens trains, but it was always intended that Comeng would run on those lines, and they can't keep up when they're full," Mr Lezala said.

Metro was now investigating whether the life of those trains could be extended beyond their remaining 15 years. If so, Metro will put a proposal to the Government to boost the trains' power.

Another major cause of late trains was the Siemens problem, which Metro says should be fixed in July.

The trains are commonly known to have braking problems, which is caused by the wheel failing to adhere to the track under certain conditions.

This means there are speed restrictions at 61 locations across the system to avoid trains sliding once the brake has been applied.

Mr Lezala said the trial to release sand onto the tracks and stop the slides was a success, and all Siemens trains would have sanders fitted by July, eliminating the problem.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said rewriting timetables made sense, as the schedules were a mess.

"It's always good to see extra services, and some will get a faster trip and trains at more regular intervals," he said. "But there's some pain too.

"Altona and Williamstown passengers will see their peak-hour trains reduced to every 22 minutes, making times impossible to remember. Some passengers will need to change trains for the City Loop. In fact off peak, Altona passengers will need to change trains at Newport and again at North Melbourne if they want to go to the City Loop.

"Hopefully overall these changes will fix the worst punctuality and overcrowding problems."

Metro says the new timetable will cause inconvenience for some, but the service will be better overall.

"These kind of changes, we wouldn't do them unless we considered them essential to get the reliability of the network up to world class standards that we want," Mr Lezala said.

Metro has met its punctuality targets only three months out of the 14 it has been in Melbourne, but Mr Lezala said improvements had been made.

"I think we've turned a corner, but it's still fragile."

[#Metro]

Good to hear!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Trains_Melbourne



Once thing I have noticed though, I have never ever heard QR come out and say that they want more services, like Metro is doing.