Article: Extra trains in Melbourne but no relief for commuters

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From the Herald Sun click here!

Extra trains in Melbourne but no relief for commuters

Extra trains in Melbourne but no relief for commuters
Article from: Herald Sun

Mary Bolling

October 10, 2008 12:00am

COMMUTERS on Melbourne's most crowded train lines will get nine new peak services from next month.

But they'll be overflowing as soon as they start, Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky admits.

The peak services, which come in a package of 328 new and extended services a week from November 9, will run on the Epping, Werribee and Sydenham lines.

The peak services would carry an extra 10,000 commuters a day but wouldn't fix the commuter crush, Ms Kosky said.

"There will still be overcrowding . . . this isn't going to deal totally with the overcrowding issue," she said.

Ms Kosky said patronage, up 38 per cent in three years, was growing and the Government was doing its best to increase the system's capacity.

But she admitted the new peak trains would be packed, saying that each extra service would carry more than 1000 people.

Connex's own figures say 800 passengers is a comfortable load, but this year an independent report found the peak trains run at almost 150 per cent of capacity.

Ms Kosky said the overhaul of services was the biggest since the city loop opened in 1985.

Connex executive chairman Jonathan Metcalfe said the new services were created after bottlenecks were removed.

Werribee, Epping and Hurstbridge lines are set to end at Flinders St instead of continuing around the city loop.

"The November changes remove key train conflicts that cause delays when trains cross each other's paths," Mr Metcalfe said.

The change will add up to 10 minutes to the journey for 40 per cent of passengers from Werribee, who will have to take a tram or walk from North Melbourne, Southern Cross or Flinders St stations.

Ms Kosky acknowledged the change would cause "some pain" for passengers.

Opposition public transport spokesman Terry Mulder warned the extra services would have little effect after 4539 train cancellations in the year to August.

"We still have rampant cancellations right across the network. The issue is, of these new services, how many of those are going to be cancelled?

"Some of those cancellations are for reasons as simple as not enough train drivers."

Ms Kosky blamed cancelled services on issues such as sick passengers.

The new services include two morning peak services each for Epping, Werribee and Sydenham commuters, with one afternoon peak each.

It is interesting to note that six car trains on the 5'3" are carrying up to 1200 pax at times, this is being achieved also on the 3'6" on six car QR Citytrains!  Governments have been caught with their pants down ...  long suffering commuters around the nation have had enough!