Article: Timetable revamp aims to get reliability on track

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Timetable revamp aims to get reliability on track

Timetable revamp aims to get reliability on track
CLAY LUCAS
June 5, 2010

CHANGE is never easy - something the long-suffering train travellers in Melbourne's south and south-east Melbourne are about to find out.

From tomorrow train operator Metro - which this week failed its punctuality targets for the sixth month in a row - is re-making timetables in a bid to fit in more services and increase reliability. While almost all lines will have ''tweaked'' timetables, the big changes are to the Frankston, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines in peak hour from Monday.

On the Frankston line, morning peak-hour trains will now either stop at all stations and then go via the City Loop, or run express through most stations from Cheltenham to Richmond, then direct to Flinders Street.

A similar change to City Loop running occurred on the Werribee, Hurstbridge and Epping lines in late 2008 under Connex. That change caused fury among many commuters because of the unreliability of services once they got to Flinders Street.

Peak-hour trains on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines are also changing to fit in extra services.

Metro chief executive Andrew Lezala said the changes would allow 211 new or extended services each week, helping reduce overcrowding.

Metro says the changes will make it easier to get back to normal when things go wrong, because the current operating patterns are so complicated.

Critics said the move would not improve overcrowded services and there was enough track capacity to run far more trains.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said there would be disruption for some people on the Frankston line in particular.

''Some people will have a shorter trip, but others will have to face a longer one,'' he said. ''But the old timetable is a dog's breakfast. It's about time they simplified operations.''

The big question, Mr Bowen said, was whether the new timetables would improve punctuality on the Frankston and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines, the least reliable in Melbourne.