Public Transport Victoria (PTV) performance results for the month of December have been released, revealing that both Metro Trains and Yarra Trams have not met the new benchmarks for punctuality introduced on November 30.
Metro Trains ran 91.6 per cent of their services on time, marginally below the monthly target of 92 per cent required in the new MR4 contract.
The Glen Waverly Line was once again the best performing line, with 97.1 per cent of services running on time, a drop of less than 1 per cent from its November figures of 98 per cent. The Pakenham Line had the poorest result in the month, with only 86 per cent of services being delivered on time.
With 80.6 per cent of its services running on time, Yarra Trams was also unable to achieve its new monthly punctuality performance target of 82 per cent.
“We’ve raised the bar in the new contracts with our train and tram operators to deliver a better travel experience for our passengers,” PTV CEO Jeroen Weimar said.
“After the first full month of the new contracts, both operators still need to lift their game.”
External factors reportedly had an impact on the punctuality figures for December, including the car ramming incident at Flinders Street Station, which saw 19 pedestrians sent to hospital, and extreme weather events bringing thunderstorms, flooding and hot temperatures.
“We acknowledge there are factors the operators cannot control, but we still require answers as to what they are going to do to improve future performance,” Weimar said.
Failure to meet performance targets under the new contracts could see Metro Trains having to pay up to $1.25 million in fines, while the figure for Yarra Trams is up to $500,000. It is yet to be determined whether penalties will apply for either operator for December’s results.
V/Line services saw 83 per cent of its services running on time across the network, a touch below its November result of 85.8 per cent.
While the Bendigo and Seymour lines saw improvements, all other lines had worse performances than the previous month, some dramatically so. The Albury Line, for instance, had a 20-point drop from 81.2 per cent to 61.3 per cent, while the fall on the Bairnsdale Line in the same period was from 74.3 per cent to 52.8 per cent.
The dip in punctuality on the Albury Line was reportedly due to several issues including signal faults, track circuit failures and level crossing faults, and the ongoing speed restrictions due to the condition of the track.
“This is obviously an unacceptable level of service for our passengers, and we’re working hard to ensure our train services are prioritised,” V/Line CEO said.
“We will continue to work closely with the ARTC to improve the condition of the Albury line and ensure our passengers receive the service they expect and deserve.”
Bairnsdale service delays, Pindar said, were due to trains being held up in the shared section of track.
For mine, this doesn’t go far enough. I often have to wait for the PTV 624 Bus in Oakleigh and sometimes it just skips a service. The bus times on the PTV phone app are not in real-time and on occasions I’ve missed connecting trains because of this. I don’t believe the bus operators are fined for delays and maybe issuing fines to them would make them lift their game! I don’t mind if a bus service is late or skips a service, I JUST WANT TO KNOW SO I CAN MAKE ALTERNATE ARRANGEMENTS!
Bairnsdale and Traralgon service delays on the shared section of track are going to continue until the line between Dandenong and Caulfield is triplicated or quadruplicated. There is absolutely no provision for this in the Caulfield to Dandenong road crossing removal project. This is the busiest rail corridor in Victoria. To leave the line with the same capacity it has had for 100 years is bordering on criminal negligence on the part of transport planners. The Monash Freeway is now 10 lanes. The Dandenong rail line is two lanes (two tracks). This is absolute insanity given the proven trend towards the use of rail as the preferred method of transport by the traveling public.