Passengers on Victoria’s public rail transport providers experienced punctuality and reliability improvements in the month of June, performance figures released by Public Transport Victoria indicate.
Metro Train Melbourne delivered 92.6% of its services on time, surpassing its May performance of 90% and its contractually-obliged monthly standard of 92%.
The improvements were across 15 of the 16 metropolitan train lines, with the lowest results experienced on the Stony Point (88%) and Pakenham (88.5%) lines.
The operator also bettered its reliability target (the percentage of timetabled services that actually run during the month) of 98.5%, posting a result of 99.1%.
Yarra Trams also exceeded their punctuality target of 82%, and posted its highest result of the year, with 84.1% of its services running on time. Yarra Trams also exceeded its reliability target (98.5%) for a sixth successive month, delivering a June result of 98.6%.
The regional passenger train operator V/Line also improved its performance last month, with punctuality rising from 79.3% in May to 83.1%. The Bairnsdale Line was the worst-performing, with 48.4% of trains running on time. However, this was a marked improvement upon May’s result of 27% of the line.
V/Line also posted a V/Line delivering a 95.9% reliability result, short of its target of 96%.
PTV CEO Jeroen Weimar, who has only recently been appointed to the chair of the V/Line board, said he was intent on improving the regional operator’s performance over the coming months.
“Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve travelled on many of the key routes across the regional network to speak to staff and hear from passengers about how they rely on V/Line’s services to get them where they need to go,” Weimar said.
“I’m excited about the opportunities we have to improve the services that so many Victorians depend on.”
Weimar explained that PTV had been working with the three transport operators to help improve performance standards while major infrastructure projects were carried out on several lines.
“PTV has been working closely with the relevant agencies to ensure we minimise the impact to our passengers during this period of unprecedented investment in Victoria’s transport network,” he said.
“In June we saw a significant milestone passed, with the final four level crossings removed between Caulfield and Dandenong, and trains running for the first time on the new stretch of elevated rail between Caulfield and Hughesdale.”