2015-12-08
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — My office was recently contacted by a commuter on the Pakenham line who is a regular public transport user. He got in contact after his 8.33 a.m. train to the CBD became a limited express and bypassed his city loop station. Apparently there was no warning, and many people on the train were very angry and frustrated. Unfortunately this is not an isolated occurrence. In fact Ms Pennicuik this morning experienced the very same issue when changing trains at Richmond.
Commuters on the Altona loop, between Newport and Laverton, frequently experience unannounced express services which bypass their stations. They have even started a Facebook group, the Altona loop group, so that commuters can report being ‘kidnapped’ on the train and taken to Laverton where they have to wait for another train to return them to the city.
Station skipping is used by Metro Trains Melbourne to intentionally skip stations so that it can make up lost time. There are perverse incentives of bonuses and penalties in the Metro contract relating to cancellations and on-time running. Cancellation penalties only apply if a train actually starts, finishes short of or bypasses the city loop, so Metro can skip stations and still keep its on-time statistics healthy.
What we would like to know is: what is the government doing to prevent station skipping; will we see a change in the contracts; and will we continue to see commuters kidnapped and taken to places they do not want to go, or will they actually get on a train that delivers them to the station that the timetable shows?