Train cancellations on the Pakenham line increased sharply in 2007.By Callan Date
TRAIN users in the City of Casey continue to receive a below-par service, according to an Opposition MP.
Opposition spokesman for Public Transport Terry Mulder said a recent Liberal Party analysis of Melbourne’s train lines revealed cancelled trains had increased 46.5 per cent from 2006 to 2007.
The party found the Pakenham train line – which runs through Berwick, Narre Warren and Hallam train stations – performed the worst.
“The highest percentage rise was on Melbourne’s longest line to Pakenham, where cancelled trains rose 147 per cent from 188 to 466,” Mr Mulder said.
“The Pakenham line is one of Melbourne’s fastest-growing rail lines.
“It includes expanding suburbs like Narre Warren and localities on the brink of expansion, such as Officer.”
Mr Mulder said train operator Connex cited several factors for the increase in cancellations.
“Labor’s train operator blamed everything from signal faults and derailments to vandalism and graffiti, the ongoing shortage of around 50 train drivers, rolling stock unreliability, trespassers, ill passengers, a gas leak and level crossing collisions,” he said.
Connex chief executive Bruce Hughes said 7750 more services were delivered in 2007 than the previous year.
He said a mechanical issue with a new fleet of Siemens trains had caused considerable problems on several lines, including the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines.
“Despite the enormous impact the Siemens issue had on our service delivery, the strategic work we have been doing meant that our customers were not nearly as badly impacted as they could have been if the same situation had occurred a year earlier,” Mr Hughes said.
“While we readily acknowledge the inconvenience this issue had on customers, I am enormously pleased with the efforts all our staff made to minimise the impact for customers and to rectify the problem as quickly and safely as possible.
“The numbers of cancellations in 2007 were far higher than we would have liked to have seen, but the number of services we ran was impressive.”
But Mr Mulder disagreed.
“Commuters have two choices: The increasingly congested CityLink and Monash Freeway or unreliable Pakenham line trains,” he said.
