But Opposition public transport spokesman Ryan Smith said the Coalition had begun focusing on maintenance - pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into it during their four years. ( Log Out / Because some of the commuters who regularly ride the L train … While funding has fallen, the number of people wanting to use trains has skyrocketed. Metro warns that this neglect risks the "collapse of critical systems preventing train operations". If you're curious why this is, let Top Gear co-presenter James May explain why trains are built for level travel, and supremely ill-suited to inclines (and declines! Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. They actually keep putting up these posters that state how good they are in terms of punctuality and reliability. Also, the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual is governed by the State so things like refunds and free travel can be taken care of should things go awry. Scott McMillan contacted Curious Melbourne, but it was actually his girlfriend Eva who first asked him why City Loop trains changed direction. Speaking to ABC Radio on Wednesday, after The Age revealed the Andrews government had vetoed a major Metro timetable upgrade due to begin in April, Ms Allan attacked the "fundamental failure of the former Liberal government to invest in the infrastructure that's needed". The train arrives at 5:48, but occasionally it is late, and the bus doesn’t wait…. 2015 was not a good year for them, when details of their payments to city officials in Hong Kong came to light. The track geometry and running clip of the train certainly look as if this track bend would give a very uncomfortable ride . Cranbourne is similar but less well served by trains and shopping centre and it may have some social problems that push it towards being a lesser suburb of Melbourne. Yet, I do not know one person who actually thinks they’re punctual or reliable. They want you to ask for the 4 dollars they owe you back. We decided to have a chill night at my place, watch a movie and see where things go. Exclusive: the six problems ruining Melbourne's rail network. I was on one of the Frankston line trains that wasn’t moving, it took us an hour and a half to go from Richmond to Malvern. They’re slow, expensive, and not very reliable. Their age makes them increasingly prone to failure and expensive to maintain, due to "the diminishing number of technicians with the relevant maintenance experience" to fix them. Metro's Strategic Operations Plan singled out Williamstown Beach station as one of the worst, saying it had "experienced significant structural movement since [2009] and requires significant underpinning or replacement". The most common danger on Victorian trains was the threat of attack by “railway madmen”. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. They have the capability for the control centre to do announcements on all trains, the part that needs work is the flow of information back there (which is also the next point) and the ability to create lines in real-time. Incorrect Answer. Another player with a 20% share in Melbourne Metro trains is the John Holland Group. The problem is, the Andrew’s Labor government and Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne are not doing that. ). "They didn't make the necessary investment, the big decisions," she said. So we begin to form a picture of who Melbourne Metro really are, a dirty threesome of corruption, manipulation, authoritarianism and cost cutting. The problem is that you can change up services a certain amount and wear a fine if it means that you’re going to hit your operational performance targets; because that means bonuses. Melbourne’s street art scene is one of the most vibrant and important in the world. Trains, even high-speed trains, only work in a few places. In Economy, Rail & Mass Transit, Rail Lubrication by Eric Vantiegham March 31, 2016. However, the most pressing thing as far as I can see is the need for Metro to proactively manage the customer experience. Maybe we’re all too hard on them, they may well be honest cobbers trying to do a hard days work making the best of a bad situation. Are Melbourne's trains really dangerous? The response I got when I questioned the Transport Minister’s office on this was that it was because they had the option for exclusive tender built into the old contract if they hit their performance targets. Metro insists the dark territory is no danger to the public, but it is a drag on the system and limits the frequency with which trains can run. There are many reasons why Melbourne has been consistently rated one of the world's most liveable cities. The interconnections also create considerable passenger discomfort and noise. Make sure the people that seemingly do have the answers give the right information (like when an express service is no longer operating as one). I found them to be encouraging in moving my career forward and have paid to help me advance my career. Melbourne is growing at an unsustainable pace. Forget the "best of" city guide, here's our run-down of the worst things about 24 Melbourne suburbs, according to the people who live there. Why Do SO Many Autistic People Love Thomas the Tank Engine? They even had to exit the Hong Kong market the following year a result of the fallout of the scandal. We are also paid for 30 min lunch so if we come in late we don’t get a lunch. "Then the panacea was privatisation but it was much the same for the next nine years. Metro says that the interconnections between tracks around Richmond station in particular, where several lines converge (pictured), force low speed limits of between 25 km/h and 40 km/h. The signal system within this booth, pictured, at Kooyong Station, is 102 years old. The scandal centred around allegations that steel bars had been shortened in substandard work practices. "If funding is insufficient to support the capacity enabling projects and service delivery in a timely manner, this will prevent MTM [Metro] providing sufficient services to meet patronage growth," the document states. So we have the first driver with different information to the station, who have different information to other drivers picking people up. But those things have still been happening since the new contracts came in. Did you know that every 2 seconds a Thomas the Tank Engine toy is sold somewhere around the world? Melbourne's rail network is seriously short of traction power trains need to accelerate, particularly in the inner city, Metro says. Why are Britain’s trains so bad - could nationalisation fix them? Trains symbolise modernity in Japan. "Melbourne is a growing city and it's actually great that so many people are choosing to use public transport. All this at … But frankly the fact that the trains which I take to work everyday I.e. With no wheels and only one track, Maglev trains would pooh-pooh bad weather, the wrong type of leaves on the line, or a points failure at Cricklewood. MTR’s corruption and fraud ended with top execs being fired and fines being handed out. The contracts were renegotiated in 2017 and they attempted to increase performance targets and put in place heavier fines to address station skipping, cancellations and short stunting (terminating before reaching a destination). It is well served by a train station, freeway, shopping centre and etc. Metro says Melbourne's railway stations and facilities are "sub-optimal", and that repairs are based on "a regime of periodic inspections" rather than a clear understanding of which stations need to be modernised. With delays and frustration with the service all too common, are Metro going about things the wrong way? The neglected Stony Point line still relies on Telstra copper cables installed long ago. Both major parties have promised to increase transit police numbers and to return more staff to stations. Factors such as altering services to meet the metrics, capacity issues and misrepresentation mean that those posters showing compliance to these service metrics don’t actually mean your train is going to get you there when you say it will get you there. Sydney has Australia's busiest airport and exited lockdown two weeks before Melbourne. Very discerning (lol) considering that at least once a year there is a major disruption like the one recently and there are far more unpublicised delays over any given week. I have 2 kids (8 & 10), and we currently live in upstate NY. Which would have been a good answer, had there not been several instances of falsified inspection records. A train line can move 50,000 people an hour. I am contemplating taking a job in the Melbourne area, and I am curious about what people think are the pros and cons to moving to the area.. 2017 saw the most train delays in nearly 15 years. Either way, the current contract means it’s not likely to increase much when additional surveys conducted by PTV will be at the cost of the operator (the company with several accusations of putting safety at risk for cost cutting). A threesome that we, the public, have been joining every day when we need to travel; which I guess makes it a foursome? Reply to this topic; Start new topic; Recommended Posts. The only question left, is when do we begin? "The newer trains perform very poorly when confronted by this low voltage level," Metro says. They did so relatively recently, making headlines around the state for the local public transport monopoly. So tell your customers, but more importantly tell your staff what’s going on. 6. And there are a few, largely unsolvable reasons why that’s the case. If things are so great, why are trains so crowded and late? "Melbourne is a growing city and it's actually great that so many people are choosing to use public transport. Running all trains, trams and main road buses at least “every ten minutes to everywhere” all day, every day, would ensure that all of Melbourne has a “turn up and go” network that people can use without having to check a timetable first, and that connections are easy. If you’re Metro and thinking that I can’t relate the two because they’re different industries then you probably have your answer as to why the customer experience is so bad. Unfortunately for U.S. consumers, Amtrak service can be very expensive. Communication with integrity and proper remediation are usually the norm when it comes to fixing an issue. The performance of the newer trains suffers as a result. Blog Why Trains Are So Important to the American Economy. Unlike those that have competition though, the drive for the need to go that extra mile and fix gaps for customers are made harder when there is one provider. Busses and trains in the UK became expensive when John Major's government sold them in the early 1990's. Australian owned UGL Rail hold the other 20% stake, but they too have been accused of corruption and bribery. Melbourne’s Public Transport Users Association says waits of 30 minutes to an hour for buses are common, and station car parks fill up by morning peak hour. Why Trains Are So Important to the American Economy. The last decade has seen unprecedented growth in demand for rail travel. "But there are hotspots where the infrastructure doesn't cope." Video Streaming Services (aka An Examination of Foxtel’s Mistakes), On the 14th January, some faults caused two lines, the only just reopened Cranbourne and Pakenham arms, to be shut down, The scandal centred around allegations that steel bars had been shortened in substandard work practices. They were even ordered to break open the foundations of some of the stations as part of the investigation. Which by that logic, I’ve got three mates who think I should be Prime Minister so let’s go. There’s also the time that they sneakily applied EBA agreements to every employee working on children’s hospital in Perth when only 3 employees actually agreed to it. Ubers or taxis would have cost a lot, but can you blame them when even the staff have no idea what’s going on? Frankly I'm worried about my hearing now. Why are oil trains so bad? How does that make customers feel? Recently they’ve been at the centre of a $97.1 billion HK (more than $17 billion AUD) scandal in Hong Kong in regards to construction of a rail line. ( Log Out / This 2.6% includes both passenger and freight rail so, in fact passenger rail contributes even less. "The interdependencies are a significant contributor to the relatively poor performance during peak periods on the Melbourne network in comparison to the best performing railways throughout the world," Metro says. Gerry Glover, an organiser in the Electrical Trades Union, has been involved in Melbourne's rail industry for 14 years and said recent governments had finally accepted the need to invest in renewing the system, but the list of problems was still vast. This Is Why Melbourne Weather Is SO BAD!Melbourne weather is more changeable than Sydney’s, but having lived in both I would not say it is ‘bad’. Metro love to give us two metrics, particularly on the posters they put up; first of all, percentage of scheduled services met or delivered, then the second is percentage of services on time. on one occasion passengers from the train just about had to run in front of it and cut it off). Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. It’s so that they can verify you actually took the train that day; but seriously, if you have the data to validate, then you have the data to proactively reimburse. Melbourne's rail system is full of decrepit technology, including "over 2000 life-expired CCTV cameras". This presented safety concerns but still gave the appearance that they had done all the work required. They have been obliging and helpful when I have needed to … "The non-big ticket announceables, you spend a lot of time on that, and you get far less credit for that. The rail industry helped to shape America into what is today, and it … As an attempt to curtail these attacks, the railway carriages were fitted with enclosed sections with a locked door. It says a failure or delay on one section of the network causes "cascading across the network". Too bad if you came from the last carriage of the train, and/or a slow walker – you probably would have missed it…. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Change ), Kind of like A Current Affair… only less current…. So as long as we don’t get carried away as Spain did, I see no reason why we can’t emulate the Kyushu Shinkansen here in … Metro wants to rip out interconnections between rail lines and convert Melbourne's intricate Victorian-era network into five separate and simpler railways. For more detail, see ‘Fast train fever: Why renovated rail might work but bullet trains won’t’. The gaps in the system risk creating a "compromise to operational performance as fragmented signal control and communications fails to cope with ever-increasing service frequencies", Metro says. Train crews like to move trains and not be late because literally that’s all the rest we get. So I definitely directed my own frustration towards Metro Trains. Well no, we know some people couldn’t even get into stations because of the crowding and there are those who suspected it would take hours, those people found other methods of transport. Tell customers something, the train driver on the 14th January said that he didn’t have any information as he was stopped on the tracks, I recall his words as “we are waiting for answers they’re not giving us”. The fallout also meant that that the Frankston line was massively delayed. As it is, one-third of car trips happen on congested roads during the morning peak. The bad news is that it's only going to get worse. Customer insights data does show that sentiment is improving; but if you’re covered in shit, then hosing it off is going to be an improvement, it doesn’t mean you’re hygienic. irstly by trying to silence potential naysayer employees and keep tabs on possible threats to the status quo of compliance, keeping records on staff who attend rallys and union events. During the Meiji restoration in the late 19th century, when Japan modernised at break-neck speed, the high technology of the day was the locomotive. We can see a lot of examples of this looking back on situations like when Telstra’s service went out and they offered a free data day to proactively give angry customers something back. Every now and then in Melbourne, the trains descend into chaos. Maybe you can fix the issue reasonably quickly, which to all credit they did fix it overnight. Comments on: Are Melbourne’s trains really this bad? With delays and frustration with the service all too common, are Metro going about things the wrong way? Let’s state the obvious: trains in america are awful. Every now and then in Melbourne, the trains descend into chaos. had there not been several instances of falsified inspection records. Metro said programs had been put in place to fix many of the flaws identified in its 2013 audit. In-depth reviews of systems, processes, industries and motivations from a customer strategy perspective. The feasibility study assumed that government would commit to the project in 2013. I don’t know about you but giving my dogs treats when they do something wrong only makes them think that doing the wrong thing is OK. See, the Andrew’s government need to be held accountable by the public for Melbourne Metro because they created the $7 Billion, 7 year contract behind closed doors without a competitive tender process. 0 0. The Australian Rail Association has documented that only 2.6% of Australia's transport greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to rail. Hard. After a few days on Tinder, I started talking to this guy who seemed really lovely. because uk trains are so bad yet so expensive. All trains bought this century - the Siemens and X'Trapolis trains - have been "detuned" to perform to the same specifications as the older and slower Comeng trains, which require less voltage. As it is, one-third of car trips happen on congested roads during the morning peak. And as services seem to be getting worse, ticket prices are going up - leaving many passengers furious. The car loby and the road loby have some powerful voices. They did so relatively recently, making headlines around the state for the local public transport monopoly. Why a bullet train is a bad idea 28 May, 2020. PTV says that there have been a lot of customer surveys done, but their idea of a lot is around 850 interviews a quarter, but that’s only about 3400 a year or about 0.00144% of the estimated 236 million yearly ridership of Metro Trains. Now, I don’t think anyone would expect Melbourne Metro trains to be on lists of the best public transport systems in cities across the world; but I didn’t expect that they’d be the worst in Australia. Signal failures are one of the biggest sources of delay on the system. I was near the front of the mob and still had to wait for 4 trains to go past that were too full, meanwhile the mob just kept growing. More than 700 of 2000 life-expired analog CCTV cameras had been converted to digital and a program was in place to simplify complex rail junctions that frequently caused train delays, a Metro spokeswoman said. The Moovit Public Transport Index helps anyone discover how people in Melbourne get around each day with public transport compared to other cities. Why Is Amtrak So Expensive? Quite clearly there was enough information to know that there was an issue and trains needed to stop; give them something they can use to put your customers at ease. Not as often as they want you to believe. The largest share of metro trains belongs to MTR Corporation, who are based in Hong Kong and have contracts all over the world. Narrow roads, chaotic traffic, hair-raising bends, bad weather, and treacherous mountain passes can rattle the nerves of even the most experienced motorists. We analyse things on behalf of the general population and rather than just asking what? A 30-year-old back-up system is more than 10 years past the end of its design life and is deteriorating due to dust contamination. 8. More than $950 million has been spent on the maintenance and renewal of the metropolitan rail network in the past four financial years, government figures show. Question. So if we’re going to try and fix anything, let’s try and fix that. ... lines in Japan turn a profit and the Kyushu Shinkansen used to get far less usage than the Melbourne – Sydney air corridor. Metro obviously did blame them because none of these things were considered in reimbursement to customers. Notes: Estimates derived from the 2013 feasibility study of the Melbourne-to-Brisbane bullet train, and other sources. Sometimes it feels like a rant, but the intention is to explore what is not working and attempt to put forward a solution. "Much of the signalling equipment on the network is antiquated and presents significant impact potential on the network's performance," Metro says. Florida was never on my list of places I would chose to move to, but the job is quite intriquing to me. Also, the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual is governed by the State so things like refunds and free travel can be taken care of should things go awry. The driver didn’t know why we were stopped but said he wasn’t allowed to proceed at this stage, the station was broadcasting that all trains on that line were now departing from platform 6. The performance of the newer trains suffers as a result. The prior instances had all been swept under the rug because, as they claim: they had identified the issue before they could impact anyone and had already asked contractors to fix the issue. Yet Metro's highly detailed five-year plan, reveals the repair job remains huge and damages the reliability of virtually every aspect of the network. Larger destinations are often so congested that parking is far away and payable by the hour. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. It’s not going to be simple and we’re unlikely to get what’s really needed, but it’ll be a start until the contract is up in 2024. It’s OK though, because of this, they were reprimanded $750,000.