Trains still drag chain
Vline missing targets
V/LINE services to Geelong have again failed to meet their punctuality targets.
Last month, 89.8 per cent of Geelong services were on time or within five minutes of their scheduled arrival time.
The carrier’s target for punctuality is 92 per cent.
But there was some good news, with the figures being the best recorded since November last year, when 91.4 per cent of services arrived on time.
The Geelong line was not the worst performed of V/Line’s five shorterdistance services, with the Gippsland line only managing 74.7 per cent of trains on time.
Public Transport Users Association Geelong spokesman Paul Westcott said the Gippsland line had the longest section of track with Metro trains, reaching as far as Pakenham, and this caused many of the delays.
He said V/Line might have to look at changing its targets or the timetable to reflect longer travel times before the targets were ever able to be achieved.
‘‘You may remember a timetable change about 18 months ago where they did slow down the trains (on the timetable) in order to better reflect their actual time on the track,’’ he said.
‘‘But it hasn’t necessarily been the cure.
‘‘You do have to wonder whether we are going to face another reduction in targets by slowing down the trains.
‘‘Again, most passengers would say they don’t necessarily want the trains to be slowed down, but they prefer certainty about timing.
‘‘It’s a big problem if you have made an appointment expecting a train to get in on a certain time, then you miss that appointment because the train is late or the connection isn’t made. What we would like to see is changes to the infrastructure so that trains can meet their targets, trains can progress according to the timetable.
‘‘Of course, V/Line keep on telling us it’s because of problems in the metropolitan area, which they are not responsible for and that’s probably true to some extent.’’
A V/ Line spokeswoman said yesterday the September figures were only 2.2 per cent short of the target.
‘‘The main cause of delays was congestion in the metropolitan network. There were other causes such as train faults, trespasser incidents and ill passengers,’’ she said.