V/Line train cancel chaos
REGIONAL Victorians are being dealt the most frequent number of train cancellations since the wheel wear crisis, data reveals.
Regional commuters copped the three most unreliable months this summer since early 2016, when the wheel wear issue forced scores of carriages off the tracks and the ensuing chaos forced V/ Line CEO Theo Taifalos to quit.
New statistics show the 11line network was plagued by cancellations in December (3.7 per cent), January (5.7 per cent) and February (3.7 per cent).
Outside of the wheel wear fiasco, the previous worst result was in January 2014, when one in every 22 scheduled services was cancelled (4.5 per cent).
On the Geelong line, the number of cancellations in February (88) fell to a rate of 3.3 per cent, down from a twoyear high of 7.9 per cent in January.
The rate of Geelong services that were on time also rebounded last month — to 87.1 per cent — after hitting a fourand-a-half low of 82.2 per cent in January.
V/Line CEO James Pinder said service performance typically dropped over summer when trains slowed down as a safety precaution.
“January was particularly challenging across the network with the extreme heat, but there were fewer days of heat speed restrictions in February,” he said.
“It’s pleasing to see an increase in both punctuality and reliability in February and we will be working to make further improvements to performance over the coming months.”
Mr Pinder said reasons for delays on the Geelong line in February included: THE additional time trains were required to stop at stations to allow passengers to board and depart; TRAIN faults; and UNRULY passengers on trains and at stations, which required police to be called.
“The safety of our staff and passengers will always be our No. 1 priority so we always notify police to attend to unruly passengers,” he said.