Metro plans radical overhaul
Metro trains is planning a radical overhaul of Melbourne's rail services, Seven News can reveal.
The plans are revealed in a secret document leaked to Seven's state political reporter Brendan Donohoe.
The secret new timetable, to be launched from April 22, brings both good and bad news for the 400,000 commuters who use the rail system.
Under the new timetable, codenamed Green Fields 2A, there will be an extra 353 services per week.
But the majority of the new services will run on Saturdays and Sundays.
On weekends, the Frankston, Dandenong, and Ringwood lines will run day time trains every 10 minutes to Flinders Street.
On weekdays, passengers will benefit from 70 new services, or 14 per day.
Andrew Lezala of Metro Trains told 7News: "The important thing is high frequency trains, less crowding, and more punctual services."
But the bad news is, despite increasing passenger numbers, they'll be just two extra peak hour trains on weekdays - both on the busiest line, Hurstbridge.
And on every line except the Williamstown Shuttle, weekend train journeys will take longer, up to five minutes more on the Pakenham and Hurstbridge lines.
Greens MP Greg Barber said: "Slowing down trains is a bit like burning money - we should be speeding up the trains to carry more people."
Critics say slowing the trains is a deliberate strategy to allow Metro and the Baillieu Government to hit its punctuality targets.
Daniel Bowen of the Transport Users Association told 7News: "It is a bit of a con in terms of bumping out the figures to suit the operator."
And with more trains running on Saturdays and Sundays, the document says there's no need for special trains to clear football crowds from the MCG, unless it's expected the crowd will be more than 60,000.
That means special services will still be scheduled for most finals and blockbusters like the Anzac Day clash.
