Stinking passengers help drag Melbourne's Metro Trains down to lowest ranking in Australia
Smelly, aggressive and abusive passengers on Melbourne trains are helping to keep the city’s commuters among Australia least happy travellers.
Melbourne’s rail service scored three stars across all five categories in Canstar Blue’s survey of 6000 Australian commuter train users.
For the fifth year in a row, Perth passengers were ranked the nation’s happiest, giving Transperth a five-star rating.
And for the fifth year in a row, Melbourne came last.
Adelaide Metro was ranked in second place with four stars, and Queensland rail ranked third, also with four stars.
Sydney was fourth with four stars, but a list of pet peeves and unhappiness with prices and myki ticketing system saw Melbourne’s Metro Trains ranked lowest overall.
Daily commuters in Melbourne spent an average $35 per week on travel, compared to $46 in Brisbane, $38 in Adelaide and $33 in Sydney, but they appeared to be the most unhappy about it, according to Canstar Blue.
Just over half of Melbourne’s commuters thought the train was the most convenient way to travel, but it was other passengers, not the train service itself that really annoyed the Victorians.
More than half of Metro Trains passengers were dissatisfied by rude and aggressive passengers, passengers who smelled, or people having loud personal conversations on the trains.
"Metro customers clearly think they're paying too much to travel and are generally disappointed with the overall service they receive,” Canstar Blue editor Simon Downes told The Age.
“The ticketing system is a particular focus of anger and frustration."
Melbourne commuters gave their service just two stars for pricing and ticketing services.
The threat of terrorism is also a rising concern for Melbourne commuters, as well as their fellow travellers around the country.
According to the survey, fear of a terrorist attack rose from 22 per cent to 25 per cent in Melbourne over the past 12 months, but Sydney is the most nervous, with 29 per cent saying the worried about terrorism.
A quarter of Brisbane commuters worried about terrorism but just 18 per cent of Perth and Adelaide train users shared those concerns.
Overall, about 90 per cent of travellers across all cities said they felt the service was safe to use during the day, but those feelings were held by less than 50 per cent after the sun went down.
