By Brendan Rees
Just over one service, on average, was abruptly cancelled on Cranbourne train line every day in June.
New figures, released by Public Transport Victoria on Thursday, revealed 84 per cent of trains were delivered on time for June while the amount of trains delivered dropped marginally from 98.3 to 98.2 per cent.
Forty-two trains (1.2 per cent) were cancelled compared with 35 in May.
This is in stark contrast to last June which recorded an overall punctuality rate of 91.3 per cent.
In the past six months, 54 trains, on average, were cancelled each month.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen a single track on the Cranbourne line was causing delays to “quickly snowball”.
“Duplicating the line must be a priority for the government,” he said.
“This growing area needs more frequent trains, and better punctuality and reliability.
“Single track is a relic of the past, causing delays to quickly snowball, and often forcing Metro to terminate outbound trains early at Dandenong.
Mr Bowen added: “It also prevents more trains from running, leaving the Cranbourne line long waits between services, even in peak hour.”
Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon said council understood delays on the Cranbourne railway line was causing “hardship” to commuters and a duplication of the line was “a matter of urgency.”
“The State Government has committed to $750 million to duplicate the rail line from Dandenong to Cranbourne, and $7 million to complete planning for the rail extension to Clyde,” she said.
“Detailed planning and procurement of the duplication project will start this year, with construction to start in 2021 and finish by 2023.
Cr Stapledon added: “This does not include the extension, as the delivery and timing of the extension will be subject to the completion of planning.”
“The good, reliable public transport and the extension of the Cranbourne Rail line is a major transport priority for the City of Casey, and we will continue to advocate for this.”
Metro spokesman James Ireland said Metro’s punctuality target for services that ran within five mins of scheduled time was 92 per cent while reliability (percentage of scheduled services) was 98.5 per cent.
