After so many years of concentrating on infrastructure construction and, more recently, various ways of cutting or removing fares, the state government's revived interest in service matters is both refreshing and necessary after decades where not much happened.
This is on several grounds including changing travel patterns, the desirability of maximising gain from investments in infrastructure and making our housing activity centres work. More public transport service made sense even before the current fuel crisis.
Below I'll get into what the new service measures will mean, both for you and the network.
What got funded?
I'll just discuss the Metro upgrades here.
These measures chip away at 30 and 40 minute headways that still plague about half the Melbourne train network, decreasing maximum waits to 20 minutes, first train to last.
Lines that got (or will soon get) this treatment include:
* Frankston, Werribee and Williamstown in 2021
* Sunbury, Pakenham and Cranbourne when the Metro Tunnel opened in February 2026
* Craigieburn and Upfield with funding in the 2025 state budget and implementation in mid-2026
Apart from Sunday mornings on the Sandringham line, the big omissions from this list were all lines on the Clifton Hill and Burnley groups. That is the Mernda, Hurstbridge, Lilydale, Belgrave, Alamein and Glen Waverley lines.
This left us with a haves and have nots rail network with 3:1 variations in frequency unlinked to patronage levels. For example busy stations like Box Hill had 30 minute gaps at times that other lines had 20 and even 10 minute intervals.
Rail (and bus) service levels outside peaks were limited typically not by infrastructure but political will. For a long time this government's priorities were elsewhere but that is now starting to change, with yesterday's announcement a prime example of real action on service frequency (sorry AC!).
In a nutshell:
* Clifton Hill group lines get weekend boosts to a 20 min maximum wait.
* Burnley group lines get weeknight boosts to a 20 min maximum wait.
Clifton Hill group (Mernda, Hurstbridge)
Click below for a clearer view.
This change removes the dreaded 40 minute gaps between trains on Sunday mornings on all of the Mernda line and the bulk of the Hurstbridge line (as far as Eltham). This will leave Sandringham as the only Metro line that remains with a 40 minute Sunday morning frequency.
Probably the biggest benefit of this package is that weekend evening services get improved from 30 to 20 minutes. While not stated I'll guess that stations beyond Eltham will have their weekend evening service boosted from 60 to 40 minutes.
Weeknights do not change on either line. Meaning that service on 51 of the 52 Friday nights of the year will actually be less frequent than service on a Sunday (including Christmas) night. The exception of course is Good Friday as a Sunday timetable will be in effect.
People between the CBD and Clifton Hill will get a 10 minute frequent service similar to what the West Footscray - Dandenong portion of the Metro Tunnel lines get. But only on weekends and during the day on weekdays. On weeknights they will retain their 15 minute service as the 30 minute service levels for each line are not changing then.
Case studies of typical stations
Clifton Hill
Weeknight service remains at every 15 min approx
Weekend night services improve from every 30 to every 20 min
Sunday morning services improve from every 40 to every 20 min
Weeknight service remains at every 30 min
Ivanhoe
Sunday morning services improve from every 40 to every 20 min
Weeknight service remans at every 20 - 30 min
Burnley group (Belgrave, Lilydale, Alamein, Glen Waverley)
Again mapped below.
It's even better if you are on the city side of Ringwood - then you will get a service every 10 minutes until last train, just like Dandenong does. Frankly I think the media release undersells some of the benefits. Eg the current Ringwood weeknight frequency is 30 minutes, not 15 minutes for the later part of the evening. Also if the media release is right about Ringwood's 10 minute service then it is very likely that trains will alternate between Belgrave and Lilydale, saving passengers travelling further the need to change trains. Whereas currently, due to the low city - Ringwood frequency, a one seat ride to Belgrave or Lilydale might require you to wait an extra half hour.
The above are very worthwhile upgrades. Busy stations like Box Hill finally get a weeknight frequency that not just meets but surpasses what it had in 1939. And Ringwood's is much better than it was in 1976, reversing the 1978 cuts and then some.
However this timetable again has oddities. For example you will have more frequent trains at Bayswater or Croydon at 11pm on a weeknight than you will at 11am. This is because this timetable leaves untouched the 30 minute weekday gaps that are the bane of all off-peak travellers east of Ringwood. Sunday mornings are similarly unresolved, with Box Hill and Ringwood's 30 minute gaps remaining, versus the 10 minute service that Dandenong enjoys at this time.
Weekend evening service remans at 30 min
Sunday morning service remains at 30 min
Weekend evening service remans at 30 min
Sunday morning service remains at 30 min
Weekend evening service remains at 30 min
Weekend evening service remains at 30 min
The government has said that these upgrades will be introduced (likely in stages) in late 2026/into 2027. Below is a map showing maximum waits on the network after then.
Most notable is the near disappearance of 40 minute gaps, with Sandringham the last major hold-out on the Metro network.
30 minute gaps will remain common with the Clifton Hill and Burnley groups but will apply for reduced hours of the week (weeknights and weekends/interpeak weekdays respectively). The most notable based on the number of passengers affected is 30 min weeknight service on the Mernda line and 30 min weekend evening and Sunday morning gaps from Ringwood inwards.
Potential future upgrades
The budgeted timetable changes are very welcome. All could have been done at any time in the last 20-30 years but government priorities have typically been elsewhere in transport.
Now that they are underway (with 2026 being the best year in Metro rail service uplifts for many many years) they might as well keep them coming to fix the remaining oddities and long gaps that reduce network usability. Especially since the best use for scarce money for the next little while will likely be in maximising the benefits from infrastructure built.
While there have been exceptions (eg the network-wide Night Network), rail planners typically like to do upgrades in line groups. The packages below might be a reasonable way of staging work.
1 comment:
The approach seems to be fixing the lowest hanging fruit, rather than delivering a full package across the week on either group. Potentially upgrades that can be implemented just before the election/during the half-price fares.
Weekdays offpeak is complicated by the Belgrave/Lilydale morning expresses running until midday that could upset some if made all stations, as would a potential drop to a 20 min interpeak frequency to Alamein (although justified on patronage grounds)
A weekday greenfields timetable with 10 min expresses to Ringwood and 10 min stoppers to Camberwell (then alternating to Alamein & Box Hill/Blackburn every 20 mins) could be a "greater good" soultion but would require several additional services and therefore more drivers.
(A complete rewrite of the peak hour stopping patterns should also be considered).
Likewise, the number of extra drivers needed to fix Sunday mornings and weekend evenings on the Burnley Group to may have required it to be deferred to sometime after the election? Especially for a more ambitious 10 min service to Ringwood to match Dandenong?
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