Trains will run directly from Melbourne’s west through to bayside suburbs as part of an extra 400 weekly services across the state in the biggest timetable shake-up since the Metro Tunnel opened.
Public Transport Minister Vicki Ward said on Thursday that starting this month, services would run directly between Sandringham and key western stations, enabling commuters to travel across the city without changing trains.
“So you can jump on a train at Werribee, go all the way to the MCG without stopping … or you can go from bayside and jump on a train to Werribee Zoo without stopping,” she said.
The cross-city train services will run from Newport and Laverton to Sandringham during the morning peak, only from Newport during the evening peak, and from Werribee, Laverton and Williamstown during the off-peak hours.
Trains from Sandringham will run during peak hours to either Newport, Williamstown or Laverton, and off-peak trains will travel as far as Werribee. All trains will go via Southern Cross and Flinders Street stations.
The cross-city service is part of more than 400 extra trains starting on the network on August 23. This includes 180 weekly services on the Werribee, Laverton, Williamstown and Sandringham lines, 115 on the Craigieburn line and 77 on the Upfield line.
There will also be extra Friday and Saturday night services to Ringwood, eight additional Sunday morning services on both the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines, larger trains on the crowded Wyndham Vale line and more frequent regional trains.
The extra 400 services were unlocked by the Metro Tunnel, which removed Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham line trains from the City Loop, and opened space on the network.
Metro Trains chief executive Raymond O’Flaherty said it was the first major shake-up of timetables since the Metro Tunnel opened.
“What the Metro Tunnel has done is create a capacity now for us to add these essential services across the network … We are really hoping our passengers see the benefits of higher frequency across,” he said.
“This is not the end … I fully expect there will be more changes in the future. The network needs more services, and more frequency, and the department is right behind that.”
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the increased frequency of trains and cross-city services were welcome for commuters. Waiting times for the Upfield and Craigieburn line trains are expected to be cut from 40 to 20 minutes off-peak.
“There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but this is a good step forward in terms of cutting or removing those 40-minute waits, which passengers, quite frankly, hate,” Bowen said.
“It’s all helping to bring Melbourne’s rail network up to scratch.”
Additional services on the Belgrave, Lilydale, Hurstbridge, Mernda, Alamein and Glen Waverley lines will begin next year.
Extra services from August 23
- Werribee, Laverton, Williamstown and Sandringham lines: More than 180 extra weekly services and trains every 10 minutes between Newport and Sandringham on weekdays.
- Craigieburn Line: An extra 115 weekly services, with trains every 20 minutes or better from morning until midnight, seven days a week.
- Upfield Line: An extra 77 weekly services, with trains every 20 minutes or better from morning until midnight, seven days a week.
- Belgrave and Lilydale lines: Extra Friday and Saturday night services to Ringwood.
- Mernda and Hurstbridge lines: Eight extra Sunday morning services on each line.
- Wyndham Vale Line: More peak services upgraded to nine-car VLocity trains, increasing capacity by 50 per cent.
- Geelong Line: 40 services extended from Geelong to Waurn Ponds each week.
- Shepparton Line: An uplift to nine return services every weekday and five return services each Saturday and Sunday following the Shepparton Line Upgrade.
- Seymour Line: Trains every hour on Saturday and Sunday.
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Angus Delaney is a reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email.
