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Saturday March 20, 2010

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Metro trains start their journey

Posted by: 3AW Radio | 30 November, 2009 - 10:08 AM


ABOVE: Neil Mitchell crosses to program reporter Seb Costello as Metro starts controlling the train network. Do you have more confidence in the system now Connex is out? Answer below news story.


Clay Lucas, The Age: Melbourne has new train and tram operators, with the staff behind the Connex and Yarra Trams brands having handed over the system to new management at 3.01am today.

Connex bowed out with a whimper on Friday, announcing its failure to run the city's trains on time in the past month meant yearly and monthly ticket holders could claim two free tickets as compensation.

In its final days, the operator was also forced to impound another of the city's Siemens trains because it had overshot a train platform last week.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the new French operator of Melbourne's tram system, Keolis, will have to run fewer trams on time than the previous operator managed to do.

For the past five months the consortium that operated Yarra Trams from April 2004, Metrolink, ran 82.4 per cent of its trams ''on time'' - within five minutes of their schedule.

Metrolink was dumped in June in favour of Keolis, which will be required to run only 82 per cent of trams ''on time''.

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, who will this morning ride on the first rebadged trains and trams, said 82 per cent of services ''on time'' was the standard expected of the new tram operator.

''Any performance above that is a benefit for commuters,'' spokesman Stephen Moynihan said.

Yarra Trams has embarked on a $10 million rebadging exercise, with the first of its refurbished trams hitting the streets this morning.

The brand name Yarra Trams is owned by the Government and will be retained, whereas the Connex brand name, owned by French transport giant Veolia, will go.

The first of the city's 164 trains was rebadged as a Metro Trains vehicle on Friday.

Removing Connex's name from the entire fleet will happen quickly as temporary stickers are applied over the next two weeks. Full rebadging of the whole train fleet will cost $25 million by its completion in mid-2010.

Metro Trains has had 28 senior staff working with Connex in recent weeks in a bid to begin devising ways to improve Melbourne's train system.

The new operator has a big challenge ahead of it, judging by the latest train platform ''overshoot''. On Friday, Connex confirmed that a train had failed to stop when the driver hit the brakes at Springvale railway station on November 21.

Due to continued problems with brakes on the Government's 36 trains made by Siemens, these trains have 30km/h speed limits on them as they pull into stations.

The driver had been going at 31km/h, but could not stop the train before it slid into the level crossing at Springvale station. The boom gates were down.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Are you guy's joking! Why don't Victorian's see through this nonsense. It started with Tennix losing the road safety camera contract to Serco, the Ombudsman's report into Brimbank, moving Nixon along and appointing someone else to police and axing Yarra Trams and Connex in public transport. Come on, Labor's lost law and order, emergency services, public transport and are vulnerable on health. What are they're strong points now? If the Lib's/Nat's can get their act together then 1999 might not seem so far away. Peter.

    Peter Right Monday 30 November, 2009 - 7:20 PM

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