Metro has reached its delivery target for January with 98.3% of 48,343 scheduled services for the month being run.
On-time performance for January fell below the 88% minimum target, with 86.9% of trains running on time to four minutes and 59 seconds. Metro will pay customer compensation for falling below the punctuality target.
Repeated Glen Waverley line closures due to overhead issues and Siemens speed restrictions contributed to the performance, but Metro concedes none of these issues are adequate reasons for the drop in punctuality.
"It's our responsibility to manage the range of issues that present themselves on a day-to-day basis, and, more importantly, to prevent them from happening in the first place. It's disappointing not to have achieved one of our two performance targets, and we don't make excuses for it," said Metro CEO Andrew Lezala.
"To miss this on-time target means an unacceptable level of disruption to our customers, and for this, we apologise," he said.
"A systematic approach to reducing equipment faults is going to be the long-term solution to getting trains to run on-time and reducing cancellations, and we'll be applying a reliability-centred maintenance regime to achieve that," said Mr Lezala.
"Reliability-centred maintenance is a progressive approach to preventing train and infrastructure faults. Rather than a ‘run to failure' mentality Metro's model uses methodical analysis to pre-empt faults by undertaking maintenance when equipment is operating optimally," he said.
After the Glen Waverley line was repeatedly closed early in January due to overhead line entanglement, Metro undertook a systematic examination of overheads network-wide to identify weak points.
A number of at-risk locations were identified and a response plan implemented including increased maintenance of the tension weights, and raising the overhead line so that when it expands in hot weather it is less susceptible to becoming tangled in the pantograph.
The Government has applied a tougher measurement system under the new train contract for both delivery (number of trains ‘not cancelled') and punctuality (number of trains on-time). For example, a train that bypasses the City Loop or doesn't reach its final destination now contributes to the cancellation rate, whereas under the previous contract it was counted as a full service.
The definition of an ‘on-time' train is also different, reducing from five minutes and 59 seconds (previous threshold) to four minutes and 59 seconds.
Metro's Service Commitment Code specifies that not more than two per cent of trains can be cancelled and/or not more than 12 per cent of trains can run late (to four minutes 59 seconds) in a month before compensation is triggered.
Metro customers with a monthly, six-monthly or yearly Metcard, may apply to receive a free daily Metcard. Metro customers with an eligible myki pass may apply for compensation in the form of myki money to the equivalent of one daily myki.