New Metro timetable starts Sunday, monthly performance results confirmed

Metro is reminding customers to pick up a copy of the new timetable, which starts this Sunday.

The new timetable sees 635 new weekly services added across the network – more than double the amount of services added in October, and more than triple the amount added in June last year – and takes the total number of services per week to a record high of 14,000.

Metro CEO Andrew Lezala said the new timetable signals the biggest overhaul of Melbourne’s train schedule in more than a decade.

“This timetable is the first major step of a complete re-write of the metropolitan timetable, which essentially involves going back to first principles to enable the untangling of the network,” Mr Lezala said.

“The new timetable is the first major part of a step-by-step process of simplifying the timetable to help improve reliability.

“We expect to minimise the effects of disruptions for our customers by isolating lines to help avoid any flow-on effect of delays, and future stages will see other lines operating independently from each other, minimising the impact of any service disruptions for our customers.”

The reminder comes as the operator’s monthly performance results for April were released, confirming it exceeded its service delivery target but failed to reach its punctuality target in April.

Metro maintained its high service delivery during April, exceeding its 98 per cent target for the 16th time by running 98.3 per cent of services.

But after a challenging month, Metro only managed to record a punctuality result of 76.2 against a target of 88 per cent.

“As we said last week, investigations will continue into the root causes of trains that run late without reasons that can be explained,” Mr Lezala said.

“Our customers expect and deserve a service that runs on time, so when we have poor performance, they want to know why. We have been investigating, and will continue to investigate, services that run late for no apparent reason to get to the bottom of it.

“That said, the vast majority of our staff are very professional and comply with the rules. We have made it very clear that we expect our people to follow the rules and processes and we will support them when they work within what is considered a normal tolerance.”

Mr Lezala said Metro will continue to monitor the performance of the railway to address the range of issues affecting on-time performance.

Metro will pay compensation for falling below its punctuality target in April. Customers with a monthly, six-monthly or yearly Metcard, and customers with an eligible myki pass may apply for compensation by filling out a claim form available at premium stations or download an application form from here.

New Metro timetable – effective Sunday 8 May

Download a copy of the new timetable from here or pick one up from any premium station.

The major additions to services include an extra:

  • 37 new services each weekday on the Werribee line, including eight new peak services each weekday;

  • 25 new services each weekday on the Belgrave/Lilydale line, including two new morning peak services each weekday;

  • 18 new services each weekday on the Sandringham line, including seven new peak services each weekday;

  • 17 new services each weekday on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line;

  • 15 new services each weekday on the Frankston line; and

  • four new services each weekday on the Glen Waverley line, including one morning peak service.

Other key changes include:

  • All Alamein line and all Belgrave/Lilydale line services starting from Blackburn to the city before midday (34 in total) will now run through the City Loop.

  • All morning services on the Glen Waverley line (34 in total) will run direct to Flinders Street, at a frequency of seven to eight minutes. A cross-platform change at Richmond will enable a direct change for City Loop station customers, with connecting Loop services running every one to three minutes throughout the morning peak.

  • A regular 11 minute service will operate from Werribee during the morning peak, with most services to operate express between Laverton and Newport.

  • Weekday service frequency between 9am and 4:30pm for Aircraft, Hoppers Crossing and Werribee stations reduces from 10 minutes to 20 minutes however, the average service frequency between Newport and Flinders Street will become 11 minutes. There is currently a four and 16 minute service between Newport and the city.

  • All Williamstown line weekday services between 9am and 4:30pm will run through to Flinders Street instead of the current shuttle service between Williamstown and Newport.

  • All Craigieburn, Sydenham, Upfield and Werribee line evening and weekend services will operate as six-carriage trains.

  • The Cranbourne/Pakenham, Werribee and Williamstown lines evening service frequency increases to 20 minutes (from 30 minutes) until about 10pm.

Download a copy of the new timetable from here or pick one up from any premium station.