Melburnians compensated just $3700 in a year for late trains and trams

A tiny fraction of public transport users are receiving compensation for poor service on Melbourne’s train and tram networks, prompting calls for more rights for passengers inconvenienced by delays and cancellations.

Metro Trains and Yarra Trams take up to 1 million passengers on trips every day, but just 429 customers were compensated – with a single day of free travel – last financial year, despite the two private operators falling short on performance targets.

Just a handful of public transport customers in Melbourne were compensated for poor service last year.Credit: Luis Ascui

Passengers can be credited for the value of a daily ticket – which will jump 6 per cent on January 1 – on their myki card if the private operators cancel more than 2 per cent of scheduled services in a single month.

They can also be compensated if more than 10 per cent of trains or 21 per cent of trams are delayed by at least five minutes across a month.

But public transport advocates say too many customers are ineligible for compensation, don’t know it is available, or can’t be bothered going through the rigmarole of claiming it.

Metro approved only 418 claims for compensation – worth $3608 in myki credit – after it missed its cancellation target in July 2022, according to documents obtained by The Age through a freedom-of-information request. There were just over 12 million Metro passenger trips recorded that month.

Yarra Trams missed its on-time target in February and March 2023 – when there were 12.9 million and 15.3 million passenger trips, respectively – but it approved compensation for only 11 customers, who received a total of $96.60 in myki credit.

Customers are only eligible if they hold a pre-paid myki pass of 28 days or longer and travelled on at least 10 days in the relevant month.

Metro and Yarra publish their monthly performance data online about 10th day of the following month, and passengers have until the end of that month to apply for compensation online or by mail.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the number of customers receiving payouts was “a joke”.

The compensation system should be strengthened when Victoria overhauls the myki ticketing system over the next two years, he said.

“It needs a complete revamp so at the very least it’s automatically paid,” he said. “It’s a consumer rights issue … it encourages the operators to try to do better if they know it’s going to cost them through compensation.”

Bowen said many public transport networks had simpler refund and compensation schemes that Victoria should examine.

On London’s rail network, for example, customers can receive a refund for their fare if their train is delayed for 15 minutes or longer for reasons outside the operator’s control.

Transport for London paid £277,503 ($517,928) in refunds to 68,573 passengers for delays in the 12 months to September.

The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning did not answer questions about why so few customers used the compensation scheme and whether it needed to be easier to navigate.

“The contracts to operate Melbourne’s train and tram networks include tough performance benchmarks that put passengers first – ensuring passengers can get to where they need to go safely and efficiently,” a department spokesperson said.

Metro said that it had beaten its passenger performance targets every month since July 2022. “We work hard to deliver a reliable service that passengers expect and deserve,” a spokesperson said.

Yarra Trams said it was focused on “running the safe, reliable and punctual tram service that Melburnians expect”.

The Allan government confirmed last week that it would hike myki fares for the second time in six months on January 1, with the full daily fare increasing 60¢ to $10.60. That follows an 80¢ mid-year hike, meaning the daily fare has jumped by $1.40 – more than 15 per cent – since June. Concession fares will rise 30¢ to $5.30 in the new year.

Victoria this year signed a $1.7 billion, 15-year contract with US ticketing technology group Conduent to overhaul the outdated myki system, with improvements such as being able to touch on with a bank card set to roll out in 2025.

Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said on Friday the state was still working through “all the variabilities” of the new ticking system, including whether it will set cheaper fares for shorter journeys rather than the current flat two-hour and daily fares.

Infrastructure Victoria, the state government’s in-house advisor, has previously recommended cutting fares on the underused bus network and introducing discounted off-peak fares to make the public transport network fairer and encourage more people to use it.

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