On Track survey 2017: Melbourne’s best and worst stations

CHRONIC parking shortages, poor bus connections, litter and a lack of toilets are plaguing Melbourne railway stations, a new survey has revealed. How did your station fare?

Commuters have spoken to name the stations they love and hate.

CHRONIC parking shortages, poor bus connections, litter and a lack of toilets are plaguing Melbourne railway stations, a new survey has revealed.

More than 17,000 commuters rated the best and worst stations across the state, in the 2017 RACV and Leader Community News On Track survey.

Donnybrook, in Whittlesea, has earned the thankless title of the worst station in Victoria with a score of just 3.41 out of 10.

Commuters have voted Donnybrook station the worst in the state. Picture: James Ross

Commuter gripes at this spot included limited parking spots, poor bus connections and no toilets.

Lack of parking also continues to blight Aircraft, Murrumbeena, Lalor, Carnegie and Craigieburn.

Commuters rated their local station out of 10 based on factors such as parking, cleanliness, shelter and bus connections.

Wyndham Vale claimed the top spot, narrowly edging out three newly-constructed stations on the Frankston line.

The spotless station retained the top rank since the previous survey in 2015 — with a rating of 8.97.

ON TRACK: 2015 RESULTS

New stations built after level crossing removals along the Frankston line were the biggest movers since the previous 2015 survey, with the second-best rated station Bentleigh shooting up to a rating of 8.81 from 6.81 in 2015, Ormond (8.50 up from 6.55) and McKinnon (8.43 up from 6.48).

Bentleigh train station moved up in the rankings after the level crossing was removed. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Mitcham (8.13) and Ashburton (8.07) also made the top 10, with the other spots taken up by V/Line stations Waurn Ponds, Echuca, Castlemaine and Warragul.

Parking was also named as an issue at Aircraft, Murrumbeena, Lalor, Carnegie and Craigieburn.

Wyndham Vale was rated Victoria’s top station.

Murrumbeena and Carnegie were temporary stations amid level crossing removal works during the survey period in November last year.

Personal safety concerned commuters at Dandenong station while Broadmeadows passengers said graffiti and a lack of station cleanliness were a problem.

RACV manager of mobility advocacy Dave Jones said new stations built as part of level crossing removals had “immensely influenced” the ratings when compared with the previous survey.

“We’d expect many poorly-rated stations along the Dandenong corridor such as Murrumbeena and Carnegie to have big increases in passenger satisfaction in the next survey,” Mr Jones said.

“Stations like Donnybrook and Aircraft are near major growth areas where housing estates have boomed, but the stations and local transport haven’t kept up with demand.

“It is imperative that we see improvements to these poorly rated stations to not only improve the commute of those who use these stations daily, but also to encourage more Victorians in these growth areas to use public transport and take pressure off our roads.”

Rubbish at Craigieburn station, one of the worst ranked. Picture: Stuart Milligan

When it came to rating train services Glen Waverley line (Darling, Gardiner, East Malvern) and Alamein (Ashburton, Alamein) line stations featured prominently in the top 10.

The “bottom” 10 for train services was dominated by V/Line-operated services, the main issue being trains often replaced by buses or coaches.

“It’s clear that more work needs to be done to improve the reliability of our rail services. Twenty per cent of On Track survey respondents cited the convenience of using a car over public transport — and with Melbourne’s projected population growth — this is not sustainable,” Mr Jones said.

Hayley McNaughton, spokeswoman for Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan, said the government was transforming the public transport network by building the Metro Tunnel, removing level crossings, adding car parks and building new stations.

“We’re putting passengers first by introducing more services, more stations, and more new trains and trams,” Ms McNaughton said.

Ormond station has also shot up in rankings since the level crossing was removed. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said while parking at stations had long been an issue, creating more parking spots wasn’t a sustainable solution.

“It’s very difficult to build car parks, it’s expensive and there isn’t enough land around the stations,” Mr Bowen said.

“The government needs to do more to provide other options for people to get to the station, such as better bus and tram connections.”

Lack of parking is a chronic problem at train stations including Craigieburn. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Asked about the safety and cleanliness issues raised in the On Track survey, Metro spokesman Marcus Williams said Metro teams were “literally working around the clock to keep improving the service we provide our passengers”.

“We’re running more services, undertaking more maintenance and seeing more major network upgrades than ever before,” Mr Williams said.

“There are more than 9000 CCTV cameras across the network, including in every train carriage and on every platform. To keep passengers safe, our Authorised Officers and a dedicated security and surveillance team work closely with Victoria Police which has PSOs at stations every night.”

Stations with fewer than 20 submissions were not included in the results.