Lilydale line worst in Melbourne for short services and skipping stops

Unreliable services and cancelled trains are all too common for commuters on the Lilydale line. It has been revealed as Melbourne’s worst line for services running short and skipping stations.

A train pulling out of Lilydale railway station.

The Lilydale railway line is Melbourne’s worst for services running short and skipping stations.

According to Public Transport Victoria statistics, a whopping 1758 services didn’t make it to their destinations on the line between July 2018 and June 2019.

Services which terminated at Blackburn and Ringwood railway stations were also counted in Lilydale’s total.

Lilydale was almost twice as bad as the next two worst lines — Frankston (952) and Hurstbridge (923).

PTV counts a short service as one which doesn’t depart from its origin or arrive at its destination, or one which requires bus replacements or other modes of transport at some point.

The Lilydale line has been dogged by short services and services skipping stations.

The Lilydale line also had the most services which skipped stations for unknown reasons in the same period (120), ahead of Glen Waverley (90) and Craigieburn (64).

The latest data showed commuters also copped a surge in cancellations in June with Lilydale the equal third-worst line in Melbourne with 60 services cancelled.

Opposition public transport spokesman David Davis called on the government to crack down on Metro Trains’ performance.

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“It’s outrageous the government have allowed this shocking performance on the Lilydale line,” he said.

“They need to keep a closer watch on day-to-day on performance and hound bureaucrats and operators to deliver.”

Ringwood railway station is a key interchange for the Belgrave and Lilydale lines. Picture: Steve Tanner

Maroondah Council’s Eastern Transport Coalition representative Marijke Graham said the group and the council were “keenly aware that train performance on the Lilydale line is not good enough for our residents”.

“As a commuter myself I know the critical importance of a reliable and punctual train service,” she said.

Cr Graham said ETC was campaigning for track duplications, station upgrades and better bus connections to stations on the line.

Metro Trains spokesman Andrew Nelson said the Lilydale line’s performance was affected by more than 500 trespasser incidents and police incidents in the last financial year.

He said other disruptions such as weather events and vandalism can lead to “altered services” on the line.

“We understand sudden service changes are really frustrating for our Lilydale line passengers, which is why our network controllers work hard to minimise them,” he said.

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