Smelly, loud and unreliable: Melbourne trains rated worst in Australia by Canstar Blue

MELBOURNE’S metropolitan rail network rates as the nation’s worst — and smelly passengers are not helping it get back on track.

Trains Moving Again. Melbourne's train network is moving again at Flinders Street Station as members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union members who work for Metro Trains end their strike action. Picture: Eugene Hyland

MELBOURNE’S metropolitan rail network rates as the nation’s worst — and smelly passengers are not helping it get back on track.

Our rail system has ranked the lowest in eight categories despite minor improvements in some troublesome categ­ories, including fewer delays and less overcrowding.

But adding to passenger pain was smelly passengers, loud-talking travellers, coughers, sneezers and misbehaving children.

Comparison site Canstar surveyed 6000 adults across Australia, and for the fifth year running, TransPerth took top honours with five stars, while Adelaide Metro, Sydney Trains and Queensland Rail all scored four stars overall.

But Melbourne’s Metro Trains scored three stars, trailing each city in each of the ­categories that included service reliability, ticket price, comfort, ticketing system, ­timetables, station cleanliness and safety.

Despite Melburnians paying among the least for an average week of travel — $35 — the cost of a myki card and the ticket system were the worst performers.

When it came to overcrowding, the survey found Melbourne commuters suffered the most, with 70 per cent not comfortable — but this was a slight improvement on last year. There was a 3 per cent decrease in those experiencing delays but those fearing terrorism jumped 3 per cent to 25 per cent.

The passenger rating survey also revealed that while there was an improvement in people feeling safe during the day, there was a decline in those who felt safe at night.

Canstar Blue editor Simon Downes said the results reflected passenger feelings and painted a “pretty bleak picture” of rail travel in Melbourne.

“No rail network is perfect, and most reasonable people will be able to accept bad days, whether it’s because of delays, overcrowding or any number of other issues that can occur at busy times. However, it’s when these problems become the norm, rather than the exception, that passengers have every right to feel angry,” he said.

Official Public Transport Victoria figures show Metro has hit punctuality targets for 53 consecutive months, with 92.2 per cent of services running on time in August.

Metro spokesman Marcus Williams said satisfaction had increased and train fleets were being overhauled to be cleaner and more comfortable. “We’ve introduced new methods of communicating timely information both at stations, on trains and straight to customers’ own devices,” he said.

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