450 new train services on Melbourne’s new timetable

Hundreds of extra services and discount fares are among the changes in a massive shake-up of the city’s train network.

Hundreds of extra train services will be added as workers return to the office. Picture: David Crosling

An extra 450 weekly train services will be added to timetables in Victoria under a shake-up being hailed as biggest change since the creation of the City Loop.

Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll will on Tuesday unveil a new timetable that encourages commuters to travel outside peak hour, with discount fares and extra services spread across the day.

Of the new services, 280 will be in metropolitan Melbourne and is expected to provide capacity for an extra 100,000 passengers each week.

The state government also expects the changes will reduce overcrowding for more than 24,000 passenger, with 7100 fewer people forced to stand.

The new timetable will come into effect on January 31 2021.

More trips will be spread throughout different parts of the day in an effort to get passengers travelling outside the peak and maintain social distancing under coronavirus regulations.

A push is underway to encourage workers to commute outside peak hour. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Matray

An off-peak discount of 30 per cent will apply on metropolitan train services for three months once the new timetable is rolled out.

Off-peak hours will be from 9.30am to 4pm, and then from 7pm through to the next day.

Mr Carroll said the changes were some of the most significant since the City Loop had been introduced.

Patronage on the network is back up to 37 per cent of normal levels.

“Its about giving Victorians more choice and ensuring the frequency is there,” Mr Carroll said.

“This is a very big uplift.

“About 300 of the services will be off peak … It will be real complimentary for the staggered travel times.

Commuters in the southeast will also have to adjust to new changes to the way certain train lines feed into the City Loop.

Cranbourne and Pakenham services run through the City Loop anticlockwise to accommodate for new High Capacity Metro Trains expected to be rolled out in 2021.

All Frankston services will now run direct to Flinders Street Station, rather than the loop, where they will then continue to Werribee and Williamstown via Southern Cross.

Mr Carroll said 62 per cent of passengers on the Frankston line disembarked at these two CBD stations and that significant notice would be given to passengers ahead of the change.

“Victorians have said loud and clear, they want to turn up and have a train there ready to go,” he said.

“We are seeing a real return to the network.

“The timeline for when we will ever get back to peak is a crystal ball exercise but I do think we will see (patronage) at 50 to 70 per cent.”

Journey times will increase by between one and two minutes along some lines, with services to stop longer at platforms to further prevent overcrowding and maintain and social distancing.

Regional rail upgrades will also allow Ballarat V/Line services to run every 20 minutes in the peak and 40-minutes off peak.

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