Transport Minister turns chief censor while services go off track

ALMOST half of Victorians do not catch trains, trams and buses as they are deterred by overcrowding, availability and punctuality problems, a new poll reveals, while the state’s Public Transport Minister wastes time dictating what can be shown on station TVs.

COMMUTERS say they are fed up with overcrowded, delayed and ­cancelled trains — while the Public Transport Minister wastes time dictating what can be shown on station TVs.

Jacinta Allan sparked a ­furore ­on Thursday by ordering Metro Trains to remove Sky News from TV screens on City Loop station platforms.

She said the Sky ban was prompted by a controversial interview on the channel with Right-wing extremist Blair Cottrell.

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Ms Allan said it had been shown on ­“repeat rotation” to commuters.

But in a trainwreck interview on Sky, the minister later conceded she would have to “go and check” her ­information, after Sky confirmed the interview was never broadcast on ­rail station screens.

While Ms Allan struggled to justify her censorship, commuters were far more worried about the issues ­plaguing the state’s trains, trams and buses. The Herald Sun can reveal nearly half of all Victorians do not catch public transport, as they are deterred by overcrowding, availability and punctuality problems.

A Nielsen poll has found that 49 per cent of Victorians never catch buses, trains or trams, with packed services a bigger issue here than in any other state. Public Transport Victoria figures reveal that 28,000 train services were delayed and 3000 cancelled in the six months to the end of June.

Just weeks ago, an equipment fault on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines brought trains to a standstill during peak hour, with delays of up to 20 minutes even after services resumed.

Passengers were stuck on stationary trains and encountered delays of up to 90 minutes after equipment was damaged earlier this year, while a six-minute power outage shut down most of Melbourne’s rail services in March.

PTV figures show metropolitan trains have not met punctuality targets for half of the last six months reported.

Transport Minister Jacinta Allan has struggled to justify her censorship, while commuters are far more worried about the issues ­plaguing the state’s trains, trams and buses. Picture: Peter Ristevski

Tourism and Transport Forum chief Margy Osmond commissioned the poll ahead of the Australian Transport Summit, and said the results were surprising. “In Victoria, the government are working to make it (public transport) as available and efficient as possible but clearly there’s still a lot of work to be done,” she said.

Sky News was forced to apologise earlier this week after host Adam Giles interviewed Cottrell. The Right-wing extremist was banned from appearing again on Sky, which is owned by News Corp, the publisher of the Herald Sun.

Ms Allan said the interview sparked her decision to ban Sky from stations.

Asked on Thursday morning if the interview with Mr Cottrell had been aired on the railway station screens, she said: “I believe it was … that interview was not only shown, it was on repeat rotation.”

Asked if commuters had complained about seeing the interview in City Loop stations, she said: “Yes, there have been complaints that have been ­received about this.”

But service carrier APN confirmed it had only received a “handful” of complaints ­nationally since 2015 and none related to any interviews.

Ms Allan was later grilled by Sky political reporters David Speers and Laura Jayes, and conceded the Cottrell interview may not have been shown in stations.

She admitted she was aware Sky’s live programming was not broadcast on station screens. She suggested the government had ongoing concerns about Sky’s content but was unable to identify other examples which had prompted complaints. “I have received dozens and dozens, over the past three years, letters and emails of complaint from public transport users who didn’t want to see this content on our screens,” she said.

Opposition scrutiny of government spokesman Tim Smith dubbed the minister “Kim Jong-Allan” and said she should “spend more time fixing the train system”.

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