Victorian public transport complaints surge, Ombudsman figures show

DO YOU find yourself getting increasingly fed-up with Melbourne’s public transport system? You’re not alone, with the number of complaints to Victoria’s public transport watchdog surging. See what issues are upsetting commuters the most.

COMPLAINTS to Victoria’s public transport watchdog have surged as fed-up commuters become increasingly irate about interruptions on the network.

New figures released by the Public Transport Ombudsman show official complaints about disruptions have surged by 128 per cent from last year while the Andrews Government has rolled out a big build of maintenance and upgrade projects.

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Complaints to Victoria’s public transport watchdog have surged as fed-up commuters become increasingly irate about interruptions on the network. Picture: AAP/Alex Murray

The watchdog has also recorded a 70 per cent jump in complaints about reliability and a 37 per cent increase in punctuality problems.

“We have had 132 complaints about disruptions so far this financial year, compared with 58 for the same period last year,” Ombudsman Treasure Jennings said

“In our experience people are pretty resilient and understand that replacement services will add to their journey time, as long as they know what is going on and can plan for that. But things can still go wrong.

“Transport operators need to have procedures in place to minimise the severe impacts of public transport works and disruptions, and we will continue to work to ensure that all affected consumers are made aware of their rights and any assistance they can claim.”

Cases taken to the watchdog include complaints about the unreliability of replacement buses, major delays to journeys and damage to property.

Cases taken to the watchdog include complaints about the unreliability of replacement buses. Generic picture: Nicole Garmston

Public Transport User’s Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said commuters were frustrated after a number of signal faults and maintenance issues over the last 12 months.

“The operators have to be better at responding to infrastructure failures … If a train line shuts down it is like closing a major freeway,” he said.

“Because the whole network is busier any disruption has a much bigger than it used to have.

“Even when the maintenance work is planned often the replacement buses are infrequent, slow and crowded.

“All the operators seem to have different types of problems … If people are discouraged from using public transport that is really bad for everybody.”

Mr Bowen said Melbourne commuters were rarely compensated adequately.

“In a lot of cities there is generous compensation for major delays,” he said.

“It Melbourne it has to be the highest grade of disruption for any hint of a refund on a fare.”