Sunbury line Metro travellers are the unhappiest among metropolitan Melbourne’s commuters, an RACV survey report released last week shows.
Titled “On Track”, the online survey had 4600 respondents who use Metro and V/Line services. It looked at train services, stations and surrounding infrastructure, and commuters’ travelling habits.
The survey found only 3 per cent of Sunbury-line Metro commuters are happy with the train service. Commuters on the line raised the highest number of safety and security concerns (9 per cent) and had the highest number of people who drive and park at the train station (50 per cent). Eight per cent complained about lack of parking spots at the station, and 12 per cent about overcrowding on trains.
RACV public transport and mobility manager Thanuja Gunatillake said the survey results showed people wanted better train services, improved safety and more car parking.
Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said there was a history of poor reliability of train services and overcrowding on the Sunbury line, and there was room to add trains to the line.
“I think we have seen a number of reliability problems on the Sunbury line and there’s also a history of overcrowding on the line due to simple neglect as well as insufficient rail development out west, only now being partially corrected with the Regional Rail Link which will provide some additional track capacity between Sunshine and the city.”
He said a high dependence on cars, the pedestrian- and cyclist-hostile nature of the road network and the very poor quality of feeder buses contributed to the high number of people driving to train stations.
A Public Transport Victoria spokesman said the organisation commissioned research to determine customer satisfaction, and there was significant improvement this year.
