By ADAM CAREY
THOUSANDS of commuters accustomed to squeezing onto trains on Melbourne’s most crowded rail corridor will get some much needed wriggle room next year, when four extra peak-hour services are added to the timetable.
Two morning peak services and two evening peak services will be added to the Dandenong line, which carries about 65,000 passengers each weekday. It is also one of the lines most bedevilled by overcrowding, with 12 daily peak-hour trains breaching the load limit at the most recent count last October.
The rail service increase is part of a $25 million, four-year investment in the Dandenong line contained in this year’s state budget, to be unveiled on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the government also announced a $100 million boost to the Frankston line would be included in the budget, to pay for track, signalling and power upgrades and to allow the line to accommodate the newer X’Trapolis trains.
On the Dandenong line, the frequency of off-peak services will also be improved, with trains to run every 10 minutes along the corridor. The Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, which feed into the Dandenong corridor, will also get new off-peak services, with trains to run every 20 minutes instead of the current 30.
Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder said passengers could look forward to shorter waiting times between trains. “Increasing capacity on the Dandenong rail corridor is a real priority for this government and I’m delighted to reveal that residents will receive additional peak-period services and greatly improved off-peak frequencies,” he said.
As part of the budget outlay, bus services between Caulfield and Dandenong will also be improved to better connect with railway stations, Mr Mulder said.
The extra train and bus services will be added as part of a planned timetable change next year.
Beyond 2014, high-capacity trains carrying up to 1600 passengers have been proposed for the Dandenong corridor, which also carries V/Line and freight trains.
Brian Negus, head of public policy for the RACV, said extra trains were clearly needed on the Dandenong line, but that their addition would also amplify the need to remove railway level crossings, which close for long stretches in the peak. Planning has started on removing a level crossing at Murrumbeena Road.
Tony Morton, president of the Public Transport Users Association, said the introduction of 10-minute off-peak frequencies was “long overdue”.
