PUBLIC TRANSPOrt
Altona Loop commuters on the Werribee train line, who are fed up with being “kidnapped, dumped and bypassed”, will hold a community forum next month.
The Werribee line, which splits at Newport, received extra services in 2011 when trains were scheduled to run every 10-12 minutes.
But Altona Loop commuters had peak-hour trains cut to one every
22 minutes and became the only people in Melbourne who change trains up to three times to get to the City Loop.
Loop Group spokeswoman Jennifer Williams said people were frustrated with trains bypassing the loop, dumping passengers at Newport or running express to Laverton to save time.
Such trains are nicknamed by locals the “kidnap express”.
“The main concern is that the train service is very unreliable and we keep getting cancellations, dumpings and, very occasionally, ‘kidnappings’,” Ms Williams said. “Kidnapping is when you’re on the train at Newport, the doors shut and the train leaves the station and en route you’re told that the train will be going direct to Laverton. Patronage is also down and I think that’s because a lot of people have abandoned the three stations on the loop.”
Seaholme resident Maree Kinniburgh said that on January 15 and 16, when temperatures topped 40 degrees, Altona Loop trains were cancelled and there were no replacement buses between Newport and the Altona Loop.
“Passengers were advised to extend their journey significantly and travel past all Altona stations to Laverton station, then catch public buses numbers 411 and 412 back to their Altona destinations.”
In a letter dated January 31, Metro customer relations co-ordinator Michael Krause replied: “We acknowledge the pre-planned cancellation of several Laverton-bound services created a gap in services and caused an inconvenience to those customers directly affected. However, pre-planning and announcing these cancellations allowed our customers to adjust their travel plans accordingly.”
GOYA DMYTRYSHCHAK
» … The meeting will be on March 20 from 7pm at Altona RSL in Sargood Street
