Pakenham rail line joins the crowd

By Rebecca Fraser
PAKENHAM line trains are among the most overcrowded in the state, putting lives and passenger comfort at risk.
That is the view of Opposition spokesperson for transport Terry Mulder, who has called for urgent Government action on the state’s packed trains.
Mr Mulder’s comments come amid claims that metropolitan trains are carrying far more passengers than the numbers designated in an official State Government agreement.
According to the designated agreement, between the Bracks Government and the metropolitan train service operator Connex, there should only be 798 passengers per sixcar train.
Transport Minister Peter Batchelor conceded last week the Government did not know how many people could fit safely onto Melbourne’s trains, but said breaching the agreed limit did not pose a safety risk to passengers.
Mr Mulder said load limits were definitely set as personal safety and comfort limits and disputed the Government’s claims that they were simply planning limits that alerted the Government to the need for more services.
Spokesperson for Connex Kate De Clercq confirmed the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines were among the busiest in the metropolitan train network during peak times, but said exceeding the 798 passenger limit did not pose a safety risk to passengers.
“Basically it is the technical capacity limit that is a tool we use to tell us where additional capacity needs to be added,” she said.
“It is not a safety measure.
“We will be rearranging the metropolitan train time table soon to relocate unused capacity and this will have an effect on the metropolitan system.”
Mr Mulder said a number of factors were contributing to overcrowded trains.
“There was meant to be an upgrade of the signaling system but this was cancelled in 2002 by the Government, and Connex continues to try to manage and operate with clapped out trains,” Mr Mulder said. “Overcrowding is a safety risk as it raises concerns.
“What if there was a need for an evacuation if there was a serious accident?
“On days where the temperature reaches 38 and 39 degrees we are really also talking about putting people’s health at risk.”
Alex Makin of the Public Transport Users Association said overcrowding was a chronic problem on Victoria’s train network, particularly in the growth corridor of Pakenham and Cranbourne and along the Dandenong line.
“The Government may pretend that they have just noticed the issue of overcrowding but they have been aware for the last three, four or five years that this is a problem, but it is too little too late,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Batchelor said the Government had already committed to investigating improvements to the Dandenong corridor and it was inevitable that there would be some crowding on peak hour services, as occurs on metropolitan rail systems right around the world.