Metro Trains Melbourne

Since shortly after the introduction of suburban electric trains in Melbourne, their carriages have been classified as follows. All fleet types have used these classifications, with different fleet types using different number ranges for the carriages.

• M indicates a motorised carriage, with a driving compartment.
• T indicates a trailer carriage.
• D indicated a trailer carriage with a driving compartment. Only DogBox (Swing-door), Tait, and Hitachi trains had these.
• G indicated a trailer carriage fitted with both electric and gas lighting, for use on both suburban and country services. Only Tait trains had these.
• BT indicated a second class trailer carriage. Only Swing-door and Harris trains had these. Prior to the abolition of first class suburban travel in 1958, motor carriages were second class and trailer carriages were first class (except for some DogBox carriages).

An exception to the above classifications was the trial double-deck train, which used T to indicate a trailer carriage with a driving compartment, and M to indicate a motorised carriage without a driving compartment.

Currently, all trains are assembled into a symmetrical M-T-M arrangement. Trains comprise either one or two such units. All peak period services and some off-peak services comprise two units. The recently retired Hitachi trains operated in fixed two-unit sets.

•  Lilydale, Belgrave, Alamein & Glen Waverley Line 

Lilydale and Belgrave trains operate via the City Loop, running anticlockwise on weekday mornings, and clockwise on weekday afternoons and weekends. During peak hours, some trains run express in the direction of peak travel using the third track from Box Hill.

Glen Waverley trains run direct to and from Flinders Street on weekday mornings. On weekday afternoons and weekends, Glen Waverley trains operate clockwise via the Loop, with Belgrave and Lilydale services.

Alamein trains operate anticlockwise via the Loop during weekday morning peak, anticlockwise during weekday afternoon peak and weekends, and operate as shuttles to and from Camberwell during weekday off peak.

•  Pakenham & Cranbourne Line 

All trains on the Pakenham, Cranbourne, and Frankston lines operate via the City Loop (in one direction depending on time of day and day of week), with the exception of a small number of peak hour services. Sandringham trains also operate via the underground loop on weekends, but not weekdays.

The Frankston line has a number of peak hour express services in the direction of peak travel that use the third track from Moorabbin. The Pakenham and Cranbourne lines have a smaller number of peak expresses, and most Sandringham trains stop at all stations.

Weekday Frankston services do not form part of the Caulfield loop and are instead directed to the Cross-City group.

•  Mernda & Hurstbridge Line 

From 1 January 2018, all trains (with the exception of those departing the city after midnight, all services after midnight run direct from Flinders Street) operate via the City Loop (in a clockwise direction from Jolimont station on weekdays and weekends

On most occasions in peak hour, Hurstbridge line trains operate express between Jolimont and Clifton Hill, with the Mernda trains serving the intermediate stations.

•  Sunbury, Craigieburn & Upfield Line 

All trains operate via the City Loop (in one direction depending on the time of day and day of week), except for the Williamstown services. All off-peak Williamstown services are shuttles to and from the junction at Newport, while in peak they run direct from Flinders Street. Since 9 November 2008, Werribee trains do not run through the Loop during morning and afternoon peaks.

Since 2011, Werribee and Williamstown services do not use the Northern loop at all, instead being directed onto the Frankston line as part of the Cross-City group. Werribee trains still use the loop on weekends (apart from Night Network services).

•  Frankston, Werribee & Williamstown Line 

•  Stony Point Line  (non-electrified shuttle beyond Frankston)

Stony Point line services operate as shuttles from Frankston station with passengers to and from Flinders Street required to change trains. It is the only non-electrified line operated by Metro Trains, with services being operated using Sprinter diesel multiple units leased from V/Line.

•  Sandringham Line 

•  Flemington Racecourse Line  (special event service)

There are no regularly scheduled services on the Flemington Racecourse line, but services are run to the Racecourse whenever race meetings are held at the racecourse. Services are operated to the Showgrounds platform during the Royal Melbourne Show every September, as well as during large events such as University Examinations. Flemington Line services can also be run on occasions of closures on the Craigieburn Line. During the Buckley Street Level Crossing Removal in 2018, replacement buses to Craigieburn departed Flemington Racecourse railway station

Like the other modes of public transport in Victoria, Metro Trains Melbourne employs Authorised Officers (commonly known as "ticket inspectors") who exercise powers under the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983.[12] The main responsibilities of Authorised Officers are to report ticketing and behavioural offences to the Victorian Department of Transport, provide customer information and help during special events.

Authorised Officers are authorised by the Director of Public Transport to exercise powers similar to those of police, allowing them to check tickets and verify concession entitlements. In some circumstances, Authorised Officers may also perform arrests when aboard other vehicles operating under PTV or when on Department of Transport-owned premises, such as railway stations or train tracks.[24][25]

Authorised Officers are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Public Transport Authorised Officers.[26] and violations of this code are prosecuted. The Code of Conduct states that an Authorised Officer may use discretion when reporting an alleged offender, and must supply their name and work address when asked.[27] If an Authorised Officer believes that a passenger has committed an offence, they have the right to request the offender's name and address after having explained the nature of the alleged offence to the offender. The Authorised Officer also have the right to request proof of the given information. If the offender refuses to provide identification or provides false information, Authorised Officers will then contact Victoria Police. Authorised Officers also have the right to detain the offender until the police or further assistance arrives.[28]

Authorised Officers are required to submit a Report of non-compliance with the details, specific nature and circumstances of the offence to the Department of Transport, who then processes the reports and decide upon any penalties. Any fines levied are payable to the Department, not to Metro Trains Melbourne. Metro Trains Melbourne receives a small administration fee to cover the costs associated with employing Authorised Officers.[28]

The prime transport-related statute in Victoria is the Transport Integration Act 2010. The Act established the Department of Transport as the integration agency for Victoria's transport system. The Act also establishes and sets the charters of the State agencies charged with providing public transport rail services and managing network access for freight services, namely the Director of Public Transport and V/Line. The Act authorises the Director of Public Transport[33] to enter into contracts for the provision of transport services and this provision is the source of the power for the contract between Metro and the Director. In addition, the Transport Integration Act establishes VicTrack which owns the public rail network and associated infrastructure. VicTrack leases public transport land and infrastructure to the Director of Public Transport who leases it to transport operators such as Metro as well as entering into franchise agreements with the operators for them to run public transport services on behalf of the State.

The safety of rail transport operations in Melbourne is regulated by the Rail Safety Act 2006 which applies to all commercial passenger operations.[34] The Act establishes a framework containing safety duties for all rail industry participants and requires operators who manage infrastructure and rolling stock to obtain accreditation prior to commencing operations. Accredited operators are also required to have a safety management system to guide their operations. Sanctions applying to the safety scheme established under the Rail Safety Act are contained in the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983.[35] The safety regulator for the rail system in Melbourne including trams is the Director, Transport Safety (trading as Transport Safety Victoria) whose office is established under the Transport Integration Act 2010. No blame investigations for rail matters are undertaken by the Chief Investigator, Transport Safety.

Ticketing requirements for trains, trams and buses in Melbourne are mainly contained in the Transport (Ticketing) Regulations 2006[36] and the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual.[37] Rules about safe and fair conduct on trains, trams and buses in Melbourne are generally contained in the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983[38] and the Transport (Conduct) Regulations 2005.[39]

Metro Trains updated the running schedules in May 2011 to alleviate late running (and thus penalties).[40] In reality, in many cases services were simply given a few more minutes per trip to offset any late running. In some instances, some trains are required to wait at stations mid-journey to return to schedule. Many passengers criticised this move, with some saying that effort should be placed on upgrading infrastructure to allow more efficient operation rather than padding timetables to suit the operator.

Since implementing this timetable Metro Trains have reached punctuality targets each month, and have not been required to compensate eligible passengers. The only exception to this has been May 2011, the first month of operation.

In January 2012 Metro Trains ceased using its official Twitter feed to advise of train service cancellations and disruptions, instead choosing to provide only major disruptions,[41] planned alterations to services and other announcements. Users seeking up-to-date service information were directed to use the Metro Trains website instead. This move provoked outrage from customers, many of whom considered the Twitter feed to be a more accessible source of information and see the current tweets to be nothing other than carefully worded spin.

A number of unofficial Twitter accounts have since been established providing delay and cancellation information either on a line-by-line basis or for the entire network. This information is obtained directly from Metro Trains via web scraping.

In April 2012, Metro Trains acknowledged the practice of altering stopping condition of selected late-running trains (for example, stopping all station to express) in an attempt to make up lost time (thus meeting the Operational Performance Regime[42][43] set by the State Government of Victoria). It has also been reported that selected services have terminated (turnaround) ahead of their timetabled destination, forcing passengers to change services mid-journey. Metro Trains make these changes throughout the day, including in peak hours, claiming it is for the greater good, however this can inconvenience outer suburban passengers who must then wait up to an hour between services.[44] These come after Metro Trains failed to meet punctuality targets in February and March of 2012. It has been reported that the incidence of altered services has become more frequent since the introduction of the network wide new timetables on 22 April. Reportedly, at least 129 drivers' incident reports from mid-April to May record services that have been altered in the form of changing a stopping-all-stations to express or terminating a service early.[45]

In June 2012, Metro was fined $2.7 million for January to March 2012 quarter for service performance, including skipping stations, running shorter services and bypassing City Loop stations. "... but too often it had resorted to running short services or bypassing the City Loop to keep to the timetable." as stated by Public Transport Victoria chief executive Ian Dobbs.[46]

In May 2012, Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union accused Metro Trains taking shortcuts in safety procedures, including not checking on-board CCTV and intercoms, and allow trains with cracked inner glass to take passengers.[47] Metro Trains claim safety equipment is regularly checked during routine maintenance.

On 16 July 2012, Metro Trains launched a revamped website which included a healthboard that displayed live information about train delays and disruptions, both planned and unplanned. However, details of cancelled services were removed. Metro Trains stated that such information was still available via SMS alerts, however the number of people subscribed to the alerts plunged 60% in six months (13,000 subscribers in mid-2012 when compared to 32,000 at beginning of 2012) due to a growing preference for people to use smartphones.[48]

A ministerial document shows the State Government raised concerns that some station skipping may not be warranted. "There have been some instances where the decision appears to be not in the best interest of commuters ...".[49] "The train driver's union, Public Transport Users Association and the Opposition are calling for Metro's bonuses (worth $3.38 million last year) to be scrapped if achieved by shortcuts ... Rail, Tram and Bus Union locomotive secretary Marc Marotta said station skipping had gone from an emergency practice to a daily practice under Metro, with Frankston and Craigieburn lines the worst affected." In summary: 59 stations were skipped 3 or more times a week between 22 April 2012 and 10 October 2012; an Alamein train which skipped Glenferrie when it was a mere three minutes late; 1998 (or 0.46% of monthly trains) have altered to express since September 2012; 9 drivers have complained about passenger abuse.

It was reported in 2013 that tens of thousands of passengers were missing out on compensation when Metro failed to meet monthly performance targets, either because they were not aware of their entitlements or didn’t want the hassle of going through the complicated claims system.[50] In 2012, 300,000 passengers were eligible for compensation but did not make claims. Therefore, Metro only paid out 12,000 claims worth $99,000 instead of at least $1.3 million.

On 13 July 2017, a computer glitch occurred which left Melbourne's rail network temporarily disabled. During the computer glitch, Metro's website also seemed to be experiencing technical issues. On the next morning Metro Trains chief Mike Haughton said, "a failure in the core train control system had meant operators could not "see" the trains, so it was shut down for safety reasons."[51]