WHAT DO YOU THINK? SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY TO POST A COMMENT.CROWDED peak-hour trains are forcing western suburbs rail commuters to stand for long periods of their journey to and from work, a survey has found.
Armed with the iPhone application 'We won't stand for it', Greens MP Greg Barber has asked commuters to ride trains in the evening peak and record at what station there were enough seats for all passengers on the train.
It shows that passengers travelling from the city are standing for 18 minutes on the Sydenham line or as far as Sunshine station, and 19 minutes on the Craigieburn line, or to Essendon station.
On the Werribee line passengers are standing to and from Hoppers Crossing and to Newport on the Williamstown line, depending on the service taken.
"The length of time people stand is important for the elderly and frail, for those who've had a long, hard work day. You see people grab a seat when they become available," Mr Barber said.
He dismissed criticism the survey was unscientific and lacked a sufficient sample size.
"If you're not measuring it, you're not managing it and they're not measuring how long people are standing up."
Commuter Rod Swift said it was almost impossible to get a seat from Tottenham station.
"This is now a very busy station given the Central West development, yet express [services] do not stop.
"Worse is the ride home, where a number of express services mean few services between 6.20pm and 7.40pm to Tottenham."
Documents obtained by Mr Barber under freedom of information laws showed Metro wanted to raise the load standard to 900 passengers on Comeng trains by removing a number of seats.
A six-carriage train is considered "full" if more than 798 passengers are aboard.
Under Metro's contract, a load breach occurs when the number of passengers exceeds an average of 800 per hour, triggering a requirement Metro run more trains.
"If they rip out all the seats, adjust load standards so it's now 900 instead of 800, you define [the load breach] out of existence, the amount of time you stand will get considerably worse."
Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said carriage layouts were very inefficient, with narrow aisles making it difficult for people to move along the carriage.
"This slows down boarding times, causing delays and limiting capacity in places like the City Loop.
"But they must add more handholds so people can stand safely, and they must provide extra services to ensure that there are still enough seats for those who need them.
"Some stations still only have a train every 20 minutes, even in peak hour, and waits of 30 or more minutes are common at other times of day. This is not good enough for a rail system going by the name of 'Metro'." Metro Trains directed the Weekly to the Transport Department for comment. It failed to do so before the Weekly went to press.
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