{"id":584142,"date":"2026-10-23T12:03:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T02:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=584142"},"modified":"2026-10-23T12:29:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T02:29:45","slug":"cranbourne-line-cancellations-and-short-services-rise-after-metro-tunnel-timetable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=584142","title":{"rendered":"Cranbourne line cancellations and short services rise after Metro Tunnel timetable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cranbourne line trains were more likely to be cancelled or cut short in the first eight months of the Metro Tunnel<\/a> timetable than during the same period a year earlier, according to the State Government\u2019s operational performance statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commuters pointed to incidents on the western side of the network, saying disruptions there could flow through to Cranbourne services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro Tunnel\u2019s full timetable was introduced on 1 February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new timetable linked Cranbourne and Pakenham trains with the Sunbury line through the tunnel, creating a cross-city route between the south east and west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From February to September 2026, about 2.4 per cent of scheduled Cranbourne line trains were cut short, up from 0.5 per cent in the same periods last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cancellation rate increased from 0.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More services were scheduled this year, 33,178, compared with 30,648 over the same months in 2025. The number of on-time trains increased, but not as quickly as the timetable grew, as the on-time rate fell from 96.2 per cent to 95.1 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September was the worst month for short services, with 417 of 4076 scheduled trains cut short, a rate of 10.2 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were also 112 cancellations, or 2.7 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial action affecting the Cranbourne line started on 1 September and finished on September 4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro Trains<\/a> has advised that the industrial action in September had contributed to a shortage of trains available to run services on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former commuter from Noble Park, who asked not to be named, said uncertainty over delays had added time and stress to his journey from Yarraman to Richmond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recently left a job in the city for work closer to home, after travel increasingly stretched his days to 10 or 11 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce the Tunnel was built, obviously, there was some disruption during that. But once it was all done and opened, there were just more delays,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to start getting up earlier to catch earlier trains because you didn\u2019t know if it was going to be a 10-minute delay, 20-minute delay, or more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He acknowledged that some disruptions, including copper theft and trespassing, were outside Metro\u2019s control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it\u2019s great that they\u2019re running such a frequent service, but as Cranbourne and Pakenham lines have gone all the way to Sunbury, if one train anywhere stops, they all stop.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he could accept an individual cancellation when another train followed soon after, he said major incidents were harder to manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen there\u2019s a problem, there\u2019s no plan B,\u201d he said, arguing that disruption in one part of the network could affect trains across the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He questioned whether Cranbourne services could sometimes run to a city terminus during western-network incidents, instead of being held up by problems elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hampton Park commuter Glen Stokes, who has used the line for about 10 years, said the journey to his job had become unpredictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he had sometimes arrived as much as three hours late when copper theft halted trains and replacement buses were not available and had paid for a rideshare on other occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Cranbourne train goes to the west now. It only used to go to the city, so any issues in Sunshine, they have a flowing effect on the Cranbourne line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd being Sunshine, there\u2019s a lot of crime over there, so there\u2019s a lot of issues in police operations and trespasses and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not think south east commuters should bear the effects of incidents far from their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the increase in trains terminating short was alarming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said these services could turn back at Dandenong or Westall, leaving passengers travelling further down the line with longer waits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know that strike action affected train availability for a period this year, particularly in September. Vandalism caused large numbers of cancellations on 10th June, and an overhead power fault caused widespread disruptions on 7th April,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe connection through the Metro Tunnel has made cross-city trips and access to Parkville easier, but delays flowing through from west to east are a concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnsuring trains run at high frequency at all times of day can help minimise the delays and crowding when services do have to be cancelled or terminated early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, Metro and the government need to do more to reduce delays and disruptions. Whether it\u2019s due to train faults, equipment failures or other issues, a long wait for a train home is nobody\u2019s idea of fun \u2013 passengers need a service they can rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Metro Trains spokesperson said external factors, including vandalism and trespassing, had affected services across the Cranbourne line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro Train\u2019s Network Security and Surveillance team worked with Victoria Police\u2019s Transit Division, using more than 14,000 CCTV cameras to monitor hotspots and track vandals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New practices to reduce the rate of vandalism included ongoing surveillance at known hotspots, drones to detect trespassers, and technology to track signalling cables, Metro has advised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cranbourne line trains were more likely to be cancelled or cut short in the first eight months of the Metro Tunnel timetable than during the same period a year earlier, according to the State Government\u2019s operational performance statistics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":271587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,1168,47],"tags":[993,8],"class_list":["post-584142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-metro-tunnel","category-rail-news","tag-melbourne","tag-victoria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t