Metro Performance Update #3 (Was that an express train?)

I wasn't going to post this week (as I wanted to collect more data before doing so), but Metro failed abysmally this morning, and I want some payback.  The train that I tried to catch to the city never turned up.  But a train did fly past the station without stopping - IS THIS A NEW METRO TRICK? - read on for comment at the end of today's post.  I eventually managed to catch the next service, which ran 10 minutes late, getting me to Flinders street some 20 minutes later than scheduled.

Here is a quick update (MPU3).  I have continued to record trip data.  Performance on rush hour trips to the city has trended slightly worse, whilst performance on the rush hour evening trip home has improved a tiny bit.  Performance remains very poor in both directions.

Whilst waiting for a phantom train this morning, I overheard some fellow commuters complaining bitterly about Metro.  One of them said that they found the delays in the morning the most annoying.  Obviously I agree - who wants to be constantly late for work?  Metro's slack performance makes us workers look slack.  If your boss doesn't take the train to work, is he/she likely to understand why you are so regularly late in the morning?  I'm not sure that my boss does.

My data shows that trains to the city are regularly running late.  Here are some statistics to illustrate this:

• Of the 17 city-bound rush hour trips that I have recorded, 8 have run more than 5 minutes late.
• This equates to a punctuality performance of just 52.94%, compared with Metro's target of 88%.
• Over these 17 journeys, the cumulative lateness is 81 minutes.  Just think how much productive time is being lost.
• Let's assume that Metro's performance continues for a year at this level.  Extrapolating the 17 days to a 260 day working year, will give total lateness over a year of 20 hours.  That's almost 3 working days of lateness on journeys to the city alone.  Multiply that by the number of commuters and it starts to become mind boggling.
• If I include the data for Sandringham bound trips, over the 31 journeys (in both directions), the cumulative lateness is 132 minutes.  In a little over two weeks, Metro has stolen almost 2 hours from me (or my employer).
• The above points ignore the additional disruption caused by cancellations.

By collecting this data, analysing it and publishing it, I hope that I can raise awareness of just how pathetic Melbourne's train system performance really is.  If you are reading this blog, please tell your friends about it, discuss it with colleagues and fellow frustrated commuters.  I welcome comments, feedback and discussion - don't be shy!

And now to return to my journey to work this morning.  What happened to the 8.08am Sandringham service to the city?  I didn't receive a SMS cancellation notice.  It should have been running.  But in never turned up.  And then a few minutes later, a train rushed through my station with stopping.  Has the Sandringham line suddenly started express services?  What is going on here?

I have recently read and heard stories of Metro turning some non-express services into express services on other lines (which do normally have express services) - heartlessly leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at intermediate stations.  Why would Metro do this?  The only reason I can think of, is so that they can speed the train up so that it does not arrive late.  This improves reported performance and reduces that chances that Metro will get fined (yet again) for providing a rubbish service.  If this theory is correct, what does it tell us about the integrity of the people managing our train system?  Perhaps they went to the same school of ethics as Silvio Berlusconi.  I apologise to Mr Berlusconi for any insult caused by comparing him to Metro.

Until my next update, good luck with your commuting.  You'll need it.