Metro Performanace Update #1

This is my first blog entry showing actual data on Metro's performance.  I'm tremendously excited as this marks the real beginning of the adventure.  Well, as excited as it is possible to get about such things. 

Here's some data to grab your attention.  Read on to get a proper understanding of what I'm doing, and why Metro's performance statistics are NONSENSE.

All journeys in observation period
Number of trips in observation period	15
Trips 5 minutes or more late	7
Proportion of trips late	46.67%
Cumulative minutes late	65
Average minutes late	4.34

 
If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that my mission is to record and analyse the perfomance of Metro on the trips that I take to and from work in the CBD, travelling on the Sandringham line.  Please read my very first post to learn why I'm bothering to do this (it isn't because I have nothing better to do - honestly!).

I normally catch trains to work that are scheduled to leave Sandringham between 7:30am and 8:30am on weekdays.  For each journey that I make, I record the actual departure time (for the station at which I get on), and the actual arrival time at Flinders Street station.  I have synchronised my watch with Metro's clock to ensure accuracy (assuming that Metro's clocks actually operate properly - surely this is a safe assumption?).  I will publish lots of detail on this trip. 

The timing of my return trip is less regular, but usually I aim for trains that are scheduled to leave Flinders Street between 5:30pm and 7:00pm.  As the timing of my return trips is a bit unpredictable, I will only publish summary data for this leg.

Once I've collected a meaningful amount of data, I plan to contact Metro and the VIC government to ask for feedback.  I know that you won't be holding your breath for Metro or the government to respond with anything beyond the usual standard blurb, heavy on weasel words, references to stakeholders and general corporate speak waffle, but I feel compelled to try.  I might even see if I can get The Age to publish something, hopefully attracting more readers to this blog (at the moment I feel as though I'm shouting into a dark, empty silence).

Drum roll please.......

Performance Update #1

Trips to the city

Number of trips in observation period	9
Trips 5 minutes or more late	4
Proportion of trips late	44.44%
Cumulative minutes late	37.85
Average minutes late	4.21

Detailed trip data:

Date	From Sandringham	Minutes late at Flinders Street
09/03/2011	8:17	3.73
10/03/2011	8:27	0.83
11/03/2011	8:17	0.47
16/03/2011	8:17	0.25
17/03/2011	8:27	8.83
18/03/2011	8:08	5.10
21/03/2011	9:20	2.00
22/03/2011	8:17	8.17
23/03/2011	8:27	8.47

Trips from the city

Number of trips in observation period	6
Trips 5 minutes or more late	3
Proportion of trips late	50.00%
Cumulative minutes late	27.27
Average minutes late	4.54

Let's put the data above into context.  Metro's performance target is to run at least 88% of trains within 5 minutes of the timetable schedule.  This means that at least 12% of trains must run late for Metro to be penalised.  To me, 12% sounds quite high (it gives Metro plenty of leeway before there is a penalty), but that is the benchmark.

For the trips that I made to work, only 55.56% of services were within 5 minutes of the timetable.  44.44% (so virtually half) of trips were 5 minutes or more late.  Based on my experience, Metro failed its performance hurdle by a country mile.

I'm actually not surprised by the statistics.  I had intuitively registered that the performance was rubbish, I just hadn't recorded it accurately before. This first update was during an uneventful period for Metro.  There were no major service disruptions (storms, power outages etc).  It was a relatively 'normal' period of crappy, unreliable service.

Do you see where I am going with this blog now?  My initial data supports my argument that the Metro performance statistics are NONSENSE.  Even the most incompetent management team can run almost empty trains during non-rush hour periods on time.  Measuring performance during non-rush hour periods is just not meaningful.  My statistics (which I accept are imperfect) show how Metro is performing (or failing to perform) during the periods in which most commuter journeys are made.


I encourage others to start to record data.  Let's see how bad things are on other lines.  Remember that we actually pay to use the trains.  How many other companies can get away with such poor performance and still have increasing customers?  Are we trapped?  It appears so.

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

The platform 12/13 escalators - what the?

The area serving platforms 12 and 13 lies deep in the bowels of Flinders Street station.  It is like an oven in summer (thanks to an underground location with no natural air movement), and baltic in winter (thanks to no sunlight).  It is surely the most miserable platform at Flinders Street.

It is a place that you want to leave as fast as possible.  Nobody of sound mind wants to linger there.  One way to leave P12/13 is to get on a train.  When catching a train, minimising exposure to P12/13 can be difficult.  Your train is late, or just doesn't turn up.  Very quickly, you start to feel claustrophobic as the platform gets overcrowded.  Is there enough oxygen down there to keep two rush hour train loads of people alive?

But let's get to the point of this post.  The other time that you are likely to feel a strong desire to leave P12/13 is when your train has just arrived there (probably late).

You muscle your way out of the carriage with a hoard of other frustrated commuters.  Already running a bit late, you want to quickly get out of the station and on your way to work.  And then you are blocked by a wall of people struggling up the stairs that lead to daylight and fresh air.  A few wretched soles are attempting to come down the stairs as the wave of people pushes upward at a snails pace.

Why is the stairway so narrow you ask yourself as you queue up, trying to not bump into the person in front, as those behind push you forward.  And why is that bloody escalator not working?

That stairway that we trudge up each day used to be a lot wider.  And it used to work pretty well.  There was enough room for people to go up and down at the same time,without resorting to the use of martial arts.  And then a genius within the public transport system had the brilliant idea of removing part of the stairway and installing an escalator.

The installation took an age.  Not as long as the roll out of Myki, but much longer than it should have.  Whilst the works were ongoing, the genius designer expected the same volume of commuters to squeeze into a space that was significantly smaller than it had previously been.  But, big deal, the genius said to him/her self, those guys won't be inconvenienced for long, and they'll love the new gadget.  They'll no longer need to exert themselves by climbing those pesky stairs.

I remember very well how annoying the "temporary" narrowing of the stairway was.  This was at least partly due to almost being assaulted by another passenger.  Trying to catch a train one day, I was forced to battle down the stairs as a wall of new arrivals came up, gasping for air.  It was a very hot Melbourne summer day, 40C plus, and there were cranky people everywhere.  Even people who didn't have to catch a Metro service were cranky.  Most of the people coming up the stairs made a good effort to leave a little room for me to squeeze past them on my journey down into the oven.  But one chap decided that he wasn't going to budge an inch.  We met head on, and bumped chests with a thud.  He opened with an f-word, followed swiftly by the c-word, and suggested in a forthright manner that I should wait at the top of the stairs until everybody had gone by.  I replied, in a polite but equally forthright manner that my train was about to leave and I wanted to catch it.  Further colourful language ensued, and I'm sure that if there had been room to throw a punch, he'd have done so.  Fortunately, I somehow found a gap, and escaped the maniac.  The last he heard of me was a muffled shout of "tosser" as the doors of a late Sandringham bound train almost crushed me.  If the genius hadn't ever had the escalator idea, this ugly scene would have been avoided.

Finally, the escalator was complete, and Sandringham commuters could enjoy the tremendous convenience that it provided.  By taking the escalator, it was possible to reach the platform 0.25 seconds faster than by taking the stairs, and with a saving of energy equivalent to 0.0000057 of a Mars bar.  We were so blessed.

And then, within what felt like just a few days (I don't know the exact timing, as I was less anal about these things back then), the bloody escalator stopped working.  And we were back to using a stairway that was too narrow for the volume of people.

The escalator has been out of service more than it has been in service.  Sometimes it has has been closed for several weeks at a time.

Why does this bother me so much?  Simply because, having successfully reached Flinders Street on my morning commute, almost always behind schedule, I then have to navigate the stairway from hell.  It takes a ridiculous amount of time to walk the short distance from the train doorway to the station exit, and almost always involves being bumped and jostled.

If only that genius hadn't had such a great idea.