Hundreds of new train services added as Melbourne lines switch to new Metro Tunnel

Melbourne’s $15 billion Metro Tunnel comes fully online today with new timetables and more than new 1,200 weekly services, in what the government is calling “the big switch”.

First announced in 2015, the Metro Tunnel opened last November to great fanfare, but with limited services travelling through five new stations.

But from Sunday, new timetables with extra services will be rolled out to utilise the Metro Tunnel, with the government promising less congestion across the network.

Here’s what to expect.

What is changing today?

Several lines on the Melbourne train network will run on new timetables starting from today.

There will also be changes to bus routes in regional Victoria and inner-city Melbourne.

To see a full list of the changes, head to Transport Victoria’s website.

Frankston

From February 1, all Frankston Line trains will run through the City Loop, travelling via Parliament, Melbourne Central, Flagstaff, Southern Cross then Flinders Street.

The change means Frankston line trains won’t continue on to Werribee or Williamstown, and have their own dedicated City Loop tunnel.

A new timetable will also be operational to provide more reliable services.

An extra 12 weekly services have also been earmarked once the level crossing removal is completed later this year.

Cranbourne and Pakenham

From February 1, the new timetable will connect the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines through the Metro Tunnel.

Services will run through the Metro Tunnel every 10 minutes on weekdays.

It includes 100 new weekly services, including trains every four and a half minutes in peak hours.

Services won’t stop at Armadale, Toorak, Hawksburn, South Yarra, Richmond or the City Loop.

Werribee and Williamstown

From February 1, Werribee and Williamstown line trains will start and end at Flinders Street Station.

Services won’t continue to Frankston, and will run on a new timetable.

The Department of Transport says the Werribee and Williamstown lines will be connected with the Sandringham line later this year to form a new cross-city service.

A temporary timetable remains in place as level crossing removal works continue until late April.

The government has also promised additional peak services later this year, boosting the number of Werribee trains.

Sunbury

A new timetable will be introduced from February 1, connecting the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines through the Metro Tunnel.

Transport Victoria says the changes will mean 1,000 new weekly services on the Sunbury Line, including trains every 5–10 minutes in peak hours.

As part of the changes, the Sunbury Line will no longer stop at North Melbourne.

It means passengers for North Melbourne will have to change to a Werribee or Williamstown service at Footscray. 

Passengers for City Loop services should change using the new pedestrian link between Melbourne Central and State Library stations or Flinders Street and Town Hall stations.

The government said people at the ends of the corridor, such as Sunbury, should benefit the most, with wait times cut by up to half.

V/Line and buses

From February 1, new timetables will roll out for coaches and buses in regional Victoria aimed at cutting down wait times and smoothing out journeys.

More than 270 bus and coach timetables will be updated so they connect with new train services.

There will be 18 additional weekly Traralgon services, and 10 more weekly services on the Seymour line. There will also be four more weekend Echuca services.

Bus timetables will also be updated in Melbourne’s inner-north, with changes also earmarked for bus routes in Melbourne’s outer and middle suburbs later this year.

Craigieburn and Upfield

A new timetable will be introduced in February to smooth out the frequency of trains on the loop.

The Craigieburn and Upfield lines will no longer share the City Loop with the Sunbury line, which Transport Victoria says will improve reliability and decrease delays.

What isn’t changing today?

While certain train lines are promised to have hundreds more services each week, many commuters will experience little change.

Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said there was still work to be done to bring all of Melbourne’s train lines up to standard.

“They have really pitched it as ‘the big switch’. It is for some lines, but for other lines there’s actually no change at all,” Mr Bowen said.

“There’s clearly more work for the government to do in terms of bringing the whole train network up to scratch.”

Daniel Bowen says commuters in Melbourne’s east won’t see the immediate benefits of the Metro Tunnel.(
ABC News: Rhiana Whitson
)

In particular, Mr Bowen said that residents living in Melbourne’s east and north-eastern suburbs had missed out on the latest upgrades to the train network.

“For passengers beyond Ringwood, you’re often waiting 30 minutes for a train,” he said.

“Some of the lines to the north-east, Mernda and Hurstbridge, will have 40-minute gaps on Sunday mornings.

There are also some differences in operational hours. Town Hall will be the only Metro Tunnel Station open during night network hours, while Parkville Station near the city’s university and medical precinct will be closed overnight.

Mr Bowen said he was hopeful the “big switch” was just the beginning of the upgrades.

“Hopefully it’s the first step in terms of upgrading Melbourne’s train timetables, not the last step,” he said.

How were the new train timetables developed?

While the Metro Tunnel has been a decade in the making, extensive work has also been done behind the scenes to develop the new timetables.

The Department of Transport’s executive director of modal planning, Stuart Johns, said his team had been through “literally hundreds if not thousands of iterations” to get the new timetables right.

The revamped timetables have been in the works for more than three years, using modelling that predicts demand and population growth for the coming decades.

“We’re looking right out to the 2050s at the moment to look at how Melbourne and Victoria will grow,” Mr Johns said.

“What we’ve got an eye on is: ‘what does the future look like?’ so we can scale up in the future.”

Timetables incorporating the Metro Tunnel have been in development for three and a half years.(Supplied: Victorian government)

Mr Johns said humanising the timetables was important, and said the very first train put onto the timetable was a train on the Gippsland line servicing students getting to school each day.

“You’ve got to take the algorithm and the data it puts out, then you’ve got to apply a bit of a common-sense test to it,” he said.

After years of preparation, Mr Johns said his team could not wait for the rollout of the timetables on Sunday.

“You only get one go at something like this in your entire career, so for us … it’s a massive, massive day,” he said.

“It’s been years of effort, it’s been years of excitement.”