The new timetable for the train network’s ‘Big Switch’ has come into effect, integrating the new Metro Tunnel with the wider transport network – but not everyone on the Sunbury line is happy about it.
Brimbank resident Linda Marijanovic boards the train at Keilor Plains Station and gets off at Southern Cross Station to work her job in the Docklands precinct.
She said her commute has become longer and more tedious since the Big Switch.
“There’s a whole precinct down in Docklands where people work and I think they’ve forgotten about that,” Ms Marijanovic said.
“Nobody gives two hoots about the western suburbs and what people have to go through here to get to work and back.”
To get to Southern Cross Station Ms Marijanovic must now transfer to the Werribee-Williamstown line at Footscray Station, which currently runs directly to Flinders Street Station.
On the first day of the timetable change she described “hordes” of people doing the same at Footscray Station.
“It was very hectic. There were so many people jumping off the train. It looked like more than half the train,” Ms Marijanovic said.
“The people went out and then we had to go through the barriers, tap off, walk to platform five, tap on again. So you lose time. It’s an extra step.
“The tap on, tap off does cause a bottleneck.”
On her commute home, Ms Marijanovic waited 10-15 minutes at Footscray Station for the train to arrive when transferring lines.
The 62-year-old said sitting on the train is important for her.
“For the elderly it’s not so easy anymore …. What about people with disabilities and wheelchairs?” she said.
While there were transport workers on platforms answering commuter queries, Ms Marijanovic said signage at Keilor Plains Station detailing changes could have been better.
“The trains on the new lines didn’t even have the correct maps. They had city circle maps,” she said.
On social media, Sunbury Line travellers had mixed responses to the changes.
One commenter wrote it would have been easier for commuters to stick with the city loop.
“My journey to work is now 20 minutes longer with an additional train and tram included,” the commenter wrote.
Another commenter pointed out plusses to the changes.
“Don’t forget too, the biggest benefit of the tunnel is the uplift in frequency. [Commuters] turn up and go at most times,” they wrote.
According to the state government, during peaks on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, service frequency will be up to every three minutes between Dandenong and West Footscray.
Outside the peaks, trains will run at least every 10 minutes between the city and Watergardens from 6am-9pm.
The Werribee and Williamstown lines will temporarily run directly to Flinders Street, before connecting with the Sandringham Line later in the year to form a new cross-city service, the state government said.
Public and Active Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said the changes will take time for passengers to get used to.
“But it’s worth it for a bigger, better, faster system,” she said.
