Melbourne is one of the fastest growing cities in Australia expected to become Australia’s most populated city in the near future. However our train network is in need of improvement. Weekend frequencies are only 1 train every 20 minutes and in the morning its usually just 1 train every 40 minutes.
The Solution
For most areas 4 trains should be the bare minimum with 6 trains or higher also being a requirement for some lines during off-peak. I also propose increasing peak services once HCS is installed and when the metro tunnel opens. That way most lines would have atleast 6-8 peak services every hour.
When
We need higher frequencies to take into effect by the end of this decade, prefferably earlier, in order to keep up with the rising demand for efficient transportation in this city.
Benefits of higher frequencies
Higher public transport frequencies results in higher demand for public transport, this tends to work best with trains as they have their own dedicated lines.
If more people use public transport less people will use cars which will:
- Free up roads resulting in less traffic
- Lower carbon emissions
- Make suburbs and the CBD more space efficient