Melbourne trains overcrowded
Jan 4, 2006 Current Events, Melbourne
Suburban train passenger limits breached (The Age / Dan Silkstone)
According to the article overcrowding on some Melbourne train line has reached the point where Connex are in breech of their operating agreement. The agreement requires that there be a maximum of 798 passengers per six carriage train, but passenger figures indicate an average above this figure, even up to 950 passengers per train on the Sydenham line.
The government seems to be working hard to introduce additional parking fees and congestion charges for people taking their car to work to encourage more public transport use. They seem to be ignoring the fact that in many areas the public transport system simply can’t cope with more passengers. Perhaps the government should be focusing on fixing the public transport system before trying to discourage people from using their cars.