Those who follow the cricket would know about the Boxing Day Test – a surprising result that saw just two days of cricket rather than the scheduled five.
This caught everyone on the hop, including transport authorities, who had scheduled extra public transport services on Sunday… and social media posts to promote them..
Normal Sunday morning train services have come in for criticism. Ridiculously infrequent 40 minute services still run on about half the network before 10am, on the Sunbury, Craigieburn, Upfield, Mernda, Hurstbridge and Sandringham lines.
Other lines are better, so a heatmap of usual Sunday frequencies from 7am shows quite a mix:
For the cricket, they had an extra two services scheduled on most lines. Play was scheduled to start at 10:30am.
Below are the scheduled train times for the morning of Sunday 28th December. (I assume they still ran.)
I’ve measured them at the last unique stop for each line, and treating some combined services as one line. To keep it simple I’ve excluded the extra Metro tunnel services. The extra cricket services are shown in bold.
| Line | Measured at | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Werribee/Williamstown | Seddon | 07:19 | 08:02 | 08:22 | 08:42 | 08:49 | 09:02 | 09:09 | 09:22 | 09:42 | 10:02 |
| Sunbury | Middle Footscray | 07:28 | 08:08 | 08:48 | 09:03 | 09:21 | 09:28 | 10:08 | 10:28 | 10:48 | 11:08 |
| Craigieburn | Kensington | 07:26 | 08:06 | 08:46 | 08:56 | 09:16 | 09:26 | 10:06 | 10:26 | 10:46 | 11:06 |
| Upfield | Macaulay | 07:02 | 07:42 | 08:22 | 09:02 | 09:42 | 10:02 | 10:22 | 10:42 | 11:02 | 11:22 |
| Mernda | Rushall | 07:42 | 08:22 | 09:02 | 09:14 | 09:34 | 09:42 | 10:22 | 10:42 | 11:02 | 11:22 |
| Hurstbridge | Westgarth | 07:32 | 08:12 | 08:52 | 09:04 | 09:24 | 09:32 | 10:12 | 10:32 | 10:52 | 11:12 |
| Lilydale/Belgrave | Burnley | 07:50 | 08:20 | 08:50 | 09:10 | 09:20 | 09:37 | 09:50 | 10:10 | 10:20 | 10:30 |
| Glen Waverley | East Richmond | 07:12 | 07:58 | 08:28 | 08:58 | 09:14 | 09:28 | 09:45 | 09:58 | 10:28 | 10:54 |
| Cranbourne/Pakenham | Carnegie | 07:29 | 08:09 | 08:39 | 08:49 | 09:09 | 09:20 | 09:29 | 09:49 | 10:09 | 10:29 |
| Frankston | Hawksburn | 07:15 | 07:55 | 08:15 | 08:35 | 08:55 | 09:05 | 09:15 | 09:25 | 09:35 | 09:55 |
| Sandringham | Prahran | 07:18 | 07:58 | 08:38 | 09:08 | 09:18 | 09:36 | 09:58 | 10:18 | 10:38 | 10:58 |
So given the huge gaps in the usual Sunday timetable on many lines, did they just fill those? No. Some lines went to a more frequent service, then reverted back to the infrequent 40 minute gaps, before switching as usual to 20 minutes after 10am.
Presumably the priority was for extra capacity for people arriving about 45 minutes before the start of play.
But it also leaves people who miss those with a long wait and higher risk of missing the start of the game. (Well, if Day 3 had gone ahead.)
For instance what if a cricket fan missed the 9:04 from Mernda, shown above as 9:42 through Rushall, arriving at Jolimont-MCG at 9:53? The next train was 40 minutes later, arriving at Jolimont at 10:33, too late.
Sat vs Sun
And there’s also a huge difference between the overall frequency and capacity that was provided on Saturday vs Sunday… because Saturday also had two extras on most lines, but on top of a much better standard timetable.
Comparing them for the six lines with the biggest gaps (again, the weekend’s cricket extras marked in bold):
| Line | Day | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunbury | Sat | 07:28 | 07:48 | 08:08 | 08:28 | 08:48 | 09:00 | 09:08 | 09:20 | 09:28 | 09:48 | 10:08 | 10:28 |
| Sunbury | Sun | 07:28 | 08:08 | 08:48 | 09:03 | 09:21 | 09:28 | 10:08 | 10:28 | ||||
| Craigieburn | Sat | 07:26 | 07:46 | 08:06 | 08:26 | 08:46 | 08:56 | 09:06 | 09:16 | 09:26 | 09:46 | 10:06 | 10:26 |
| Craigieburn | Sun | 07:26 | 08:06 | 08:46 | 08:56 | 09:16 | 09:26 | 10:06 | 10:26 | ||||
| Upfield | Sat | 07:02 | 07:22 | 07:42 | 08:02 | 08:22 | 08:42 | 09:02 | 09:22 | 09:42 | 10:02 | 10:22 | 10:42 |
| Upfield | Sun | 07:02 | 07:42 | 08:22 | 09:02 | 09:42 | 10:02 | 10:22 | 10:42 | ||||
| Mernda | Sat | 07:42 | 08:02 | 08:22 | 08:42 | 09:02 | 09:14 | 09:22 | 09:34 | 09:42 | 10:02 | 10:22 | 10:42 |
| Mernda | Sun | 07:42 | 08:22 | 09:02 | 09:14 | 09:34 | 09:42 | 10:22 | 10:42 | ||||
| Hurstbridge | Sat | 07:32 | 07:52 | 08:12 | 08:32 | 08:52 | 09:04 | 09:12 | 09:24 | 09:32 | 09:52 | 10:12 | 10:32 |
| Hurstbridge | Sun | 07:32 | 08:12 | 08:52 | 09:04 | 09:24 | 09:32 | 10:12 | 10:32 | ||||
| Sandringham | Sat | 07:18 | 07:38 | 07:58 | 08:38 | 08:58 | 09:08 | 09:18 | 09:26 | 09:38 | 09:58 | 10:18 | 10:38 |
| Prahran | Sun | 07:18 | 07:58 | 08:38 | 09:08 | 09:18 | 09:36 | 09:58 | 10:18 | 10:38 |
Two things noticeable here:
- The Saturday timetable for these lines is the same as Sunday, but with half the services missing before about 10am. This may seem obvious in retrospect, but I’d never thought to check before
- The extra trains for the cricket on these lines are mostly at the same times on both days
In fact the extras make a lot more sense in the context of the Saturday timetable, as they are roughly halfway between regular services.
But they are generally slightly later to accommodate shared track (eg Mernda and Hurstbridge), and also so more cricket fans get on the extras rather than the regular services.
So mostly, it appears the extra services are designed against a Saturday timetable, and just replicated onto the Sunday timetable with few changes… which explains why the Sunday+extras frequencies were so uneven.
This is obviously suboptimal. It probably would have made more sense on the Sunday to fill some gaps by running the two extras at Saturday times.
The big problem
This is not just about cricket. Every day there are big and small events on in Melbourne, including on Sunday mornings.
The real problem here is those 40 minute base frequencies on Sunday mornings. They’re a relic of service cuts back in February 1978 which cut frequencies from 30 minutes to 40 minutes. Nearly fifty years later, this level of service is completely inadequate for a big city.
It’s not just about capacity – it’s about convenience, including when making connections to and from other services. Given most people have the option of driving, 40 minute waits just don’t cut it.
The good news? A few years ago the Werribee line was fixed, and during 2026 the Craigieburn, Upfield and Sunbury lines should get fixed too.
Sandringham, Mernda and Hurstbridge lines will have to keep waiting, as will those on 30 minute frequencies – Belgrave, Lilydale and Glen Waverley.
12 replies on “Mind the gaps: trains and cricket”
The Victorian Government should lobby for taking over the Sydney-Hobart yacht race to end in Port Phillip, to take up the extra time in case the Boxing Day tests finish early.
And how long do Sunbury/Craigieburn/Upfield passengers need to wait at Parliament for a connection to either Jolimont or Richmond? And do the PIDs provide that sort of information?
@Steve, Sunday morning has 4 trains per hour Parliament to Richmond (direct) and 3 trains per hour Parliament to Jolimont.
I think only the PIDs on the concourse would tell you which is next, but a passenger using the PTV app could check it on their phone.
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying – but the Sunbury Line doesn’t just have a 40 minute frequency on Sunday mornings, it has a 40 minute frequency off peak on a weekday as well! As well as most of Saturday and Sunday until the token hourly Metro Tunnel service started…no 10am switch to 20 minute frequencies.
Not sure how much this is going to change with the full opening of the Metro Tunnel. Will it finally get the Sunbury line to the same standard of service the other lines get? Why do Craigieburn and Upfield get to enjoy twice as frequent trains?
@Michael, yes, though it’s only the outer end of the Sunbury line that has a 40 minute frequency. Between Watergardens and the City (which is most of the line) it’s 20.
The timetables haven’t been officially announced yet, but from the test days it appears the frequency will double to 10/20.
The solution is to effectively mirror the operation in Sydney, which is to have static service commencement/finish times on Saturday and Sunday (this should also be done for weekdays, including a static finish time on Friday vs Mon-Thu). This needs to be done for train and tram.
This would resolve the problem of infrequent service early Sunday mornings for train (and no service for most tram routes), and also make internal rostering far more achievable – a perspective that is usually not considered, but inevitably always relevant.
Perhaps controversially, the limited “night network” operation that currently runs in Melbourne should also be changed to a Sydney-style night bus operation, so that workers and the general public have a genuine overnight public transport option 7 nights a week.
It’s worth noting that the only reason Melbourne’s trains effectively have early commencement on Sunday now is because of these “night network” trains, at one hour frequency.
The current Melbourne overnight operation is only designed to cater to partygoers – too bad if it’s a Sun-Thu night at 1am and you need to get to Ferntree Gully from the City. It also adds significant extra cost running the train network and most tram depots overnight – potentially night buses could run at a similar or even lower cost, but provide an overnight service 7 nights a week.
Importantly, night buses should be a minimum half hour frequency (I believe Sydney night buses may only run every hour). Also, night buses should mirror the route of train lines as much as possible, with a stop provided as close to each station as possible (as per the Sydney operation).
@Stan, yes, aligning the Saturday and Sunday timetables makes a lot of sense.
Sydney’s Nightride buses vary in frequency (typically seems to be every 30-60 minutes) and a few don’t run Mon-Thu mornings.
One of the benefits of years of bus replacement services is that Melbourne now has a pretty well established set of bus routes paralleling (but not exactly matching) rail lines, which means running buses overnight can be relatively efficient, even if not every stop is next to a railway station.
Having just come home from a Big Bash League match, a trip which took more than twice as long as it should have, there are many glaring gaps in tram services to the suburbs after big events as well.
Many trams arrived at the Jolimont tram stop heading eastward, but they were 75a services that then returned to the city (yet they also weren’t frequent enough). Meanwhile, packed 75 trams were only coming every 15 minutes or more, and 48 trams were every 30 minutes.
I’m unsure why transport planners think people only want to head back to the city and why it’s so difficult to see that more services should be scheduled for those of us heading to the ‘burbs.
@Brendan, yes, this has been a problem for decades, and it’s amazing they haven’t fixed it.
I remember trying to get home from a tennis centre concert via number 70 tram when I lived in Hawthorn 30+ years ago. No outbound extras; utterly packed.
Last night’s timetable indicates both trams 48 and 75 were running a half-hourly service, which sadly is common on most of the tram network on Sunday nights.
Mind you they don’t seem to be very good at loading extra tram services into the timetable database. And/or perhaps there were a few extra 75s were heading back to Camberwell Depot.
The only reason we managed to squeeze onto an eastbound tram was because the driver of a 75a service said to the frazzled YT worker (who was ferrying everyone off the tram who thought it was a 75) that the tram would now be heading to the Camberwell depot, so perhaps a decision was finally made to send more trams eastbound. The 75 travelling behind it was still very full when we boarded at the depot.
We thought about getting a 75a to head into the city and then board a 75 in the CBD before it became full at the Jolimont stop, but every single 75a filled up quickly because there were so many people still trying to leave.
I assume the people setting the timetable don’t catch PT and therefore have zero idea how frustrating it is for us plebs to travel.
PS. I should also add that there were train-replacement buses for Mernda/Hurstbridge, which left even fewer PT options at Jolimont.
With Frankston trains originating at Caulfield this weekend, there is a farcical 19 minute gap between outbound Dandenong trains connecting with outbound Frankston services before 10am, while both lines run at a 20 minute frequency. Can’t make this up.