Victorians have spoken, naming Wyndham Vale, Bentleigh and Waurn Ponds as Victoria’s best stations; while giving Donnybrook, Ruthven and Aircraft stations the thumbs down as Victoria’s worst railway stations. Wyndham Vale, Donnybrook and Waurn Ponds are on the VLine network.
RACV’s OnTrack survey is Victoria’s most comprehensive rail satisfaction survey, asking Victorians why they take the train, what they like and dislike about their station or service, as well as how they rate their station. Feedback from previous On Track surveys has assisted with the design of new stations, and this year’s survey demonstrates that many of the findings of the last survey have been factored into newly-built stations.
Wyndham Vale continues to be Victoria’s most-liked station due to its strong design features that have kept it at number one two years on from opening. Bentleigh, McKinnon and Ormond stations have jumped to number two, five and four respectively thanks to rebuilds as part of the Level Crossing Removal Program.
“Without doubt, the rebuilding of many stations as part of the Level Crossing Removal Program has influenced the ratings immensely from last year, and when the level crossing work is complete, we’d expect many poorly-rated stations along the Dandenong corridor such as Murrumbeena and Carnegie to have big increases in passenger satisfaction in the next survey”, said Dave Jones, RACV’s Manager of Mobility Advocacy.
Donnybrook, Ruthven and Aircraft scored poorly due to basic station designs with limited shelter, as well as poor transport interchanges and complimentary bus services.
“Stations like Donnybrook and Aircraft are near major growth areas where housing estates have boomed, but the stations and local transport haven’t kept up with demand. Passengers at stations such as Donnybrook and Aircraft struggle to find car parks, bus connections are limited, and the station environment unpleasant. No wonder they rate poorly,” Mr Jones said.
“It is imperative that we see improvements to these poorly rated stations to not only improve the commute of those who use these stations daily, but also to encourage more Victorians in these growth areas to use public transport and take pressure of our roads”, Mr Jones added.
Other common complaints included overcrowding, infrequent services, and the regular use of replacement busses on V/Line-operated services.
“It’s clear that more work needs to be done to improve the reliability of our rail services. 20 per cent of OnTrack survey respondents cited the convenience of using a car over public transport – and with Melbourne’s projected population growth – this is not sustainable”, Mr Jones said.
Full details of RACV’s On Track survey are available at: www.racv.com.au/ontracksurvey
RACV Corporate Communications [email protected] or (03) 9790 2572.