Connex Melbourne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Connex Melbourne is wholly owned by Veolia Transport Australia[1], a subsidiary of International Veolia Environnement, a French company. Connex Melbourne is the private operator for the suburban railway system in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Following Veolia's rebranding of its transport operations from Connex to Veolia Transport, Connex Melbourne is the only Veolia company to retain the Connex name. Connex Melbourne's current franchise contract expires in 2008. At the end of the Connex contract it will have been paid just under AU$2 billion by the state government of Victoria.
| Melbourne's public transport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Metlink | Metcard | myki | |
| Modes of Transport | |||
| Trains | Trams | Buses | |
| Transport Routes | |||
| Railway stations | Tram routes | Bus routes | |
| Operating Companies | |||
| V/Line | Connex Melbourne | Yarra Trams | |
Contents |
[edit] History
Melbourne Transport Enterprises (now Connex Melbourne) was awarded a franchise to operate the "Hillside" train services in Melbourne's eastern and north-east suburbs in August, 1999. The franchise for the southern parts of Melbourne's suburban train network was awarded to National Express, under the now-defunct Bayside Trains name (later renamed M>Train). Upon National Express's withdrawal from Victorian transportation, the Government assumed operational responsibility of M>Train. Early in 2003, the Government began negotiations with Connex to assume responsibility for all of Melbourne's suburban train network. A new partnership agreement was reached in February 2004, which awarded Connex the exclusive right to operate Melbourne's entire suburban train network as from 18 April 2004. The agreement is set to expire on April 18, 2009, but the State Government has an option for an 18-month extension.
Both Connex and M>Train refurbished the Comeng trains, previously operated by The Met, the government operated public transport system, but each in different ways, making them incompatible. Since taking over the former M>Train services, Connex has modified the Comeng trains to again make them compatible, as well as changing the livery. Connex also operates the Alstom-built X'trapolis trains, the Siemens trains which were ordered by M>Train, the few remaining Hitachi-designed trains, and the diesel-locomotive-hauled Stony Point service.
[edit] Fleet
The Connex Melbourne fleet consists of:
- 187 3-car Comeng EMUs (built 1981-1988, refurbished 2000-2003)
- 6 remaining 6-car Hitachi EMUs, (built during the 1970s, )
- 72 3-car Siemens EMUs (built 2002-2005)
- 58 3-car X'Trapolis EMUs (built by 2002-2004)
- 4 locomotive-hauled MTH Carriages (used on the Stony Point line)
[edit] Government Subsidies
Under the current agreement, Connex Melbourne is expected to receive an average of $345 million per annum, between 2004-2009 from the Victorian State government.
[edit] Obligations
Connex is responsible for operation and maintenance of Melbourne's suburban railway system, including manning stations and fare enforcement.
Connex is not responsible for capital works such as expanding the system, but on a number of jobs has managed the project on behalf of the State Government.
[edit] Reliability of Service and Customer Satifisfaction benchmarks
Connex Melbourne, as the franchise operator of Melbourne's rail network, is obligated to deliver on time (no more than 59 seconds early, and no more than 5:59 minutes late) performance, system-wide, of no less than 92%. Connex is also obligated to deliver no less than 98% of scheduled train services, and significantly reduce any time spent by passengers waiting due to a delay, over a 1998 benchmark.
Fines for failure to meet service obligations are deducted from contract fees paid by the government to Connex. As of July 2006, the most recent fine imposed on Connex by the government is $5.1 million AUD.
Connex releases performance data on a monthly basis, usually put on view at railway stations. Fines and customer satisfaction levels are detailed in a quarterly report released by the government[1].
[edit] Fare enforcement
Public Transport Authorised Officers are employed to work across Melbourne's public transport network. As well as reporting ticketing and behavioural offences, Authorised Officer play an important role in improving passenger safety, providing customer information and assisting at special ecents.
Public Transport Authorised officers (commonly known as Ticket Inspectors, or differently Revenue Protection Officers) are accreditted by the Victorian Department of Infrastructure to exercise powers similar to those of Police when aboard Vehicles operating under Metlink or when on Department of Infrastructure owned premises, such as train stations or train tracks (and generally Melbourne Public Transport Network)
If an Authorised Officers believes that a passenger has committed an offence (for example, by failing to produce a ticket), they have the right to request their full legal name and address, after they have explained the nature of the alleged offence. The inspector also has the right to request some proof of the given information. In this circumstance, any proof is acceptable, as long as it constitutes a "verification" of the information which satisfies the inspector as to the alleged offender's identity. Proof does not have to be a driver's license. Refusal to identify oneself, or providing a false name to the ticket inspector will ordinarily cause the ticket inspector to contact Victoria Police and detain the passenger until the police arrive.
Once the Authorised Officer has the name and address, they then forward a report (formally known as a Report of Non Compliance, or 'RONC') detailing the specific nature and circumstances of the violation to the Department of Infrastructure. Any fines levied are payable to the Department, not to Connex. However, once the Department successfully retrieves the fined amount from the violator, Connex receives a small administration fee.
Authorised Officers have come under fire from lobby groups and marginal sections of the community for being overly aggressive in enforcing ticketing requirements. This has been accentuated by several media articles in the mainstream Melbourne press of mixed opinions regarding the system or reporting passengers detected travelling without tickets. Specifically, two main charges are frequently heard. The first that ticket inspectors have been requiring young school-children to produce Concession I.D. cards, even though the law only requires it for children over 15 years of age unless the person is travelling on a Student Pass. The second that inspectors have been reporting people for not possessing a ticket, even when there was no opportunity for the person to purchase a ticket is often heard. The Victorian Transport Act of 1983 has a provision which states that travel without a ticket is legal in circumstances where the passenger took all reasonable steps to purchase a ticket immediately before and after their travel, but one was not available for purchase.
Irrespective of such criticism or how much legal merit it may hold, the fact remains that all officers are required to abide by the State Government-established Authorised Officer Code of Conduct and the rare incidence of violations of this code have been strenuously prosecuted. It should be noted that the Authorised Officer's Code of Conduct permits an inspector to use discretion when reporting an alleged offender.
[edit] Train Maintenance
Connex Melbourne has contracted train maintenance to Mainco. United Group Rail (incorporating Alstom transportation Australia) the controlling 70% stake in Mainco, and Connex Australia holds the remainder. Siemens and EDI Rail continue to maintain former M>Train rollingstock. Innovonics Limited is currently carrying out a contract to re-enable Comeng sets from both sides of the system to run on the entire system again, along with a CCTV upgrade[2] [3]
The Department of Infrastructure (DOI) has major input into infrastructure related issues.
[edit] See also
- Railways in Melbourne
- List of Melbourne railway stations
- Connex ticket inspector
[edit] External links
[edit] Sources
- ^ Track Record Monthly performance bulletin, accessed 10th July 2006
- ^ Innovonics Concorde project ASX announcement, accessed 10 July 06]
- ^ Updated ALSTOM Comeng sets with Innovonics gear, Railpage Australia (enthusiast site), accessed 10 July 06
