Vic:Government urged not to renew train, tram contracts

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2006
Vic:Government urged not to renew train, tram contracts

By Shelley Markham

MELBOURNE, April 10 AAP - The Victorian government has been urged not to renew its
contract with the private operators of the public transport system, with a transport expert
saying it has been an expensive failure.

Academic Dr Paul Mees, of Melbourne University's urban planning program and an author
of a new report into the state's public transport, said the privatisation of Melbourne's
trams and trains six years ago had not worked.

"It has been an expensive failure," Dr Mees said.

The report was today rejected by the government.

However Dr Mees said by June this year, the privatised public transport system will
have cost $1.2 billion a year in public subsidies and fare revenues, and that figure could
rise to $2.1 billion by 2010.

"This is more than world class overseas operators such as Vancouver's Translink spend,
but we still have an inadequate system," Dr Mees said.

Melbourne University researchers compared Melbourne's transport system to Translink
in Vancouver, Zurich's Zurcher Verkehrsverbund and Perth's Transperth systems.

In the report released today they found the secret of success for those three companies
was high customer patronage and accountability.

"The easiest way to select a well performing public transport organisation is one that
has higher rates of customer satisfaction where the patronage levels are high and rising,
and where value for money is being provided," Dr Mees said.

"Under the system we have in Melbourne no-one is accountable for anything, everyone
can push responsibility onto someone else ... so no-one is ultimately accountable to the
community for the quality of public transport services that are delivered."

Dr Mees said the state government had an opportunity to improve the system and return
it to government hands without having to pay compensation to the private operators.

The franchise agreements between the government and Connex and Yarra Trams are due
to expire on November 30, 2008, and can only be renewed if the government gives notice
by November 30, 2007.

"It would provide a fantastic opportunity to build a new (government-run) organisation
from scratch," he said.

The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) backed calls for the system to return
to public hands.

PTUA secretary Tony Morton said that since private operators took control in 1999,
passengers have endured "late services, more cancellations and some new but substandard
rolling stock."

"We have a golden opportunity in the next two years to set up an efficient public transport
agency modelled on those in the world's best cities," Mr Morton said.

A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Peter Bachelor said the report was flawed.

"The academics appear to have made basic errors in calculating their figures, including
failing to account for rolling stock lease payments for the new trains and trams provided
across the system, additional services added since franchising, and additional staff added
since franchising," the spokeswoman said.

"We do not accept the findings of the report," she said.

"We do not have any plans to change the current ownership structure."

AAP sam/ce/sp/

KEYWORD: TRANSPORT VIC

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