How the Metro Tunnel fared on its first Monday morning peak

There were early winners and losers as commuters navigated the first morning peak on the Metro Tunnel timetable, adjusting on the go to new travel patterns.

Most services ran on time, Metro Trains reported, although a train door fault forced one service to leave Arden station without stopping.

One traveller bound for Parkville from her home in Caulfield said the more direct journey would shave 15 minutes off her commute. Others were less fortunate.

One harried commuter, heading for Collingwood from his home in Cranbourne, faced a three-train journey, which added an estimated 25 minutes to his morning travel.

At Caulfield station on Monday morning, there was plenty of congestion and confusion as passengers darted between platforms, but a strong contingent of station staff provided guidance.

The crush at the platform gates caused some frustrated passengers to miss their trains, but the time penalty was modest, as city-bound trains pulled up every three to four minutes.

The launch of a full timetable through the Metro Tunnel this week has changed travel patterns that have been baked in for decades.

Passengers on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines no longer travel through the City Loop, or to busy inner-city stations Richmond, North Melbourne and South Yarra.

Announced in 2016 at a cost of $10.9 billion, the Metro Tunnel and its five underground stations ultimately cost more than $15 billion to build. The project marks the biggest upgrade to Melbourne’s public transport system since the City Loop opened in 1981.

The Metro Tunnel opened to passengers in November but on a reduced timetable.

Trains on three lines will now travel through the nine-kilometre twin tunnel instead of the Loop, and interchanges will be required in order to reach Loop stations Southern Cross, Parliament and Flagstaff.

Among those adapting to the new reality was Andreas Groell, who stepped off at Caulfield, trying to find his way to South Yarra.

“I have to change trains. I wasn’t really aware of that, but I just realised that I have to get out and go over to the other platform,” he said.

Groell estimated the transfer would add five minutes to his morning trip, but said he was unfazed.

“I was under the impression I’m not actually affected by it. That’s all good,” he said.

Flustered traveller Manoj Mathew had just discovered he would pay a much heavier time penalty.

He jumped off a Metro Tunnel-bound train at Malvern station – the last stop in the east where commuters can swap trains – clutching a phone with a travel app open and searching for a customer service person to direct him.

He was searching for a Frankston line train to take him to Parliament, where he would then catch another train to Collingwood.

“It adds 25 minutes to my time. It is stressful,” Mathew said.

(Mathew could have sped up his commute by travelling directly to Town Hall or State Library stations to catch a Mernda or Hurstbridge line train, instead of getting off at Malvern. But Google Maps had not been updated by Monday to provide that option.)

Medical student Sara Pisacane was in the opposite camp. Bound for the University of Melbourne for her first day of classes, she guessed her more direct journey would save her 15 minutes.

“Rather than having to get off a train, wait for a tram, take the tram, this is just one train directly up to the uni, so it actually makes a good difference,” Pisacane said.

A Metro Trains spokesman said services through the tunnel performed well on Monday morning, with 99 per cent of trains running on time.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said Monday would be the tunnel’s “first really big test”, although it is also one of the quietest days of the week for train patronage.

Bowen said daily commuters should adapt quickly, but occasional users such as football crowds could still be surprised by the new travel patterns in the weeks ahead.

“I haven’t seen much comms around it from the government, but … they could be emphasising that people – at least coming from the south-east – could just hop off at Town Hall and walk across the bridge to the MCG, or catch a tram, which is what a lot of people from the western suburbs already do,” he said.

At the new Town Hall station, there were scores of first-time Metro Tunnel passengers seeking directions from staff in high-vis vests.

Diem Chau had just caught a train from Noble Park and travelled into the tunnel for the first time. She said she wasn’t expecting to find herself inside the new underground station, and had thought she would have a choice between catching a Metro Tunnel train or a service through the City Loop.

“I thought there would be two alternatives and when I got on I was like, should I get off and maybe wait for the other train? But there is actually no alternative train,” Chau said.

“I thought it might add more time, but it actually felt faster than my normal train, which would go through Richmond, Parliament and then Melbourne Central.”

Even staff on the project appeared to be still adapting to the new order. When The Age asked for directions to the State Library station concourse, a customer service officer sporting a purple “Team Tunnel” badge initially pointed us back towards Melbourne Central.

“We’re all getting used to it,” he said.

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