By Rowan Forster
A disabled Pakenham commuter believes courtesy is “extinct” after he was squeezed from two consecutive train replacement busses by crowds of passengers.
Bob Crawford was caught in the weekend’s public transport crush, as travellers were turfed from trains at Caulfield Station on Sunday.
A frustrating trek on overcrowded busses turned into a three-hour ordeal for Mr Crawford, who was pushed out of two bursting vehicles.
As he was using crutches to support his injured ankle, the 26-year-old was unable to stand his ground.
“It happened twice in a row and basically nobody stopped to see if I was okay,” he said.
“Nobody even tried to help fit me on the bus.
“As I was squeezed out of the second, I almost tripped and one woman stopped to ask if I was ok, but that was it.”
Mr Crawford, although furious at the quality of Metro services on the Pakenham line recently, does not blame the company for his experience.
“It comes down to courtesy, and it seems like courtesy is extinct,” he said.
“Maybe people were frustrated and fed up by the services, but it’s not really an excuse.
“I worry it would be the same for an elderly person too.”
It comes as Metro Trains recorded its worst punctuality result for on-time services on the Pakenham line since May, 2017.
Additionally, more services were cancelled in January 2019 than ever before on the Pakenham line.
More than 17 per cent of services were late and more than four trains, on average, were cancelled entirely every day of the month.
In a media address, PTV CEO Jeroen Weimar again blamed the falling punctuality figure on several specific incidents and the state-wide upgrades being rolled out.
“I want to again apologise to the passengers caught up in this incident for the inconvenience this caused,” Mr Weimar said.
“We will continue to work with Metro Trains to deliver the best possible service and to ensure passengers are kept fully informed of any changes to their travel.”
