The targets in the next franchise agreement will certainly be tougher than that, but we don't know by how much. It is hoped there will be a threshold well above 90 for Metro and well above 80 for Yarra Trams (who have a greater handicap because they often share the road with vehicles). Two or three minutes should be slashed off the definition of on time, too. Train stopped at Flinders Street Station. Credit:Craig Abraham 2. Don't use sneaky tactics when you're not on time Station-skipping by Metro and short-shunting by Yarra Trams - when a tram turns back before it has reached the end of the route - have emerged as perverse incentives of the current franchise agreement. Both companies have used the tactic to recover from delays, safe in the knowledge that the contract contains no penalties for doing so, even when passengers are left stranded. Metro has reined in its station skipping, but mostly because it was suffering severe reputational damage for doing so, not because the government had any stick to hit it with. The government has signalled the new agreement will put a stop to these unfair practices which is good, but the loophole that enabled it never should have been there in the first place.

3. Be more transparent about where our money is going Metro and Yarra Trams are collectively paid approximately $2 billion of public money a year to run and maintain the public transport system. It isn't always easy to trace where the money goes, and passengers who find themselves delayed by yet another signal fault or tram breakdown must seriously wonder if they are getting full bang for their buck. Plans to introduce "spot audits" of rail infrastructure in the new contracts are a welcome way to improve this, but may not go far enough given some of the performance measures Metro and Yarra Trams are bound by are kept secret for commercial reasons. John Stone, a senior lecturer in urban planning at the University of Melbourne, argues that maintenance and renewal budgets worth hundreds of millions should result in improvements passengers can see. "There is no reporting on what this large expenditure is doing to improve train speeds or service quality generally, so I don't think it's good enough to use confidentiality in this matter," he says.

One of 44 broken or rotting sleepers near Roxburgh Park railway station on Tuesday. Credit:Jason South 4. Have fewer faults Commuters' journeys are still bedevilled by signal and track faults and so on that can spiral into major delays. Again, hundreds of millions of dollars are dedicated each year towards fixing and improving the problems, so why do failures still occur? Metro has said the scale of the problem far exceeds its budget but again the public is kept in the dark about where the money is spent, due to confidential commercial arrangements between the operators and the government. Some, including the Rail, Tram and Bus Union have called for the return of the train and tram systems to public hands, so that profit no longer influences decision-making. However it is clear that neither side of politics is interested in doing this, so at the very least there should be tighter monitoring of maintenance expenditure by government. 5. Be subject to more competition

The Andrews government has stuck with the devil it knows in offering Metro and Yarra Trams seven more years, just as it did with the recent myki retender. But at least other companies got a chance to bid to take over running myki. Loading In this instance, we don't know if someone else could offer a more compelling service because they have not been given a chance. The government says it is laying the ground now for a future London or Tokyo-style "turn-up-and-go" train service for Melbourne. Maybe an operator from one of those cities could help.