METRO will seek to deliver a huge boost to peak-hour train services in the next five years by splitting Melbourne's criss-crossing rail network into five separate groups.

But the peak-hour plan, obtained by The Age, is being resisted by many drivers, who stand to be evicted from their hub at Flinders Street Station and divided into five camps. They argue it will effectively deskill them by forcing them to run trains up and down the same lines every day.

Metro is hoping to split Melbourne's rail network, while train drivers are opposed. Credit:Penny Stephens

If the plan is successful, by 2017 commuters will benefit from previously unseen levels of service frequency on some suburban lines, with waits of five minutes or less between trains in some cases. But the plan makes no reference to whether the extra trains would worsen congestion on the roads, particularly at level crossings.

The Upfield line, for example, is slated to get six peak-hour trains instead of the current three, even though it has 23 level crossings. And 18 trains will run along the Dandenong corridor, which has some of Melbourne's most severely jammed level crossings. Nor does the plan detail how conflict with V/Line or freight trains that share the lines might be overcome.