Metro Trains will have to lift its game or potentially pay millions of dollars in fines for late and cancelled trains every three months under the proposed terms of a tougher seven-year agreement with the state.

The practice of station-skipping, terminating trains short of the end of the line, and bypassing the City Loop or Altona loop, will also be penalised in the proposed new contract.

The company will have to do more to make sure Melbourne's trains and stations are in good condition, and that information about service disruptions and delays gets to passengers when and how they need it, or face millions more in fines.

The Age has obtained a leaked copy of the benchmarks the government wants Metro to meet if it continues as operator of Melbourne's rail system for another seven years.