Simple reason, maintenance is not glitzy / flashy / sexy. A pollie having their photo taken next to re-laid track doesn’t quite grab a voters imagination.

William – cynic

There is some interesting discussion on Skyscraper City forum (where the graphs came from) about this Sydney/Melbourne disparity at the moment and the general drift is that it's not down to who the operators are (private or public), but the level of background government investment over time, including (in some cases especially) maintenance. That's a difference between Melbourne and Sydney that's become quite radical in the last decade. To get it going needs a powerhouse government in office and that's what is completely puzzling (to an interstater) about the Andrews government because it's one that should in principle be putting its back into a major commitment. After all, it came into office cancelling the East-West link because it was said to be more important to invest in PT - but then that hasn't happened much subsequently.

Tony P