Last Thursday, the State Government announced that Metro Trains Melbourne would replace Connex from December.

MTM, a joint venture between the Hong-Kong based MTR Corporation, John Holland and UGL Rail, won an eight-year contract, with a seven-year option.

Public Transport Users Association outer-east convener Jeremy Lunn said he expected MTM to fulfil promises of greater punctuality, cleanliness and staffing levels.

"If these improvements aren't realised, commuters will be bitterly disappointed.

"The key to punctuality will be in increased funding for maintenance. However, if the remaining single track sections are not duplicated [on the Belgrave, Lilydale and Cranbourne lines], it's hard to see how any significant punctuality improvement could be met."

Mr Lunn noted there had been no promises of more frequent services, but said commuters would be expecting such upgrades for services beyond Ringwood and "across the board".

"On the whole, we expect a lot more than a fresh coat of paint and a new logo. If that is all we get, John Brumby will certainly pay the price."

Eastern Transport Coalition chairwoman Samantha Dunn said the State Government also needed to invest more in infrastructure, such as duplicating and triplicating lines and better signalling.

"Underlying this rail system is the fact that it doesn't matter who's operating it, to a degree, because we need a massive investment in infrastructure from the Government."

MTM chief executive Andrew Lezala said the company had put forward proposals to improve safety and reliability, expand capacity and "enhance the customer experience".

He would not give further details because of a "strict probity environment".

Connex executive chairman Jonathan Metcalfe said the company was proud of its achievements.

Premier John Brumby said the new contract included a customer service regime, which offered incentives for MTM to improve customer service announcements, cleanliness, graffiti removal and safety on the rail network.