Australia's rail safety watchdog is looking into allegations raised in parliament by a federal MP that Metro's track maintenance standards are so shoddy it is putting public safety at risk.

Metro can only do as much maintenance as the incumbent government is prepared to fund.  Metro has the responsibility of running the services and I believe they get an "allowance" or budget for maintenance.  

I do notice a lot of timber still on the network in Melbourne which is not the case in places like Sydney.

So.. let's get this in perspective. A Western Australian federal politician is reporting troubles in the Metro system in Melbourne? And just before a state election? And she is a member of the Australian Labor Party?

She is not offering any evidence, but claims a 'large number of people' have come to her to raise the subject and she has photos.

While I don't reject the possibility that there may be a real issue here, this is a very obvious smear campaign by the Labor Party and it's timing is impeccable.

Although I agree the timing is dubious, it could be she attended this: http://www.ausrail.com/">http://http://www.ausrail.com/
And heard a number of stories on the grapevine.

'Unprecedented' faults across Melbourne rail network

http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/unprecedented-faults-across-melbourne-rail-network-6022369.html

I've often seen these plates on the track. Why are they installed and what purpose do they serve?

I'm not a political lobbyist. I had the very good fortune to work for Allanah in the transport space. Her degree of understanding about the rail sector is extremely good. She examined the Victorian model of outsourced operations and maintenance of services very closely as part of her consideration for a similar model and discovered for herself that the model was flawed as it is used in Victoria. This she did some years ago. I'm not privy to the current announcement.