The Andrews Labor Government has introduced 80 new regional train services and delivered Melbourne’s newest station in Caroline Springs.
Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan joined Member for Buninyong Geoff Howard and Member for Wendouree Sharon Knight in Ballarat today to mark the start of the new V/Line timetable and greet the first new service to Maryborough since the former Labor Government reopened the line in 2010.
The new timetable provides a huge boost to the regional train network, including eighteen new services every week for the Geelong line – regional Victoria’s busiest commuter corridor – and 10 extra weekly services to the major regional centres of Bendigo, Ballarat and Traralgon.
Warrnambool now has 12 new train services every week – the first new services introduced on that line in over a decade – which will be bolstered by new coach services to and from Portland.
The new timetable also extends an evening Seymour service to Shepparton each weekday, making it quicker and easier for local passengers get home from Melbourne or anywhere in between.
The new V/Line timetable also marks the opening of Caroline Springs Station – providing direct services to this booming community in Melbourne’s west for the very first time.
The 80 extra regional train services are the first of more than 170 announced as part of the Victorian Budget 2016/17, and are on top of the more than 340 new regional services already introduced by the Labor Government.
The Budget included $1.3 billion for better regional public transport, including $198 million to rebuild V/Line, $257 million for new regional train carriages and $518 million for the Ballarat Line Upgrade.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan
“This is the next step in the better train network we’re building for regional Victoria – with more reliable, frequent services to get people home safer and sooner wherever they live.”
“Regional Victoria is growing and we’re making sure public transport grows with it – introducing more trains, building new stations and investing in the major projects we need to boost services across the state.”
“After years of neglect under the former Liberal and National Government – who ripped $120 million out of V/Line and didn’t start a single major public transport project in regional Victoria – we’re getting on with it.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020