Ms Kosky said the new timetable would also deliver an extra 13,000 seats across the network.

While most of the extra services and seats are in the increasingly popular off-peak when more carriages are available, some existing peak trains will also benefit from extra capacity.

“The new timetable will mean we now have more services than ever before running to and from regional Victoria with more seats available, which is fantastic news for both daily commuters and leisure travellers,” Ms Kosky said.

“With V/Line patronage at a 50 year high, we need to continually look at how we can create additional capacity and improve our services. We will be delivering extra services to Seymour, Shepparton, Albury and Geelong and boosting capacity on many existing services across the state.”

Travellers in north-east Victoria will have an extra 33 services per week, including an extra 28 weekend services to Seymour, two extra weekend services to Shepparton and three extra weekend services to Albury. An extra 15 services per week (or three more each week day) will operate on the Geelong line during the afternoon off-peak which has also grown in use.

“More VLocity carriages are currently under construction, which will give us a greater ability to boost capacity during peaks when the first becomes available in several months,” Ms Kosky said.

“Many of these adjustments have been based on feedback from passengers, which demonstrates our commitment to working with customers to continually improve transport services.”

A key component of the new timetable is that Craigieburn Station will now be part of the suburban rail network serviced by Connex, with V/Line peak and long distance services no longer stopping at Craigieburn Station. Most off-peak services will continue to stop at Craigieburn.

Ms Kosky said a number of changes were also being made to V/Line coach timetables to complement changes to the train schedules.

The new V/Line timetable begins operating on 30 September to coincide with the opening of the Craigieburn extension and the new metropolitan timetable. Details of the metropolitan timetable will be released shortly.

Passengers can pick up a copy of the new V/Line timetable from staffed stations from Monday, 17 September and copies of the timetable will also be available for download from www.vline.com.au.

Ms Kosky also reminded Senior Victorians that reservations for V/Line services during Seniors Week, which runs from 7 -14 October, would open on Tuesday, 4 September.

“Today’s announcement of the new timetable means people booking their tickets for Seniors Week travel will be able to do so based on the new timetable,” she said.