Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the Government was taking action to improve regional public transport links.

“These latest figures show that regional travellers are voting with their feet. We made the largest ever investment into regional rail and are committed to connecting regional and rural Victoria to the city,” Ms Kosky said.

“I congratulate all V/Line staff on their tremendous effort which is resulting in more passengers using more services across the regional network.

“In times of high petrol prices and increasing environmental awareness people are recognising the train travel is an affordable, environmentally sustainable and hassle free way to travel.”

Ms Kosky said with the 22 additional V’Locity middle carriages to be added across the V/Line network passengers could be assured the Brumby Government would continue to meet growing demand.

“We know that many services operate at capacity during peak period and the arrival of these additional carriages will add a total of 1672 seats across the network,” Ms Kosky said.

“The first carriage is due to enter service from July this year, with an additional carriage added each month after that.

“Each of these new carriage features seating for 76 passengers, four dedicated wheelchair sites, air conditioning, passenger information systems to announce stops and storage for bicycles and surfboards.

“We have upgraded the regional rail network, we reduced fares, we are funding extra carriages, we are improving facilities and car parking at regional train stations as passenger numbers grow.

“These record high patronage figures show that our continuing investment in regional transport is money well spent.”