Eight new 76-seat carriages will be added to the V/Line fleet to boost capacity on Victoria's booming regional rail system, the Premier, John Brumby, announced today.

Mr Brumby said the regional rail system had experienced almost 30 per cent patronage growth in the past financial year alone with more than 9,370,000 passenger trips made by V/Line trains. "The Government's strong budget position means we can now bring forward $38 million and purchase eight new V'Locity intermediate carriages, on top of 14 intermediate carriages currently on order," he said.

The eight additional carriages will be delivered by the end of 2009, following the roll-out of the 14 intermediate carriages due to come on line from midway through next year. "This is great news for people living, working or visiting regional Victoria and is the next step in our commitment to provide better public transport services for people no matter where they live." 

Mr Brumby was in Ballarat with the Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, to officially welcome the 39th V'Locity train, one of two new trains which are being added to the network. "The eight new carriages have a seating capacity of almost 600, so by the end of 2009 there will be 22 more carriages in operation, providing 1672 extra seats," Mr Brumby said. "This combined with the two new V'Locity trains means we are delivering almost 2000 seats across the network. We are delighted our strong economic position allows us to deliver these improvements which will continue to make regional Victoria the best place to live, work, invest and raise a family."

Each new carriage features:

• Seating for 76 passengers;

• Wide, four across (2x2) seating, with a seat width equivalent to current first class seating;

• Four dedicated wheelchair sites;

• Air-conditioning;

• Passenger information systems to announce stops;

• Storage for bicycles and surfboards; and

• Modern safety systems.

Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, said the 39th V'Locity launched today was the first of two V'Locity trains ordered by the government last year to help meet growing regional rail demand. "The 40th V'Locity is currently being built and will be ready for testing before the end of this year,"Ms Kosky said.

The Brumby Government continues to demonstrate its commitment to improving regional rail travel with new and refurbished trains, extended services and reduced fares. "We've already delivered a 20 per cent reduction in fares, added more than 400 extra services across the V/Line network and are continuing to make improvements."