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More Trains On Time On The Ballarat Line

10 October 2016

On time performance on the Ballarat corridor is at its highest level since May 2015.

Monthly performance figures released on Friday show 91.6 per cent of services arrived on time in September, up from 89 per cent in August, and 4.5 per cent higher than the 12-month average of 87.1 per cent.

Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan welcomed the result, which continues a positive trend in punctuality since timetable adjustment earlier in the year, and the completion of the Rowsley Crossing Loop.

The Ballarat line is one of V/Line’s busiest, and it’s getting busier. Since the opening of the Regional Rail Link project in June last year, patronage on the Ballarat corridor has jumped 12.5 per cent.

Now almost a quarter of all V/Line trips across Victoria are taken on the Ballarat corridor, with more than 335,000 passenger trips in September alone.

To cater for this growth, and continue to improve the performance of services, the Andrews Labor Government is investing more than half-a-billion dollars to transform services on the Ballarat line.

The $518 million project will duplicate the line to Melton, as well as a three kilometre section of single track west of Warrenheip, and build three new crossing loops – at Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and near Bungaree.

These additional loops will provide more points for trains to pass each other, which will help services recover from unexpected delays more quickly, boosting reliability and punctuality.

New stabling facilities will also be established at Melton and Rowsley, second platforms will be built at Bacchus Marsh and Ballan stations, and the existing platforms at Rockbank Station will be extended so passengers can use each carriage to get on or off the train.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan

“This is a great result and another encouraging sign that our plan to improve the performance of Ballarat services is bearing fruit.”

“The new timetable and Rowsley loop are improving reliability and punctuality ahead of our $518 million transformation of the Ballarat line, which will enable more services and improve performance even further.”

Quote attributable to Member for Wendouree Sharon Knight

“There is still work to be done but today’s result shows we’re on the right track, and there’s huge investment and improvements to come over the coming years.”

Quote attributable to Member for Buninyong Geoff Howard

“More trains are on time, more carriages are hitting the network and there’s more services to come as we get on with our half-a-billion upgrade of the Ballarat corridor, to get people home safer and sooner, every day.”

Reviewed 19 August 2020

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