Thanks to the continued advocacy of commuters across the region, reserved-only services will continue for V/Line passengers on the Albury Line.
Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said while the move was a positive recognition of how under-serviced the railway line has been, it still fell short of fully addressing the concerns faced by regional passengers.
“The urgency for reserved seating is directly caused by the under-servicing of this train line for years on end,” Ms Cleeland said.
“We still have just three trains a day from Albury to Melbourne – this is completely unacceptable with our region’s population.
“While it is pleasing to see some progress to limit how overcrowded these trains have been, there are still concerns over whether there will be enough reserved seats available each day.
“With tickets selling out at a rapid pace, many people needing to make spontaneous trips will remain unable to get on a train and utilise these services.
“The fundamental problem is the lack of services each day.”
The Albury line currently has just three V/Line services per day, with an extra coach service on weekends, and is the main train line for residents in Avenel, Euroa, Violet Town, Benalla, Wangaratta, and Albury.
Since fares were reduced, there has been increased traffic across the entire regional network.
Ms Cleeland says during this time, concerns about accessing V/Line have been one of the most frequent issues brought to her attention by constituents.
“When the reduced fares were announced, it was critical there was a plan in place to handle the major increase in demand,” Ms Cleeland said.
“However, all we have seen is a trial of reserved-only trains and one extra coach service on weekends.
“This quite simply isn’t enough for our regional commuters, who have rightfully raised their concerns with my office and the Minister’s office to ensure there have been improvements made.
“I encourage anyone with concerns about V/Line travel in the region to continue to contact me so that we can ensure this Government pays more attention to our local rail network.”