V/Line officially confirmed what train travellers on the Warrnambool line already know – punctuality and reliability are worse, Mrs Roma Britnell, Member for South West Coast said today.
The latest V/Line performance data for January 2016 has been released, showing that Warrnambool train users can no longer have any confidence that they will arrive at their destinations on time, Mrs Britnell said.
“Punctuality of Warrnambool’s train services has significantly dropped in just one month; from 83.2% in December 2015 to 77.8% in January.
“In November 2014, the last month of the Coalition government, reliability of our line was 90.6% – more than 12% more reliable than the current service.
“The Andrews Government’s train debacle means that people living in South West Coast using rail service to attend medical appointments, business meetings or catching up with family and friends can have no confidence they will turn up on time at the other end.
“Reliability of passenger services on the Warrnambool line has also gone off the rails,” Mrs Britnell said.
The reliability of Warrnambool trains has dropped from 100% in December 2015, down to 96.6% in January.
“The drop in reliability and punctuality is across all country train lines in Victoria, but the Warrnambool line was the third worst for both measures,” she said.
“What are Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allen doing for country travellers, who rely so heavily on the regional rail network. It’s not as if we can jump on a tram or catch a taxi to Melbourne if the train is late,” Mrs Britnell said.
“With this data coming out of V/Line, it is even more urgent that an extra passenger service a day is added to the timetable,” Mrs Britnell said.
“The Andrews Government must act now to fix this train wreck and invest in additional infrastructure to give South West Coast a first class, reliable and punctual train service.
