The crisis in VLine has hit rock bottom with the Gippsland line recording another month of failing to run on time.
Traralgon trains haven’t met the 92 per cent punctuality target once in the more than five years since Daniel Andrews was elected.
VLine released February performance data that showed Gippsland trains again failed to meet the 92 per cent punctuality target, with just 73.6 per cent running on time.
Member for Eastern Victoria Melina Bath said a reliable, fast train service was a priority for a growing regions like the Latrobe City and Baw Baw.
“The only consistency with the Gippsland rail line is inconsistency, with trains never meeting punctuality targets under Daniel Andrews watch,” Ms Bath said.
Every short distance service – Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and Gippsland lines – failed to meet reliability and punctuality targets.
Shadow Minister for Regional Public Transport Steph Ryan said four of VLine’s six long distance services also failed to meet punctuality targets.
“The Andrews Labor Government is failing to fix the worsening problems in VLine,” Ms Ryan said.
“Ripping $149 million from VLine’s budget at a time when most regional lines are constantly failing to meet punctuality targets will only make the problems worse.”
VLine’s reliability target is for at least 96 per cent of scheduled services to run. Meanwhile, 92 per cent of services must arrive on time (within six minutes for short distance services and within 11 minutes for long distance services) to meet punctuality targets.
Background
Short distance
| Geelong | Ballarat | Bendigo | Seymour | Gippsland | |
| Reliability* | 94.7% | 92.8% | 89.4% | 63.1% | 93.0% |
| Punctuality** | 88.8% | 89.9% | 84.7% | 89.3% | 73.6% |
Long distance
| Warrnambool | Ararat / Maryborough | Swan Hill & Echuca | Albury / Wodonga | Shepparton | Bairnsdale | |
| Reliability* | 97.7% | 95.8% | 96.9% | 32.1% | 65.4% | 96.3% |
| Punctuality** | 90.3% | 93.9% | 92.9% | 7.8% | 88.8% | 86.2% |
*Reliability target is 96 per cent of scheduled services to run
**Punctuality target is 92 per cent of services to arrive on time (within six minutes for short distance services and within 11 minutes for long distance services)
