THE push for extra daily train services on the Warrnambool line will step up today when city leaders meet with Transport Minister Jacinta Allan.
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Mayor Mike Neoh and CEO Bruce Anson will call for a fourth rail service between Warrnambool and Geelong, departing about 9am and returning at 3pm.
“The concept is to have a train shuttle to Geelong and then utilise the regular services that run between Geelong and Melbourne,” Cr Neoh said.
“The Geelong shuttle compromise is supported by the mayors of the Great South Coast. We believe it could be implemented with very little cost to the state government.
“We just have to overcome the cultural issue of getting people to change trains at stations.”
Cr Neoh said commuters elsewhere were accustomed to catching inter-connecting trains, but people using the Warrnambool line were used to travelling straight to Melbourne.
A fourth return service that extends right through to Melbourne is difficult to timetable because it is complicated by freight trains and the frequent Geelong-Melbourne services.
He said the existing departure time of 5.28am from Warrnambool meant very early starts for people coming from Mount Gambier and Portland. This could be solved with a 9am service.
“The times give greater flexibility for people to get to Melbourne and back.”
The delegation will also call for funding to upgrade the Warrnambool station with an extended platform to cater for more carriages and improved off-street parking areas. A $7.3 million upgrade of the Geelong station, opened in March, now allows improved access between platforms. The project included the installation of lifts and stairs to connect the three platforms and improvements to station facilities.
The Great South Coast group has also suggested a coach service could operate between Warrnambool and Melbourne as a fifth daily return service until a fifth train service is implemented.
Cr Neoh and Mr Anson met with Public Transport Victoria officials to brief them on the idea last Thursday.
“We had bi-partisan support before the state election.”
Cr Neoh is hoping the idea will appeal to the government which is looking at innovative ways to increase services throughout the state at minimal cost.
He expects it could be considered as part of a network development plan which will set priorities for public transport services, infrastructure and investment across regional Victoria for the next 20 to 30 years.
The Transport Minister has announced that community consultation on the plan will begin next month. Ms Allan said it would move Victoria away from ad-hoc service improvements, towards a more coordinated regional public transport network.
The plan will also consider infrastructure upgrades, network extension and rolling stock, including high-capacity regional trains to cater for peak demand.
A regional transport advisory group with representatives from all regions will advise the government and consult with communities and councils before the plan is finalised and considered as part of next year’s state budget.
The latest push for improved services comes as figures show performance on the Warrnambool railway line dropped off last month.
Train reliability dropped to 96.9 per cent compared to 98.8 per cent in March while punctuality was at 90.7 per cent, also less than the March figure of 91.4 per cent.
The Warrnambool line was the second worst for punctuality in the state’s long-distance rail network during April.