OVERLAND travellers to the south-west have been dragged into the battle for North Shore railway station upgrade.
North Shore Railway Station’s Overland Meet and Greet Service secretary Gini McLellan said her group has been pushing for an upgrade to the station for years.
She said the station did not have toilets, public telephone, taxi rank or rubbish bins and passengers were often left feeling they had been dumped at a rail siding.
Many of those passengers are trying to find their way from the Adelaide to Melbourne rail service to the Warrnambool to Melbourne train service. “The North Shore railway is located in the northern suburbs of Geelong and is the only Geelong station that the Overland train from Adelaide stops at,” she said.
Ms McLellan said there were passengers who transfer to V/Line services at North Shore station to connect with the evening Warrnambool service. “Our major concern for these passengers is that on occasion the Overland train can be delayed anything up to two hours for various reasons including trackwork and landslides on the line,” she said. “That means these passengers are unable to make their connection for the current Warrnambool evening service leaving them stranded in Geelong overnight...”
Warrnambool City councillor Michael Neoh called for more services. “The situation in Geelong could be easily overcome by providing a late evening service to Warrnambool,” she said.
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