Retiree Beverly Mee said since she first travelled to Warrnambool in 2004, its train service had deteriorated.

“There really doesn’t seem to have been any major improvement on that line except the trains are much slower than that time,” she said.

Ms Mee said people were talking about the state of the train service during her stay, with conditions she described as “crazy” given Warrnambool’s distance from larger cities.

“Warrnambool is a very lovely place,” she said.

“It’s a tourist and business centre being left in isolation.”

Ms Mee said on her fourth visit to the city she could not believe nothing had improved over the years.

“Warrnambool has grown so much in the time I’ve known it,” she said.

“I just don’t understand why there hasn’t been some major infrastructure project to link up Warrnambool, because it would help the economy and help ordinary people trying to get to Geelong and Melbourne to hospital appointments.”

The former social worker said after experiencing a train trip that ran 35 minutes late – with airconditioning broken in some carriages – she felt inspired to put her thoughts into verse.

“It wasn’t my intention to do anything political, but I do like to rhyme,” she said.

“I was sitting one day and words started to come and I ended up with the poem.”

Transport Minister Jacinta Allan responded by pointing to the impact safety restrictions are having on the line’s punctuality and saying the government was looking to improve running times.

"The restrictions on the Warrnambool line are for no other reason than the safety – a man almost lost his life at Pirron Yallock last year, which is why we are slowing trains through these level crossings,” she said.

“We know the delays are frustrating, we know they are not good enough, and we are focused on fixing them."

V/Line spokeswoman Catalina Filip said the organisation was working on options to improve running times.

"We know the delays on the Warrnambool line are frustrating and we apologise to locals and visitors affected.”