Level crossing upgrades set to bring the Warrnambool train line back up to speed are nearing completion, V/Line says.
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Sixteen out of 22 level crossings to be fitted with boom gates, lights, bells and axle counters have been upgraded as part of a $10 million state government project announced in February.
Punctuality on the line for November was 87.3 per cent, fresh data shows.
V/Line chief executive officer (CEO) James Pinder credited the removal of speed restrictions around level crossings with the figure, which was an improvement on the rate of 12.6 per cent recorded in January.
“As these level crossing upgrades have been completed, we’ve been progressively lifting temporary speed restrictions on the line,” he said.
He said at the completion of the level crossing project, due by the end of the year, the line would be safer and journey times would improve further.
“We know it has been a challenging period for our Warrnambool line passengers and we thank them sincerely for their patience while we complete these important works,” Mr Pinder said.
A V/Line spokeswoman said reasons for delays during November included a vehicle driving into boom barriers, trespassers on the tracks, unruly passengers and signal faults.
The punctuality target for long-distance train lines is 92 per cent, a figure the Warrnambool line has not met all year, with an average of 57 per cent.
Although punctuality rates have improved since the beginning of the year, the improvement was linked to the introduction of new timetables in January and August with more accurate journey times.
The Standard previously reported journey times between Melbourne and Warrnambool have increased by an average of 14 minutes since last year.
The timetable introduced at the end of August increased some journey times by up to 20 minutes.
Reliability on the line was 95.9 per cent in November, with 213 of the 222 scheduled services operating as trains.
Between the beginning of the year and November 30, 46 Warrnambool train services were replaced by coaches, which meant the line recorded an average reliability rate of 98.1 per cent across the year.
A V/Line spokeswoman said replacing trains with coaches was a last resort.
