Monday morning transport issues are no longer an issue reserved for big-city dwellers.
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After V/Line cancelled services between Warrnambool and Melbourne on Monday, it was left to regional taxi drivers to finish the job.
Warrnambool Black Cabs director Rodney Woodbridge said his drivers had assisted with stranded rail passengers after an early morning call.
“We got a call from the Railway station saying there’d been an earlier issue that meant they had to cancel the train to Warrnambool,” he said.
“We had three vehicles take passengers to Geelong. We had a couple of single rides and the last lot was about six or seven who didn’t want to be split up so we took them in a maxi-taxi.
“It doesn’t happen often. I’d say the last time was probably about six months ago.”
Mr Woodbridge said while cancelled services were inconvenient for passengers, blame did not always lie with the regional rail group.
“I know V/Line’s policy is to get their passengers to where they need to go,” he said.
“In situations like this they’re just finding the best way to get people home. It must be a logistical nightmare.
“And things like cows on the track or a situation in Melbourne are just some things you can’t blame V-Line for.
“And we’re happy to work with them.”
A spokesperson from V-Line said 23 passengers were provided alternative transport after the 7.23am Melbourne to Warrnambool and 9.24am Melbourne-bound train from Warrnambool were both replaced with coaches on Monday.
“We’d like to apologise to our passengers on the Warrnambool line for unexpected delays and cancellations.
“The 7.23am Melbourne to Warrnambool experienced a train fault that meant it couldn’t continue on its journey.
Passengers were provided with replacement coaches from Southern Cross to help them get where they needed to go.”
“The 9.24am Melbourne-bound train from Warrnambool was replaced by road coaches due to an unrelated train fault. We again apologise to our passengers for the delay to their journey.
“These disruptions are frustrating after we had such a good month for performance and reliability on the Warrnambool line in April.”
V-Line reminded passengers who are delayed more than 60 minutes in a single journey they may be eligible for compensation.