IT\u2019S been almost a month-and-a-half since VLine fares were capped at a maximum nine dollars and twenty cents by the State Government.<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s the impact been like?<\/p>\n
Ashleigh House works at Bendigo Station and said there\u2019s been a noticeable increase in travellers since the change came into effect on 31 March.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the feedback\u2019s been pretty positive, especially for a lot of people who travel for medical appointments to the city and work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the flip side of that is services are a lot busier. That can make it a lot trickier because only the Swan Hill services have reserved seating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s saving people a lot of money. We\u2019ll just have to see what happens in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms House said the 9.20am weekday train from Swan Hill is one of the busiest, and weekend services are also often full.<\/p>\n
However, the reduced fares have seen a noticeable bump in traveller numbers across the board.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeak is still from 5.46 to 6.53 in the morning,\u201d she said. \u201cThen anytime there\u2019s football, so the weekends are really busy, and a lot of the more country services are a lot busier.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are just travelling at all times of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jarred Peters takes the train to Melbourne every second week to collect his daughter and said he supported the fare reduction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s good, it\u2019s definitely helped,\u201d he said. \u201cI use public transport more since it\u2019s gone down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IT\u2019S been almost a month-and-a-half since VLine fares were capped at a maximum nine dollars and twenty cents by the State Government. But what\u2019s the impact been like? Ashleigh House works at Bendigo Station and said there\u2019s been a noticeable increase in travellers since the change came into effect on 31 March. \u201cA lot of […]<\/p>\n