THE Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the Coalition’s pledge for new long-distance trains in Victoria, but would prefer that the new trains were used to add more services.<\/p>\n
Responding to the Coalition\u2019s state election commitment of last week, PTUA regional spokesperson Paul Westcott, said the existing long-distance diesel trains were overdue for replacement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve served the state well for over 30 years, but they\u2019re outmoded and too unreliable for a modern railway network. Faster and more dependable trains will keep regional Victorians connected to the rest of the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cVLocity trains work well on long-distance services to Ararat and Maryborough, so they should provide a good service on the other long-distance lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the PTUA has stressed the importance of running trains frequently \u2013 as the Coalition has pledged to procure only 16 new trains and will remove the old sets as the new ones come into service, there will be no net increase in the number of trains running on long-distance lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cFaster and more reliable trains are important, but having trains run more frequently is vital,\u201d Mr Westcott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the lines in question see only two or three trains per day, leaving huge gaps between services.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many cases, the last train is in the late afternoon, so if you can’t travel until the evening, you\u2019re stuck till the next day. Faster journey times are great, but having to wait several hours \u2013 or overnight \u2013 until the next train makes the service unusable for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said an increase in the number of trains would help provide a more usable train service that allows regional passengers to get to and from Melbourne when they want to, and encouraged more people to move to regional areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cPassengers hope that the Coalition is open to delaying the retirement of the older trains, and to procuring more of the new trains after placing the initial order.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the Coalition’s pledge for new long-distance trains in Victoria, but would prefer that the new trains were used to add more services. Responding to the Coalition\u2019s state election commitment of last week, PTUA regional spokesperson Paul Westcott, said the existing long-distance diesel trains were overdue for replacement. […]<\/p>\n