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Trains VLine Regional Public Transport Geelong trainline

No end to Geelong line’s poor performance

20 March 2020

Cancelled trains and late services made it harder for Geelong commuters to get around in February.

VLine’s monthly performance data for the Geelong line showed just 88.8 per cent of trains ran on time – far below the 92 per cent punctuality target.

Commuters also couldn’t rely on trains to turn up, with the 94.7 per cent reliability recorded failing to meet the 96 per cent target.

Shadow Minister for Regional Public Transport Steph Ryan said a reliable, fast train service was a priority for any growing community.

“Better public transport will open new opportunities for Geelong to attract and retain new residents,” Ms Ryan said.

“A growing population brings flow on benefits for communities with new jobs and service delivery.”

Every short distance service – Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and Gippsland lines – failed to meet reliability and punctuality targets.

Ms Ryan said four of VLine’s six long distance services also failed to meet punctuality targets.

“The Andrews Labor Government is failing to fix the worsening problems in VLine,” Ms Ryan said.

“Ripping $149 million from VLine’s budget at a time when most regional lines are constantly failing to meet punctuality targets will only make the problems worse.”

 

Background

Short distance

	Geelong	Ballarat	Bendigo	Seymour	Gippsland
Reliability*	94.7%	92.8%	89.4%	63.1%	93.0%
Punctuality**	88.8%	89.9%	84.7%	89.3%	73.6%

 

Long distance

	Warrnambool	Ararat / Maryborough	Swan Hill & Echuca	Albury / Wodonga	Shepparton	Bairnsdale
Reliability*	97.7%	95.8%	96.9%	32.1%	65.4%	96.3%
Punctuality**	90.3%	93.9%	92.9%	7.8%	88.8%	86.2%

*Reliability target is 96 per cent of scheduled services to run

**Punctuality target is 92 per cent of services to arrive on time (within six minutes for short distance services and within 11 minutes for long distance services)