Our train pain post Christmas

GEELONG rail commuters are copping a nightmare run this summer with overcrowded trains, delayed trips and cancellations.

A mixture of hit animals, track faults and unwell staff have disrupted at least 27 services since Christmas Day.

One train between Melbourne and Geelong was delayed 90 minutes on Thursday, while some travellers complained on social media they had been stranded on a motionless train near Sunshine for more than 45 minutes.

Even passengers on the trains that have been running have criticised services being reduced to three carriages.

Jason Young, who was on an afternoon train from Melbourne to Waurn Ponds on Thursday, said overcrowding was “ridiculous”. He said there were up to 40 people standing in each carriage on the train.

“The next service to Waurn Ponds was about 45 minutes later so there was little choice but to join the sardines,” Mr Young said. “They were all standing in the doorway.”

A V/Line spokeswoman said an “unusually high” number of animal strikes during the Christmas period meant some trains had to be taken out of service for a bio-wash.

“We understand it can be frustrating for passengers when a service operates with fewer carriages and we’d like to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience,” she said.

“While we endeavour to run trains as scheduled, there are times when services operate with fewer carriages than planned. This is due to unexpected train faults or carriages out of service due to animal strikes or other incidents.”

Meanwhile, V/Line is offering free travel on all train and coach services after 6pm tomorrow (New Year’s Eve).

Its fleet will operate to a normal Sunday timetable, but an extra train will depart from Southern Cross for Waurn Ponds at 1.10am. A coach to Geelong has also been scheduled to depart at 2.15am.