Trains feeling pinch

IN almost any other circumstances it would be a cause for rejoicing: millions of people embracing a single cause so much that patronage almost triples in the space of a decade.

Except few Geelong rail commuters are cheering.

Through choice or necessity, we are flooding the Geelong, Waurn Ponds and Warrnambool lines in unprecedented numbers.

V/Line data released to the Geelong Advertiser shows trips on those three lines jumped from 2.57 million in 2006-07 to 7.62 million in 2016-17. More than 818,000 trips were taken on the lines in March alone.

Almost 100 services were added to the Geelong lines last year, five three-carriage trains have been added since May last year and V/Line now promises trains every 10 minutes in peak and 20 minutes at other times.

And yet it is still clear the experience is a long way short of our expectations.

Track congestion and maintenance requirements delayed more than 100 trains on the Geelong line during the past two months, signal faults affected more than 80 services in the same period and a further 52 were cancelled or altered in February and March due to staff sickness.

For years we have been implored by the Government to embrace public transport in order to ease the congestion on our roads. But more and more it seems that congestion is now shifting to the rails.

V/Line data shows that in February, 13 of the 16 Geelong line trains arriving in Southern Cross before 9am were at least 95 per cent full. Ten were already at 100 per cent capacity. On the evening peak, only two of 13 were below 100 per cent.

V/Line says it could run longer trains, but longer platforms would need to be built. There is no timetable for the duplication of the line between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds. And Infrastructure Australia says increasing capacity on the Geelong line needs attention before 2030.

Train travel will be a bumpy ride for commuters and politicians alike for years to come.