More seats for passengers
Toilet ditched to boost space on Geelong trains
MORE than 80 seats will be added to some six-carriage V/Line trains from next month under a State Government plan aimed at reducing congestion on the Geelong line.
The added seating will boost the capacity the average six-carriage train to 476 passengers and comes at the expense of some luggage space and a second toilet in the first 12 revamped carriages to hit the network.
The roll out is part of the government’s $311 million order of 39 improved VLocity carriages made last year, and will include trains ready for high-capacity signalling and those giving drivers better protection during a collision.
The government says 75 trains on the regional network will be upgraded by 2021 to include flip down trays on seats, wider toilet doors for wheelchair access, hearing loop technology, automatic announcements, and new floor markings and handrails.
The first of the improved VLocity carriages will also include mobile signal boosters to improve mobile phone coverage for passengers on the Geelong lines.
Meanwhile the government is also considering running nine-carriage trains on the Geelong line with modifications to be made to trains, and an assessment to be completed on the work needed on platforms.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said testing of nine-carriage trains would take up to 18 months.
“There has got to be some design modifications to the trains and that’s being built in as part of the refresh works. There’s also work that … needs to be undertaken looking at what design modifications need to be made at some of the stations and we’d be primarily looking at the Geelong corridor,” Ms Allan said. “We’ve added hundreds of services across the network, we’re upgrading every regional rail line, building better trains and getting on with planning for our next big build, to get passengers home safer and sooner.”
Melbourne-based train manufacturer Bombardier will deliver the works that will support up to 45 jobs in addition to the 500 jobs created to build 87 trains on order.
Daniel Andrews said: “Every single regional passen- ger rail line is being upgraded and an important part of that regional rail revival is more rolling stock and better trains that are bigger to carry more passengers more often.”