Shing says transport plan sets out projects
Criticisms that the State Government plan for public transport in regional Victoria doesn’t clearly set out projects to the most pressing problems for Gippsland travellers have been rejected by Eastern Victorian Upper House member Harriet Shing.
The plan was released in Warragul last week by Transport Minister Jacinta Allan.
Mr Shing said the Victorian Regional Network Development Plan “Connecting Regional Victoria” - was the first consolidated approach to a long-term strategy to address public transport needs.
It covers train, bus and coach services.
She said initiatives in the current financial year for Gippsland train travellers include an extra two additional return off-peak V/Line train services between Traralgon and Melbourne from early next year and a start to planning of upgrades to the line, among them track duplication between Bunyip and Longwarry.
Gippsland V/Line Users’ Group spokeswoman Natalie Thorne of Ellinbank, who attended the release, said commuters had been hoping for more.
It is a strategy for the next 20 years that contains few specifics and we are wondering when things will be delivered, she said.
Ms Thorne said an immediate need was to have extra carriages on peak time train services to end overcrowding, but there has been no indication where those currently under construction will eventually be headed.
And reliability and punctuality of train services seem to have gone backwards rather than improved over the past 10 years, she claimed.
Ms Thorne said a key need was for extra tracks between Pakenham and Caulfield to cater for express Gippsland trains.
Ms Shing said the Government was well aware of the need to “future proof” the rail network between Caulfield and Dandenong with an extra dedicated track but it was not needed now.
The priorities are more reliable services, additional rolling stock and the connectivity of train, inter-town and intra-town bus and coach services, she said.
Ms Shing described the Connecting Regional Victoria report as an “end to the adhoc approach to public transport planning that has held Gippsland back”.
It sets out a more co-ordinated network where trains, buses and coaches work together to get people where they need to go, she stated.
The plan sets a target of giving regional train travellers train services every 20 minutes at peak times and every 40 minutes at other times.
The strategy gives a broad overview of the actions aimed at addressing customer needs over the short (up to five years), medium (five to 10 years) and longer (10-20 years) terms.
Opposition Members Gary Blackwood (Narracan) and Russell Northe (Morwell) were far from impressed with the plan that they said, after a year of waiting for its release, contained no immediate action for the Gippsland line.
“With 2800 individual comments regarding the Gippsland line during the submission process it is staggering the government did not announce anything meaningful”.
Mr Blackwood said it was “nothing more than another discussion paper” that does not indicate how the network can increase capacity and does not deliver one new cent to improve (train) services, their reliability or frequency.
Mr Northe said the government was treating Gippslanders as second class citizens and leaving them to fend for themselves while new rolling stock was being directed to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo..