Russell Northe, Member for Morwell has warned Gippsland commuters to plan ahead when travelling, given more disruptions are scheduled on V/Line services between 30 May and 17 June.
Mr Northe said, “Gippsland users of V/Line services have borne the brunt of disruptions, delays and cancelled services over many months and with more heartache planned it’s a case of – here we go again”
It seems that most days Gippsland commuters have to contend with disruptions, delays, cancellations, overcrowding on carriages and trains continually being replaced by buses and this is simply unacceptable for a major regional rail service in 2018.
I was able to recently ask questions in State Parliament to the Minister for Public Transport in relation to the inadequacy of the Gippsland V/Line system and unfortunately the Ministers response does nothing to allay the concerns of Gippsland commuters.
Indeed the Ministers response completely ignored the question of whether Gippsland commuters would derive any future benefits from these or other works on the network and that’s simply not good enough.
Once again its Gippsland commuters who will be forced to use in many cases a mix of train and bus services and the likelihood of people missing medical appointments, being late for work and having to cancel scheduled meetings is likely to be substantial.
Whilst the Government has promised that replacement buses will offer some express services and improved communication, if previous experiences are anything to go by then we are sure to see many debacles.
“The only way that I see Gippsland V/Line services improving satisfactorily is by committing to a dedicated line for Gippsland trains within the metropolitan network and that’s what the Government should be focusing on right now.” Mr Northe said.
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