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Another horror month from VLine from commuters on Gippsland trains

V/Line's reliability plummeted to a record low last month, including on train lines to Gippsland and Bairnsdale.

By news@gippsland - 15th October 2021 - Back to News

More than a third of regional services were cancelled and 300 V/Line workers were forced into isolation during the month of September, after a Yarra Trams worker tested positive for COVID-19, spiralling the network into chaos. The Gippsland line recorded its lowest reliability figures since February 2016 with only 80.5 per cent of all V/Line services delivered and 165 services cancelled.

During the current services agreement, V/Line's primary role is to provide public transport services to regional Victoria, but the recent COVID-19 outbreak had lead to cancellation of services and isolation of hundreds of workers resulting to failing reliability of the VLine's purpose

Reliability target failing

Reliability on the Bairnsdale line also dropped to 50.6 per cent, with 83 services cancelled. Deputy Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Public Transport Steph Ryan said the government's failure to prepare for a COVID-19 outbreak had left the entire V/Line network at a standstill.

"Commuters have endured another horror month on Victoria's public transport network, with reliability performance plummeting to a record low. All of V/Line's regional train lines failed to meet their 96 per cent reliability target, with eight of the eleven lines recording their worst ever reliability figures." Ms Ryan said.

Roll out rapid testing

Ms Ryan said, "Thousands of services were cancelled last month as a result of the Andrews Labor Government's failure to prepare the network for a COVID-19 outbreak. The Andrews Labor Government has had 18 months to safeguard the state's public transport network. It is due to their ineptitude that regional travellers are being stranded.

"The train driver who seeded last month's outbreak was asymptomatic. Rapid testing could have stopped the virus in its tracks and kept Victoria's trains on track. It is inevitable that at some point, we will see more cases of community transmission on our trains, trams and buses."

"Rapid testing would give Victorian passengers that extra layer of protection and ensure that commuters can get to where they need to be. The Andrews Labor Government must introduce rapid testing as a matter of urgency to keep Victorian trains and trams on track and to stop this from happening again."

Pictures from Vline Facebook page.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com