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Gippsland Train Passengers Vote with their Feet

Passengers walk away with savage cuts to V/Line.

By Portal Admin - 26th December 2019 - Back to News

The Andrews Government’s savage cuts to V/Line are seeing passengers on the Gippsland train line walk away from the service.

Passenger trips on the Traralgon line slumped by 11.2 per cent last year, despite growth on all other commuter lines around the state.

The figures, published in V/Line’s annual report, show that patronage on the line has fallen from 2.04 million passenger trips a year in 2014-15 to just 1.81 million trips last year.

The annual report also shows the Andrews Government is inflicting heavy budget cuts on V/Line, stripping $149 million from the service.

Neither the Gippsland nor the Bairnsdale lines have met V/Line’s monthly punctuality target once in the past five years.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Regional Public Transport Steph Ryan
Since Labor came into Government, the number of people using the Gippsland service has tanked.

With customer satisfaction with V/Line at a 10-year low, Labor is cutting $149 million out of V/Line’s budget.

These brutal cuts won’t reinstate faith in the service.

The Andrews Government needs to take a long, hard look at why there are now 200,000 fewer passenger trips on the Gippsland line then there were five years ago.

Comments attributable to Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood

These numbers tell a story of disillusioned passengers who are giving up on their V/Line service.

Unreliable trains have made it harder and more stressful for people from my electorate to use the service.

While the Andrews Government is spending billions of dollars to pay for cost overruns on city transport projects, we are being handed scraps.

Comments attributable to Member for Eastern Victoria Melina Bath

Under Labor our trains have gotten slower and are now carrying fewer people.

Instead of cutting V/Line’s budget, the Andrews Government needs to invest to restore confidence in the line.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: support@gippsland.com