THE State Government is celebrating a pre-budget announcement of upgrades to the Seymour line; however local commuters are not sharing the same testaments.
In the announcement, the line was promised more services, modern trains and upgraded infrastructure as part of the nearly $5 billion investment into public transport across the state.
As part of the upgrades, the Seymour line will receive an additional morning and afternoon peak service, which Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said built on the State Government’s previous commitment of phasing out sprinter trains and replacing them with VLocity trains.
The two additional services would follow the 10 additional services between Melbourne and Shepparton as the broader line has also had its own upgrades.
“Additional services in peak times on the Seymour line will give local commuters more options when going to work or coming home from the city and help reduce overcrowding on carriages,” Ms Symes said.
Meanwhile at the time of the pre-budget announcement, Member for Yan Yean Electorate, Lauren Kathage welcomed the boost, saying it’s what residents in the area have been asking for.
“This is great news for the Seymour line – more services and better trains means locals can get where they need to go, faster and more comfortably,” she said.
“I’ve heard how much this matters to locals and now we’re delivering more trains, better rides and real results for the Seymour line.”
However, local commuters aren’t impressed with the announcement, saying more needed to be done to accommodate for the growing Mitchell Shire area.
Wallan resident Kylie Vassallo has witnessed all too many times the reduction of carriages or cancellations of services during peak periods.
Ms Vassallo said the four services weren’t adequate for commuters, with services often being reduced in carriages, delayed or cancelled, making it extremely difficult for residents to rely on public transport to not only get to work on time, but on some days, getting to work at all.
Text messages seen by the North Central Review showed at least six messages were sent to Vline customers who receive service updates communicating peak services were either delayed or had reduced carriages.
In most cases, the texts communicated that the 7:05am service to Southern Cross was reduced to two carriages, while evening services between 4.30 pm and 6 pm were reduced to three carriages.
As someone who commutes into the city for work herself, Ms Vassallo said “there’s not enough infrastructure for the major growth corridor” that is the Mitchell Shire.
“There are not enough peak trains and not enough carriages,” she said.
“You see people in Wallan and Donnybrook who just end up walking back to their cars because peak services are reduced from six to two carriages and there isn’t enough room.
“The 7.01 service (from Wallan) usually is reduced from six carriages to three and the 7.42 service is more often than not cancelled or delayed.”
Ms Vassallo also noted the limited nightly and weekend services, saying it makes it difficult for people in the area to go and enjoy a night out because they cannot get home.
“You can’t make plans to go out in the city because there just isn’t trains… you end up having to book accommodation in the city or get an Uber home and both options aren’t cheap,” she said.
“It’s like we’re banished and can’t go out just because we live in the country.”
