STUDENTS travelling from Heathcote Junction and Wandong to Seymour are facing longer waits and potential late arrivals to school following a V/Line timetable change.
State Member for Northern Victoria Annabelle Cleeland has called on the State Government to review the change after families contacted her office with concerns.
Under the previous timetable, a morning service arrived in Seymour at 8.36am, giving students enough time to get to school before the start of the day.
The service now arrives at 8.57am, after the school day has begun.
An alternative earlier service arrives at approximately 7.46am, potentially leaving students waiting outside schools well before gates open.
Ms Cleeland said the timetable needed to work for the students and commuters relying on the service.
“Students should be able to catch a train from Heathcote Junction or Wandong and arrive in Seymour in time for school,” she said.
“Instead, families are now being asked to choose between sending their children to school late or having them arrive more than an hour before the school day starts.”
One parent contacted Ms Cleeland after his daughter began attending St Mary’s College Seymour.
They said the availability of the V/Line service had been an important factor in the family’s decision to choose the school.
Ms Cleeland said the change was particularly difficult for families who relied on public transport and could not afford to drive their children to school every day.
“No parent should have their child waiting outside a locked school gate, and not every family can afford to drive their kids to school every day because of the cost of fuel,” she said.
The timetable change was made without community consultation, according to Ms Cleeland, who is now calling for the Government to reconsider the morning service.
She also criticised Labor’s Suburban Rail Loop tax, arguing regional Victorians were being asked to contribute to a project they would not use.
