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Legislative Assembly
 
V/Line services

23 February 2016
Members statements
RUSSELL NORTHE  (NAT)

 


Mr NORTHE (Morwell) — I rise today to highlight ongoing concerns and issues being experienced by local commuters given the current V/Line crisis confronting our community. Things are bad enough at the moment, but the lack of accurate information being provided by the Andrews government to commuters is simply not good enough. For example, last Monday I caught a bus from Morwell station as part of the 7.20 a.m. Traralgon service. The V/Line website, under the heading 'Coach replacement services to Melbourne' states that there is a 7.20 a.m. service from Traralgon to Southern Cross. Under this section there is no indication of where the bus stops or at what times.

Yet if you drill down further, you see there is a Traralgon train replacement timetable that refers to the 7.20 a.m. service stopping at a number of stations through to Pakenham and arriving at Southern Cross at 9.37 a.m. Of course this is subject to road and traffic conditions, and commuters are asked to allow up to 60 minutes extra travel time.

Then under a third section of the website we have 'Coach replacements during service changes', where it outlines two different 7.20 a.m. Traralgon bus services, with one reflecting the Traralgon train replacement timetable and the second indicating a service running directly to Southern Cross via Pakenham, but again with no detail on estimated time of arrivals.

The feedback I had from commuters is that this information is horribly confusing, with three different sections of the website conveying different information. Commuters with special needs have also advised me that information pertaining to what travel arrangements might be available for their circumstances is also very confusing and inconsistent.

The Andrews government must fix this whole V/Line mess and in the interim make sure commuters are provided with clear and concise information.