Wednesday, 5 February 2025

 Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (09:52): I rise this morning to raise again the issue around the Melbourne–Warrnambool train line. It is a very, very important public transport service that runs right through the heart of the Polwarth electorate. All my communities rely on this service. The great disappointment that my community has is that, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to upgrade the Warrnambool rail line, it has seen a massive reduction in service. It is almost impossible to believe you could spend so much money and get such a poor outcome. There are literally 5000 ‍fewer seats each week enabling people from Polwarth to get through to Melbourne. That is not good enough. The meal and buffet service has now been stopped on the new VLocity services – simply not good enough. This is not a suburban train trip, this is a long-haul regional service that needs to be better looked after. More concerningly, I now have reports that V/Line staff are no longer able to protect booked seats. This is devastating for people in Colac, Camperdown, Winchelsea and Birregurra. Elderly people who are booking the train to get through to medical appointments and other things in Melbourne now find themselves with people sitting in their seats, and they are simply not able to have anyone move those people on. It is not tenable for elderly people to be forced to stand for hours on a long-haul regional trip. Something must be done to fix this service.