Northern Victoria Region rail services
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:19): My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Public Transport. For the month of March V/Line managed a record low punctuality of only 53 per cent of services delivered on time on the north-east line. I will quote some passengers. Therese notes that instead of texting her colleagues when her train is late, she texts them when it is on time. With her new strategy, she has not had to text her workmates for weeks. Degan remarks that his 5.11 train magically transforms into the 5.37 and then again into the 6.22, all while he is sitting in it. Perhaps Ms Frizzle is conducting the service. I have been using the service myself recently, and I feel their pain. North-east passengers note that V/Line trains are deliberately delayed to give Metro services priority, because Metro has targets and penalties for missing them and V/Line does not. Does the minister feel the time of regional travellers is less valuable than the time of metro passengers?
Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating) (12:20): I thank the member for his question. Whilst it is not for me to be expressing an opinion of another person, I would be quite confident that the minister does not, as you suggest, care less for the needs of regional public transport passengers compared to metro public transport users. I would be very confident that she would care greatly about the experience of all public transport users in the state. I will leave that to her to provide you with a further response to that, but I will just take the opportunity to observe that our government has for some time made absolutely clear our view about the train service through north-eastern Victoria. Indeed the Premier on a number of occasions has reflected on this. Indeed this is a matter very familiar to Ms Symes in her work in Northern Victoria Region. We are very conscious of the needs of public transport users in the north-east and are working to improve their experience, but I will refer your question to Minister Horne for a response from her.
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:21): Thank you for your response and for passing it on. In 2018 V/Line received record levels of taxpayer funding. For each $40 a customer spends on tickets, the taxpayer chips in $400. A recent report by the Auditor-General notes that V/Line still has $500 million worth of unperformed maintenance, has failed to meet a 77 per cent satisfaction target in 11 of the 15 previous quarters and has not managed to achieve an 88 per cent punctuality standard at any point in the last decade. Clearly throwing taxpayer money at the problem is not working. Northern Victorians need a new solution, not more of what is currently being done. What actions will the minister take to improve delivery of services on the north-east line?
Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating) (12:22): I thank the member for his supplementary question. I am sure the minister very much would love to take the opportunity to provide you with a response to your question about what the government is doing to improve passenger experience on the north-east line. I will seek that response for you.