Eastern Victoria Region
Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:38): My constituency question is for the Minister for Public Transport. On 20 April, a Latrobe Valley constituent and her son caught a coach to Melbourne to attend a football game at Docklands Stadium. I would have liked to say ‘train’; however, as has been the case for Gippsland commuters, they were forced to catch replacement coaches while Public Transport Victoria upgrades metropolitan lines. There were adequate coaches travelling to Melbourne. However, the return journey was shambolic and highly inadequate. The match finished at 10 o’clock, but my constituent arrived home after 2.00 a.m. While the Geelong, Ballarat and other lines were serviced at regular intervals, passengers on the Latrobe Valley line had to scramble to catch the too-few coaches that were available. Some were told to depart only to miss the coach because it had left when the time was not indicated. My constituent feels that again Gippsland has been forgotten. Why was the Gippsland line so poorly organised, with inadequate services, when it was known to be a busy commuter night?