Northern Victoria Region
Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:47): (1557) My constituency question is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport in the other place. I was recently contacted by a constituent in Kyneton whose daughter studies nursing at Bendigo TAFE. She has been struggling to arrive on time for class, as the first train only gets into Bendigo from Kyneton at 8:35, and then she has to catch a bus from the station to get to TAFE. The section of the Bendigo line between Kyneton and Bendigo is the only part of the Bendigo line that is single-track, significantly reducing speed and frequency. The government’s regional rail revival included a commitment to deliver a business case for track upgrades between Bendigo and Kyneton, including track duplication. That was eight years ago, and yet nothing has come from it. Will the minister release the business case and commit to funding the much-needed track upgrades on the Bendigo line between Kyneton and Bendigo?