Friday, 14 August 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:17): (2705) My adjournment tonight is for the Minister for Public Transport, and the action I seek is for the minister to initiate a bus review for Greater Shepparton and increase the number of car parking spaces at the Shepparton train station. Jacinta Allan promised that by 2023 Shepparton would have nine weekday return train services and five weekend return services. Labor broke that promise and failed to deliver the additional services on time. A new timetable with extra services will finally go live later this month, three years late. The new train timetable means Greater Shepparton needs a new bus timetable to ensure that buses are coordinated to match the arrival and departure times of trains. Not only do Shepparton trains serve Shepparton locals; they serve residents from surrounding towns who travel into Shepparton to catch the train to Melbourne. They deserve a bus network that can get them to the Shepparton station in time for the train.

The last review was conducted 15 years ago, in 2009, and the city has grown significantly since then. Entire new housing estates have sprung up that are not served at all by the bus network, and new routes are required to get workers from residential areas to the city centre and the industrial estate. More frequent services are also needed to better connect surrounding towns to Shepparton in the early mornings and on weekends. There are no bus services for Mooroopna locals on Saturday afternoon or Sunday, and residents of Kialla do not have any services at all on a Saturday or Sunday. On weekdays Tatura residents only have two buses to Shepparton and two buses back home, but because of the timing of the services this effectively provides only one return service. The need to coordinate with the new timetable makes it imperative to expand the bus network immediately, and the existing service gaps highlight just how long overdue this bus review is. The Victorian government is carrying out bus reviews in other regional cities, and Shepparton deserves a review too.

With increased train services, demand is set to grow for journeys to Melbourne, and this will mean an increased demand for car parking at the Shepparton train station. The station currently only has a small car park, with a mere 45 places and just two disabled parking spots to serve a regional city of over 70,000 people. Even now, with only five weekday services, I am constantly contacted by constituents who would like to use the train more regularly but often arrive to find that the car park is already full. Unlike metropolitan train stations, where cars turn over regularly as people come and go, once a car is parked at Shepparton it is often there for the entire day and into the night. Suitable land is available just south of the station. I urge the minister to explore all options to provide extra parking space at the Shepparton station, given the new train services are about to commence.