Passengers on the Bendigo line have welcomed the long-awaited return of all V/Line services after almost six months of disruption and inconvenience.
Two new peak services were added last week as the state government seeks to address a large increase in the number of people travelling on the line.
Woodend commuter Robert Knight said that while V/Line’s dramas had caused great frustration since January, passengers were happy to have all services back on track.
Service reductions, put in place due to faster than normal wheel wear, led to large numbers of services being cancelled or replaced by buses, while tens of thousands of refunds were handed out to affected customers.
“We’re so much better off than we were,’’ Mr Knight said.
“It’s back to being reliable and punctual. It’s just good to be back on the train.”
Mr Knight said the overcrowding of some services, caused by people trying to avoid having to catch replacement buses, had eased.
“It’s been school holidays … but things are more or less back to usual,” he said.
“The extra service each way will give people a bit of flexibility, too.”
Latest V/Line data shows Bendigo line punctuality increased to 89.7 per cent in May, up from 79.4 in March and 64.2 per cent at the height of the public transport crisis in January.
Also spruiking the start of a limited rail service within Bendigo, Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the new peak-hour trains would serve 440 extra passengers every day.
More than 2.5 million trips were taken on the Bendigo line last year, about 160,000 more than the year before.
“Every service is back on the tracks. We’ve restored the funding to V/Line and we’ve set out a long-term plan for better public transport in regional Victoria,” Ms Allan said.
