V/Line services to Sunbury were “the elephant in the room”, a state Coalition MP told a public transport community forum last week.
Public Transport Victoria hosted the meeting at Sunbury Aquatic and Leisure Centre on October 28 with more than 200 people showing up to discuss the region’s public transport.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan also fronted after Liberal MP Bernie Finn challenged her to explain the government’s approach to V/Line services to Sunbury, but she was reluctant to discuss the issue.
Mr Finn, a Bulla resident, said 99 per cent of people in attendance had come to discuss restrictions that would bar Sunbury commuters from Bendigo-bound V/Line trains from next January – the cause of ongoing angst.
“Nobody wanted to discuss the elephant in the room,” he said.
“There was a facilitator there from PTV and he spoke about the buses and the future of public transport in Victoria.
“But when people wanted to discuss V/Line they were shut down. Residents were told during the meeting to ‘be positive instead of dwelling on the negative’.
“The longer the meeting went on, the more frustrated people were getting. By the end they were seething.”
Sunbury Residents Association president Bernie O’Farrell said that people at the meeting made it clear they wanted some assurance from PTV and Ms Allan about retaining the Sunbury V/Line service.
“PTV chose to deal with a lot of issues except V/Line,” Mr O’Farrell said.
“There were frequent interjections from right across the crowd throughout the night. When the minister did arrive, she didn’t leave us with very much confidence and didn’t give any commitment to us at all that she would retain the V/Line service to Sunbury.”
Restrictions barring Sunbury commuters from Bendigo-bound V/Line trains will not be enforced until January.
The restrictions, when announced, were hailed by people in towns such as Woodend who have since expressed frustration that crowding on peak services will continue in the short term.
