PUBLIC Transport Minister Jacinta Allan will not talk about major projects considered solutions to Ballarat’s rail plight.
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Instead, she is waiting for the findings of the Regional Public Transport Development Plan before determining the most viable solution for an improvement of the current Regional Rail Link system.
Ms Allan experienced Ballarat’s rail faults first hand on Monday when she took the 6.20am service from Ballarat Station to Southern Cross.
In what was a “valuable” trip in answer to the numerous pleas for her attendance on a Ballarat peak hour service, she said chronic issues of overcrowding and late arrivals had been a major discussion point among daily commuters.
“There was a lot of discussion with regards to the recent problems,” Ms Allan said.
“It’s probably fair to say that both of those things came up (late services and overcrowded carriages).”
Ms Allan said duplication and electrification of the Ballarat line will “no doubt” be a key discussion in the Regional Public Transport Development Plan, but elected not to make any further comment.
“I'd prefer to wait until we see what comes through the Regional Public Transport Development Plan,” she said.
Ms Allan said the reliability of Ballarat’s trains are slowly improving and will be bolstered by the addition of two brand new carriages to peak hour services next week.
“There are still a significant number of carriages to come in and as of next week there will be two more,” she said.
“(There will be) one extra carriage on the 7.17am from Ballarat to Southern Cross and another from 4.33pm from Southern Cross to Wendouree.”
“There was an acknowledgement (among commuters) that the reliability is improving – and it needed to.”
Ms Allan said several people were standing by the time the express service arrived at Bacchus Marsh, bound for Footscray Station and then Southern Cross.
She said that while the morning runs appear to be improving, the afternoon services returning to Ballarat remain a problem.
“I think vigilance is required on all those services, but the afternoon is particularly challenging,” she said.
“V/Line are doing some work to look at what other changes can be made (and) there's the number of things that need to be worked on.
“We’re continuing to put a priority on additional carriages.”