We have shared the community’s stories, good and bad. We have championed the underdog and highlighted wrongdoings.

But what we do best is give the community a voice when, sometimes, the community feels silenced or ignored.

Today, The Courier decided enough was enough when it came to the regional rail debacle, and wrote an open letter to Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan, on behalf of the Ballarat community.

The letter on the front page of today’s edition stressed how fed up Ballarat commuters were with problems dogging the regional rail system, and calls on the Andrews government to fix them.

We call on the government to show it cares about regional commuters and give us a reason to think it can solve the problems causing endless delays and overcrowding on trains.

We call on the Andrews government to put their money where their mouth is.

That said, the Andrews government cannot be left solely to blame for what can only be described as an atrocious service. Successive governments have failed to invest in the rail system for years.

But the only solution is to pour significant investment into the infrastructure.

With the next state budget only three or so months away, the government has a real opportunity to start the next financial year on the right foot where commuters are concerned.

It is a chance to fix a major problem, caused by decades of neglect in maintenance, a problem ignored by previous governments.

Commuters aren’t interested in empty promises made by successive governments. They don’t want lip service. They want a real and honest commitment that money will be spent on repairing the ailing system.

These are people who rely on a dependable service to ferry them – on time – to and from jobs in the city, to medical appointments with Melbourne specialists and to studies at universities.

But, they just aren’t commuters Ms Allan and Mr Andrews. These people are also voters … your constituents who have the power to vote you in or vote you out.

So, now is the time to show your voters in regional areas that you respect and care for them enough to invest in improving the regional rail system.