Ballarat commuters are no closer to knowing when the state government will release its Regional Network Development Plan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The unveiling of the long-awaited plan is still up in the air, with Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan electing not to provide a release date when contacted by The Courier in late December.
"We're still working diligently to finalise the Regional Network Development Plan, integrating the thousands of comments we received from people all over regional Victoria,” Ms Allan said.
"We know there is significant interested the RNDP but we're not going to rush it -- this is Victoria's first ever long term strategy for better regional public transport and we want to get it right.
"The report will be released next year, in time for the 2016-17 budget, as promised."
The report, which was compiled through more than 40 statewide workshop sessions with commuters, residents and stakeholders – including a forum in Ballarat – will detail a sustainable strategy to best utilise Victoria’s increasingly strained public transport services.
It will include short, medium and long-term initiatives to improve rail, bus and coach sectors.
Findings of the Regional Public Transport Plan report will be put into a draft RNDP for the government’s consideration by the end of the year.
Relevant officials told The Courier in October that the TPTP was expected to be unveiled in early November, however, it is yet to be released.
The RNDP is expected to be crucial to major regional cities such as Ballarat, given the issues with the Regional Rail Link system.
V/Line’s latest performance chart for November 2015 indicated further improvements to Ballarat’s RRL service, with punctuality jumping up to 89.1 per cent from 87 per cent in October.
V/Line’s punctuality goal is set at 92 per cent of services reaching their destination within six minutes of scheduling.
The November review also listed five Ballarat services with an average attendance of 100 per cent capacity – four of which are afternoon trains returning to Ballarat.