More carriages for notoriously under-serviced commuters

From November 7, a three-carriage VLocity set will be added to the 7:39am Wendouree to Southern Cross and the 4pm from Southern Cross to Ballarat services.

Both trains, which until now have been comprised of just three carriages, have been overwhelmed by commuter demand since the introduction of the Regional Rail Link last June.

The carriages will be delivered  as a part of a 48-car roll out which could take up to four years to complete.

The delivery of 21 of the carriages was a long-standing commitment, while an additional 27 carriages were funded under a massive $518 million boost to the Ballarat line in the 2016-17 state budget.

V/Line patronage data for September shows that both the 7:39am Wendouree to Southern Cross service and the 4pm from Southern Cross to Ballarat services have been running at 100 per cent capacity.

There are five other daily services still maxed out at 100 per cent capacity.

Carriages will be allocated based on highest demand once they are put on the line, with the Ballarat and Geelong corridors the most overcrowded regional lines.

Meanwhile, the first new X’Trapolis metropolitan train built at Ballarat’s Alstom factory is now on the line, with 18 more to roll off production and into service in the next three years.