The Wodonga furniture maker was among the many train buffs to welcome the return of the V/Line service last month.

He stood on the new Wodonga train station, part of the city’s $180 million rail bypass, as a train rolled into the station carrying Victorian Transport Minister and the hopes of Border commuters.

It was the first passenger train in more than 2 years.

“The real test will come with the return of full services,” he told The Border Mail.

“I like what I see here today but for the thing to be judged a complete success it’s going to have to be over and above what we had before this time, effort and money.”

On Monday Mr Ardern’s words haunted him.

He was one of a train full of passengers that took almost six hours, two hours longer than scheduled, to get from Melbourne to Wodonga.

The V/Line train he was travelling on was sent on the wrong track from Seymour, the drivers forced to make an emergency stop when they topped a rise to find part of the track missing and workers on the line ahead.

“At best it’s incompetent, at worst downright dangerous,” Mr Ardern said yesterday. “They had to brake really hard.

“The train sat there for 45 to 50 minutes before reversing all the way back to Seymour station where they put us on buses.

“The V/Line staff on the train were terrific.

“They said there had been a major safety breach and then, when we were on the expressway, we saw the workers on the track.”

Mr Ardern said the service should be suspended until the faults were fixed.

“If it has to be suspended to fix all these issues then do it,” he said.

“We have waited so long for a project that was to deliver so much and has delivered so little.

“They suspended Tiger Airways because of safety concern. What can they say about this?”