IT might be only a small step but it is welcome that the Victorian government has made its first move to improve the V/Line service on the Albury-Melbourne line.
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A small crumb in the form of an extra locomotive has been thrown our way and will be in action by late July.
That will bring the number of locomotives operating on the line to four.
With routine maintenance, it has been often been that there have been just two locomotives to run the six daily services on the line.
And, as commuters know only too well, when one of those engines is out of action due to a fault or damage, buses have had to be brought in to complete the trip.
Transport Minister Jacinta Allan yesterday conceded the Albury line had been running on the bare minimum and assured the public the extra engine would improve V/Line’s service and reliability.
Border Rail Action Group spokesman said while it was a stall step forward, it would improve services.
While that’s good news for long-suffering commuters, it is surely only the first step and we look forward to soon seeing more improvements.
Talk of improved reliability can only be taken with a grain of salt as things stands, with cancellations and break-downs not even counted in the figures.