When the V/Line train starting rolling towards Wodonga, it was 14 minutes late – not the worst the North East had seen, but a common experience for commuters.

Mr Chester did not make any funding commitments during his trip, but said the federal government was working towards an agreement between the Australian Rail Track Corporation and Victorian government that would meet passenger needs.

“That’s part of why I’m here today, to see are there ways the state and federal governments can work together to deliver a more reliable and better frequency service,” he said.

“I had an opportunity to talk to a lot of passengers on the service and their feedback was very constructive – they want to see a more reliable service, they want to see more frequency of services as well and they raise very good points.

“The last significant investment in rail in regional Victoria saw a lot of money spent in Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong and the North East line missed out.”

The minister spent the day in the North East with fellow National Party members Senator Bridget McKenzie and Euroa MLA Steph Ryan, who also pointed the blame at the Victorian Labor government’s lack of investment in rolling stock.

Department of Infrastructure secretary Mike Mrdak admitted in February’s Senate Estimates fixing the Albury rail line could be “considerably upwards” of the $134 million already spent on the ballast rehabilitation program over recent years.

Senator McKenzie said she hoped the Victorian government would “actually come up with the dollars” for its part of the problem from the Port of Melbourne sale.

“Steph and I are doing everything we can to make sure that this is a priority project for our governments, but at the end of the day we have a budget deficit to pay down and this is one of many competing projects – the prime responsibility lies with state government,” she said.