The latest Public Transport Victoria figures on the state’s train services were released on Friday, the same day as it was revealed the federal government was set to spend $1 billion on rail in next month’s budget.

The numbers revealed the worst month for reliability on Albury’s line in the past year – just 81.8 per cent of trains reached their destination.

In contrast, none of the other services in Victoria were below 97 per cent.

V/Line has blamed major upgrade works on the Albury line and a late hand-back of the tracks by the Australian Rail Track Corporation for preventing some trains from running.

V/Line chief executive James Pinder said works included track, bridge, level crossings, drainage and were essential for better services.

But they also resulted in signalling faults on ARTC infrastructure that delayed and cancelled trains.

“We need these important works to be completed on time and with minimal disruption so that they can lift speed restrictions on the line which are holding back our passengers travelling on the Albury line,” Mr Pinder said.

The figures showed just 60.7 per cent of trains ran on time during March, down from 61.7 per cent in February, and made Albury the second worst in the state behind the Warrnambool line.

The drop was attributed to the delayed works, signal faults, fleet faults and speed restrictions in place because of the track condition.

Euroa MLA Steph Ryan said the Victorian government needed to do more to show it was taking passenger concerns seriously.

“The challenge now is to get the Andrews government to commit to new rolling stock,” she said.

“The age and condition of the trains is the primary reason why services are frequently cancelled.”

V/Line was planning an improvement in reliability on the Albury line this month when an extra refurbished train becomes available, allowing services to continue as scheduled when a train needed to be serviced or repaired.