As both sides of politics go into Saturday’s Victorian election promising train infrastructure and services will be better, the specific detail of “when” is still up in the air.
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Border Rail Action Group has questioned what Labor’s election promise to order 54 VLocity carriages for Geelong and Ballarat, to be delivered by 2021, means for the North East.
Executive member John Dunstan said he was concerned Bombardier Transportation, the VLocity carriage manufacturer, has no capacity to order any other rolling stock before 2021.
“V/Line train travellers in the North East have a ‘solid’ commitment from (Victorian Public Transport Minister Jacinta) Allan, to have VLocity trains ‘built and ready to take passengers’ for the North East when the ‘track is finished’,” he said.
“BRAG is seeking from Labor assurance of their October commitment to the North East train travellers is a ‘rock solid’ one.”
Meanwhile, Wangaratta Council is expecting a decision within a couple of weeks from the Australian Rail Track Corporation on what the transformation of its rail station will look like.
There has been controversy over the possible removal of two old pedestrian bridges.
But a recent letter to the councillors revealed some passengers were also feeling scared “at night waiting for a train at an unmanned station” and had been forced to urinate in nearby bushes because of a lack of toilet facilities.
Infrastructure services director Alan Clark said the council was “advocating hard for a better outcome”.
He said the Wangaratta Railway Precinct Enhancement Project, endorsed by councillors this week, would also improve the station.
“There will be more lightning in the general precinct, there will be more seating in the precinct, it will be far more pedestrian friendly and as it’s activated, there will be far more people around to help some of those concerns,” he said.
