VICTORIA'S Public Transport Minister can't say when design work will finish on new trains for the North East.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Her lack of a commitment prompted member for Euroa Steph Ryan to say the government was "stringing us out".
Minister Melissa Horne replied last week to five questions put on notice in parliament in March by Ms Ryan.
They were: Will first class seating be available on long-haul trains?; Will seats be adjustable in first class on long-haul trains?; Will first class seats have tray tables and access to powerpoints; Will passengers be able to pre-book seats on the new trains?; and When will the design of the trains be completed?
Ms Horne said seating would be similar to the existing carriages and V/Line was responsible for bookings.
However, she could not say when the design process would be completed.
"Design works for the trains are ongoing, including for standard gauge bogies and food and drink facilities," Ms Horne said.
"The trains will be ordered to align with the completion of the North East line upgrades."
"The fact they can't tell us what these trains look like and we've had no money allocated to buy them tells me they're stringing us out," Ms Ryan said.
"It should not take three years to do the design work to convert a V/Locity train to a standard gauge line, particularly when they said, when they bought V/Locitys, the bogies are convertible."
Ms Ryan urged the government to show concrete support in its coming budget.
"If they want to maintain any semblance of credibility there needs to be full funding in this year's budget for the trains to be purchased," she said.
"If they're genuine about having them on track by the time the federal government upgrade's completed they need to be ordering them in this year's budget."