Train drivers on the North-East railway line are resorting to wearing protective vests to combat an increasing number of rough sections between Albury and Melbourne.
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Video has been obtained by The Border Mail showing a driver being tossed around "like a rag doll" inside the cabin as the train travels south Wodonga.
The driver blames small bends in the railway track alignment known as short twists as the main cause for the violent sideways shaking inside the cabin and also the impact felt by passengers.
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For the next two Sundays buses will replace trains due to more works as part of the $235 million upgrade.
Border Rail Action Group spokesman John Dunstan, who captured the video when travelling on an XPT train recently, said the short twists posed a bigger concern than mudholes.
"The long ones are where the TSRs are and even though you are only going 80km/h you can actually see where they are and it's when you experience that extreme side movement," he said.
"Mud holes are mostly a vertical movement, but this is totally different and side movement is what damages everything.
"Imagine what happens when a V/Line train doing 115km/h or the XPT doing 130km/h all of sudden hits one of these bowed areas outside a TSR."
BRAG is calling for short twists to be monitored more stringently as part of the track access agreement between track owners, the Australian Rail Track Corporation and Public Transport Victoria.
ARTC disputes short twists are a major contributing factor to damaged rolling stock on the North-East line.
"ARTC continues to meet its obligations under its lease for the track," an ARTC spokesman said.
"Our focus is on maintaining a safe railway network and this is supported by regular visual track patrols and monitoring of the track via an 'AK Car' which is a sophisticated track recording vehicle.
"We acknowledge the high community interest in passenger services performance needing to improve and the North-East line upgrade will help achieve a V/Line Class 2 passenger performance standard.
"We typically aim to lift TSRs within three months."
The switch from trains to buses on the next two Sundays relate to pre-construction works at Violet Town and Longwood ahead of major repair works starting later this year.
"As these essential works can only be done without passengers and freight trains running, we'll need to replace train services with coaches," acting North-East regional manager Andrew Berry said.
"Journey times may be extended by up to 45 minutes on stopping-all-stations coaches, but we expect most express coach journey times to be just as quick as the train."
Transport NSW, which operates the XPT service between Sydney and Melbourne, has been contacted for comment.
V/LIne said in a statement: "V/Line's priority is supporting the North East Line Upgrade which will improve the condition of the Albury line, providing passengers a smoother, more comfortable journey.
"We are working closely with the Australian Rail Track Corporation to support the improvement of the track between Albury and Melbourne."
