MP, Border Rail Action Group gladdened by news of faster V/Line services but 1980s comparison not favourable

There will be 20 minutes cut off the 6.35am journey to the capital from the Border and other services are scheduled to arrive seven minutes earlier.

The changes coincide with VLocity train sets replacing N Class locomotives and carriages on all departures, after a partial introduction on December 30 last year.

As soon as next week, all services are set to consist of VLocity carriages, with long-awaited facilities to allow the trains to be stabled overnight in Albury scheduled to open in the last week of July.

However, track works being done by the Australian Rail Track Corporation on a section of line at South Dynon in inner Melbourne will results in buses replacing trains between 10pm on August 5 and 6am on the 26th of that month.

That has influenced the move not to introduce the new timetable until August 28, although information about the changes will be made public from July 29.

In a statement, Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said the government was meeting its commitments to the North East.

"We're giving passengers on the Albury line what we promised - new trains and faster, more comfortable services," Ms Allan said.

"We are delivering a fast, reliable and more modern VLocity train service to more people in regional Victoria."

Member for Benambra Bill Tilley was heartened by the news but noted the timetable changes fell short of what was provided to North East passengers decades ago.

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"Our long-suffering rail commuters will, at long last, get some reprieve," Mr Tilley said.

"But let's dig into this new timetable, in 1985 it took three hours and 35 minutes to get from Albury to Melbourne - with these new times we're looking at three hours 40 minutes in the morning, three hours and 48 minutes at lunchtime and three hours and 36 minutes at night.

"None are faster than the service from almost 40 years ago."

Border Rail Action Group representative John Dunstan welcomed the shaving of times for patrons of the thrice-daily return VLine services from Albury.

"We're very pleased that they're honouring their promise that they would be making use of the higher speed of the VLocities and reducing the travel times, those (cuts) are the sort of figures we were expecting," Mr Dunstan said.

The level of improved travel times has been tied to the availability of slots along the route between Melbourne and Sydney.

Freight movements and XPT services influenced how much extra times could be saved on each of the VLocity journeys.

Mr Tilley said there were issues with the new trains.

"Commuters are still telling me that the VLocity is a far cry from any traditional long haul passenger service, with the full suite of trains they must all have a buffet and we can't have them being cut to a three car train and a free-for-all on seating," he said.

V/Line is not committing to having six-carriage VLocity sets on all services.

Instead it plans to employ that length of train on the most popular runs and use three-carriage units at less frequented times.

Such a deployment will allow trains to be available to cover for maintenance requirements.

The end of the N Class on the North East line will close a chapter that began in the 1980s when the rolling stock was introduced to the corridor.

Mr Dunstan expects most passengers will be pleased to see them discontinued, although he noted having first and economy carriages appealed to some travellers.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of people that have got used to them and like them, certainly there's people that like the two classes which they haven't got with the VLocities," he said.

"But apart from that, with the better suspension and faster travel with the VLocities everyone should be happy."

Some N Class carriage sets have already been rehoused at the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre with the interest of other tourism transport operators also gauged.

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