Passenger calls for more reserved seats on Albury-Melbourne V/Line route

V/Line runs three and six carriage VLocity trains, with more than 50 unreserved seats on a three-carriage train, not good enough, says accountant Graham Stevens, "especially when they are booked a month in advance".

"When I arrived about 50 minutes before departure crowds gathered on the platform, the doors of the train were opened, with passengers stampeding the train to get a seat," Mr Stevens said.

"Since the capped fares, popularity has surged - I don't mind paying more to get a seat, but it sounds like recently they've said we're going to give them cheap tickets and just let it run itself.

"Last Sunday I eventually got a seat at Wangaratta two hours after departing - I'm 64 and reasonably fit but there were many older passengers without seats - this is not satisfactory." Mr Stevens said he was disappointed the buffet was not operating for the duration of his journey.

"At the very least an announcement should have been made at Southern Cross so passengers could buy food and drinks before departure," he said.

A V/Line spokesman said the allocation system was designed to be flexible.

"V/Line services run with a mix of reserved and unreserved carriages, giving passengers the flexibility to either plan ahead or turn up on the day they wish to travel and take the service that best suits them," he said.

"We are always looking at ways to make it easier for passengers to purchase tickets, particularly given the popularity of our services following the introduction of the regional fare cap."

The spokesman said the service offered a buffet car service on Melbourne-Albury line trains, however, "there are times when the service is unable to operate".

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He said changes to buffet operations were communicated via the V/Line website before trains departed.

He said passengers were encouraged to book a ticket ahead online, at a staffed V/Line or premium Metro station, by calling 1800 800 007 or by visiting a retail ticket agent.

"If passengers do not have a reservation, they are encouraged to plan ahead and arrive early," the spokesman said.

Border Rail Action Group representative John Dunstan said the only way to solve the reserved seating problem was for the government to invest in more trains, particularly since the government capped the price of rail tickets in March.

"This problem won't be solved by playing around with the percentage of available seats that are bookable, it'll only get sorted by having more seats available in total which means that the line has to be provided with more trains," Mr Dunstan said.

"There are simply not enough services, and especially now with the cheap seats, they really have to get more trains and run more services.

"Most of the people who want to get on, particularly now that it's more popular, this high percentage of them are going to have to stand."

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