Are you experiencing problems with public transport?
October 27th 2006 06:35
If you are experiencing problems in Victoria with public transport, now is the time to speak up. With the State Election next month, public transport has become one of the issues candidates have policies on.
It's interesting that both the government and the opposition are pledging to reduce the ticket costs of V/Line, the train system, for country Victorians if elected. Yes, of course, a price reduction in anything would be welcome by constituents.
But the main problems with public transport in Victoria, is not the cost, but the reliability and regularity of the system.
Only just this week, there were media reports, of a train from Melbourne to Ballarat, which is only meant to take an hour since the introduction of the fast train in September this year, taking three hours to complete the trip. This was apparently caused by an electrical fault. This resulted in passengers being forced to use ladders to get off the train and then walking in a paddock at night time before finally getting a connecting bus service to complete their journey. This obviously caused safety concerns.
Three hours for a one-hour trip is unacceptable in modern times, especially when the government is pushing for more people to use public transport to stop the congestion in Melbourne and to help save the environment.
If this was an occasional problem with the public transport system, passengers may accept it. But, unfortunately, since the introduction of the fast train and the new timetable in September, delays can be expected to occur most of the time. A lot of the time, the delays are more than 30 minutes.
The timetable also makes it difficult for workers with limited services in peak hours. This is the time when there should be more trains leaving and coming into Melbourne.
And, unfortunately, word has it in Victoria, that the Melbourne to Ballarat line is not the only line experiencing problems.
Maybe, the candidates for the upcoming State Election, should travel on the trains a few times and actually talk to the constituents. Then, maybe, instead of only touching on the issue, they could come up with a real solution to this major issue in Victoria. This would help voters to choose who to vote for - who actually knows what the problems are affecting Victorians.
It's interesting that both the government and the opposition are pledging to reduce the ticket costs of V/Line, the train system, for country Victorians if elected. Yes, of course, a price reduction in anything would be welcome by constituents.
But the main problems with public transport in Victoria, is not the cost, but the reliability and regularity of the system.
Only just this week, there were media reports, of a train from Melbourne to Ballarat, which is only meant to take an hour since the introduction of the fast train in September this year, taking three hours to complete the trip. This was apparently caused by an electrical fault. This resulted in passengers being forced to use ladders to get off the train and then walking in a paddock at night time before finally getting a connecting bus service to complete their journey. This obviously caused safety concerns.
Three hours for a one-hour trip is unacceptable in modern times, especially when the government is pushing for more people to use public transport to stop the congestion in Melbourne and to help save the environment.
If this was an occasional problem with the public transport system, passengers may accept it. But, unfortunately, since the introduction of the fast train and the new timetable in September, delays can be expected to occur most of the time. A lot of the time, the delays are more than 30 minutes.
The timetable also makes it difficult for workers with limited services in peak hours. This is the time when there should be more trains leaving and coming into Melbourne.
And, unfortunately, word has it in Victoria, that the Melbourne to Ballarat line is not the only line experiencing problems.
Maybe, the candidates for the upcoming State Election, should travel on the trains a few times and actually talk to the constituents. Then, maybe, instead of only touching on the issue, they could come up with a real solution to this major issue in Victoria. This would help voters to choose who to vote for - who actually knows what the problems are affecting Victorians.
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