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Public Transport | August 21, 2018

Members statements - Western Victoria rail services

Victorian Parliament - 21 August 2018 - Ms KEALY — The people who live in western Victoria are sick of being forgotten by the Andrews Labor government. Despite the Premier saying over and over again that Labor is upgrading every single passenger rail line in Victoria, public transport connections in our part of the state continue to deteriorate, with no attention at all given to returning passenger rail services. All of our public transport services delivered by coach have actually either been cut back or resulted in longer travel times due to timetable changes through the connection in Ballarat. This is extremely disappointing for people in our local community because we have an older demographic who rely on public transport to get to hospitals, to get to shopping, to get to appointments and to connect with their family and friends. This is having a big impact on our area.

I am very, very proud that The Nationals have committed to undertaking a $2 million business case to look at returning passenger rail services. We deserve a better deal in western Victoria, but it is extremely disappointing that Labor has forgotten that our part of the state even exists.