The Rail Revival Alliance has called on the new Andrew's Labor government to  increase the level of  passenger rail services on the Maryborough line.  Rail Revival President, Noel Laidlaw said that the current two trains per day was an inadequate service for a community such as  Maryborough and the three communities along the line that are currently served by the train.

"Ararat, a city of comparable size to our own has three trains each way every day plus one additional train four days per week", Mr. Laidlaw said.

The current level of train and bus services  is quite inadequate for communities of our size  and does nothing to encourage  more people moving from the Metropolitan area into the  less congested country centres.

"Three trains each way per day will provide an opportunity to have day return services coming from Melbourne which will allow visitors to come to this district on a day return basis. It will also be far more convenient for local residents who do not wish to spend a whole day in Ballarat or Melbourne  for such things as a medical appointment."

"The Rail Revival Alliance applauds the  recently elected MLA for Ripon, Louis Staley for stating that the addition of more rail services was the most important thing for the State government to commit to in Maryborough."

"With the delivery of additional  Vlocity trains that are currently being constructed by Bombardier, the age old excuse by Public Transport  Victoria that there is not enough rolling stock is fading." Mr Laidlaw added

The Rail Revival Alliance  sees the long term solution to Maryborough's transport woes is the plan to reinstitute passenger rail services between Geelong, Ballarat, Maryborough, Castlemaine and Bendigo. Part of this program would involve the reopening and upgrading of the rail line running between Castlemaine and Maryborough.

The previous government published a report that stated that the proposal would cost in the order of $900,000,000, however an independent report commissioned by the Rail Revival Alliance said that it could be instituted for less than one tenth of that figure. Following its publication the government did not dispute that figure.

The increase in the number of trains serving  on the Maryborough to Ballarat line would be a good start to this program, he said.

In general terms, there is a number of significant transport issues that need to be addressed on top of the need for more  daily train services. These include:

• Buses are slow and generally take a circuitous route to the rail connection in Castlemaine, often going through Guildford which adds nearly 15 minutes to the trip into Castlemaine. More express buses  are  desperately needed. Guildford should be serviced as part of the Castlemaine local bus network
• The buses to and from Castlemaine are not connecting with express trains. For example, if the 6pm bus left Castlemaine just ten minutes later, travellers from Melbourne would be able to use the express services and complete  the  journey to Maryborough in less than two hours.
• There is also no public transport connection from Carisbrook or Daisy Hill to meet the VLine train in Maryborough of a morning or evening.
• There is no connection into Maryborough from Melbourne of a Sunday morning at all.
• There should be co-ordination of the train and bus services. Maryborough should be set up as the interchange point for bus services heading further north to Avoca, Dunolly, St Arnaud and Donald and even Mildura.

"The buses need to rationalised as soon as possible. The bus is however not the long term solution and the reconnection of Maryborough to Castlemaine rail must be made a high priority", Mr. Laidlaw said.

 

Noel Laidlaw

President

Rail Revival Alliance

M ; 0448 568 429