From August 23, there will be nine return weekday services and five return Saturday and Sunday services from Shepparton to Melbourne.
The Victorian Government announced on Thursday, August 6 that more than 400 extra weekly train services would start operating across the network, including the added Shepparton services, as well as trains every hour on Saturdays and Sundays from Seymour between 8am and 9pm.
The Shepparton Line Upgrade, which was completed last year, was delivered to improve reliability and create capacity for more services.
The project saw three stations and stabling upgraded, enabling modern VLocity trains to run on the line, and upgraded signalling so more trains could run more often.
The extra Shepparton services are long overdue, having originally been promised by 2023 by former Victorian premier Jacinta Allan.
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell isn’t yet convinced the latest promise will come to fruition.
“These services are three years late in being delivered and Shepparton’s residents will only believe it when they see the trains running on the track,” Ms Lovell said.
“The traffic lights that have not been turned on are a daily reminder of how little the Labor Government cares about Shepparton.”
Earlier this week, RoadSafe Goulburn Valley called for the immediate activation of the dormant traffic lights at the corner of Wyndham and McIntosh Sts, where the train line runs, following a collision at the intersection on Wednesday, August 5.
The lights were installed as part of a $3.1 million road upgrade that began in October, 2020, but have not once been operational since.
The Department of Transport and Planning has cited the need to co-ordinate signal activation with rail safety works on the Shepparton line as the reason for the delay, while Greater Shepparton City Council and the local community have consistently flagged the intersection as a safety risk.
“Our community has watched these lights sit idle for years, and now we’ve had yet another serious crash at the exact intersection they were built to protect; that’s not bad luck — that’s a warning we can’t afford to ignore again,” RoadSafe Goulburn Valley member Callum Phillips said.
“As the newly appointed minister for roads and road safety, Mr (Paul) Hamer has an early opportunity to demonstrate that regional road safety will be treated as a genuine priority under his portfolio, not another long-running case study in delay.
“We are not asking for anything new. This infrastructure already exists. We are asking the Department of Transport and Planning and Minister Hamer to finish the job they started in 2020 and give this intersection the protection it was always meant to have.”
RoadSafe Goulburn Valley is asking the Victorian Government to provide a clear, public timeline for activation of the traffic lights, an urgent review of interim safety measures while activation works are finalised and to commit to transparent, regular public reporting on the status of rail-signalling co-ordination works, “so the community is not left waiting years for basic updates”.
Ms Lovell has raised the issue in parliament, pressing successive governments for a firm activation date.
“Ben Carroll was transport minister from 2020 to 2023 when the project was announced and supposed to be completed,” she said.
“He failed to deliver that project on time and has still failed to turn the traffic lights on.”
15°C