By Luke Voogt
Twenty extra trains, including 15 peak-hour services, will travel between Geelong and Melbourne each week beginning January 31, state government has announced.
An updated timetable for the line includes 10 new services in each direction between Geelong and Melbourne, with a train operating every 20 minutes throughout the day.
The plans also include 25 new services to and from Wyndham Vale on the Geelong-Melbourne line.
Altered stopping patterns will result in 20 extra services stopping at Little River, 15 at Lara, 35 at Corio, 30 at North Shore, 25 at Geelong and five at Waurn Ponds.
The additional trains are among 450 extra services for Victoria that Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll announced on Tuesday.
Under a “timetable redesign” an extra 280 new metropolitan trains and 170 regional services will operate across Victoria each week, according to Mr Carroll.
“We’re introducing the biggest timetable change in a decade,” he said.
The announcement comes as state government prepares to move to the final ‘COVID normal’ stage of its reopening roadmap.
Mr Carroll said the new timetable would deliver more peak-hour trains on both regional and metropolitan lines.
The extra services would allow people to better stagger their weekday travel and reduce crowding as more people return to public transport, he said.
The new timetable follows last week’s announcement of a new express track through Werribee, 8km shorter than the current route through Wyndham Vale.
Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan announced a $2 billion investment, matching a 2019 federal election commitment, to begin construction of stage one of the “Geelong Fast Rail project” in 2023.
Rail Projects Victoria says the project will result 50-minute trains, reducing travel times by “up to 15 minutes”, although some trains already make the trip in 50 minutes.
Public Transport Users Association Geelong convener Paul Westcott last week described the “fast rail” aspect as “spin” with planners trying meet federal government’s “pie in the sky” election promises.
But he described the investment as an excellent opportunity to increase the frequency, capacity and reliability of Geelong-Melbourne services.
