Passengers have been forced to stand for hours and many were unable to board services over Easter as Victoria’s regional train system strained under the combined weight of a long weekend, school holidays and fare-free services.
Reports of overcrowding on V/Line services escalated on Friday and Saturday as public holiday timetables reduced services, amid increased demand after the state government introducing free travel during April.
Overcrowding on a train platform at Bendigo on Sunday Passengers crouching in the aislesPhotos supplied to Guardian Australia by a commuter at the Easter weekend showed the Bendigo train station packed with people waiting for the service to Southern Cross, and people standing throughout the train carriages. Other images circulating on social media showed similar crowd levels waiting for the outbound Bendigo services at Southern Cross on Saturday morning.
Comments posted to V/Line’s public Facebook page also claimed morning services to Swan Hill – a four- to five-hour journey – and trains making the four-hour journey to Bairnsdale were leaving Southern Cross jammed full, with people standing in the aisles.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email“Sardines – can’t even breathe in there,” one commuter told Nine News on Saturday after alighting from a train.
Another said: “Surely they would predict that a lot of people would be getting on the trains. I thought they were adding more [services] but maybe they hadn’t added enough.”
These comments follow reports of regional services already struggling to accommodate extra demand since the premier, Jacinta Allan, announced on 29 March that public transport would be free throughout the state in April to help people reduce fuel usage and cope with related rising costs.
A V/Line spokesperson told Guardian Australia that extra carriages had been added to services over the long weekend and that more than 300 coaches had been on standby across the network, including to take people to weekend events including the Bendigo Easter festival.
A Victorian government spokesperson said the government and V/Line would “continue to closely monitor patronage across the network over coming weeks”.
Hence then, the article about passengers forced to stand for hours on regional victoria trains as free tickets supercharge long weekend demand was published today ( ) and is available on NY Times News ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Passengers forced to stand for hours on regional Victoria trains as free tickets supercharge long weekend demand )
Also on site :