![Painful price for progress Painful price for progress](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/grbest%40fairfaxmedia.com.au/7cac8498-81a5-4bb5-8ab4-5e49b0b374c1.jpg/r0_0_6000_4000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
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We get a lot of feedback about Warrnambool's passenger trains - they're either old, slow, late and uncomfortable or it's a great service with great staff. The issue of buses replacing trains keeps coming up in conversations and the common theme I'm hearing is people are fed up with the unpredictability of whether trains are running. They see trains as a more comfortable, quicker way of getting to Geelong or Melbourne.
The state and federal governments excitedly announced they were "forging ahead with a winter construction blitz in Victoria's south-west to ease congestion and deliver safer journeys".
What that means is we will have no train services between Warrnambool and Geelong from June 15 to August 25, 2024. More pain for long-suffering commuters.
The construction blitz involves rebuilding Marshall and South Geelong stations as part of track duplication works and removing two level crossings. It also involves upgrades to train detection technology at the last of 53 public level crossings on the Warrnambool line, enabling the introduction of modern and accessible VLocity trains. Axle counters are being installed at these level crossings, along with boom gates, bells and flashing lights at 16 of these crossings making them compatible with VLocity trains.
We campaigned for years to have the Warrnambool line upgraded and new rolling stock added. By the time the works on the Warrnambool line are completed, more than $500m will have been spent over seven years. That's a massive investment in the region's infrastructure and one we are grateful for.
But when will we see the benefits? As we have reported extensively, our train journeys are slower than before the works began and the state government repeatedly fails to answer when we will actually have VLocity trains on the line. Let's not forget, then Premier Dan Andrews and now Premier Jacinta Allan have both spruiked the arrival of VLocity trains since they were first promised in 2017. The estimates they gave, like the West Gate tunnel project, have blown out years.
There are concerns the new trains will actually be slower and less comfortable than the old ones we have endured for decades and we have reported the inflexible nature of three-car sets means if we have six carriages, they will be too long for some platforms, including Warrnambool's.
The introduction of cheap fares has been a winner with commuters. Patronage on the Warrnambool line is up but the service's unreliability and unpredictability of buses replacing trains, have no doubt had an impact on usage.
The absence of trains for 10 weeks will not help that either. Since April 2023, buses would have replaced trains for more than 17 weeks. Their absence is a hefty, painful price to pay for progress. We need the works done and it is safer and quicker for workers if there are no trains running. There's no alternative. Or is there? Some people commented on our Facebook page suggesting trains could have run between Warrnambool and Waurn Ponds and then buses could have been used to ferry passengers into Geelong to connect with Melbourne trains. Was that possible? Would that be cheaper than buses bouncing along the bumpy Princes Highway west of Colac?
Governments are damned if they do and damned if they don't. We need the upgrades so we just have to suck up the pain. Short-term pain for long-term gain but it seems we have been saying that for six years now. If the gains aren't apparent soon, the state government can expect some political hurt.
Have a great Sunday.
Until next week,
Greg Best, editor, The Standard