Communities in north east Victoria will benefit from the return of the second daily V/Line train from 30 October, Member for Benalla Bill Sykes said today.
“In its first year of government the Victorian Coalition Government has now returned two of the three daily services after the previous government left north east Victoria without local V/Line trains for more than two years.”
The new city-bound train will depart from Albury at 5.20pm with scheduled stops at Benalla at 6.43pm, Violet Town at 7pm, Euroa at 7.13pm and Avenel at 7.34pm and arrive at Southern Cross Station at 9.40pm.
The new Albury-bound train will depart Melbourne at 6.01pm with stops at Avenel at 7.44pm, Euroa at 8.06pm, Violet Town at 8.18pm and Benalla at 8.34pm and arrive in Albury at 10.00pm.
Dr Sykes said he was pleased that the Government has committed to introducing the second daily V/Line service from Sunday 30 October.
“Concerns regarding the timetabling of trains were raised with me by a number of constituents and I made representations on their behalf with the Minister for Tranport.
“This second daily service caters for some of the most popular travel time slots and should assist in overcoming some of the timetabling concerns that have been raised with me by residents in my electorate.”
Dr Sykes said the new passenger services will be a boost for tourism in north east Victoria with each train having the capacity to accommodate 30 bikes.
“This is great news for people wanting to enjoy our fantastic rail trails and a great benefit for local tourist operators.”
Connecting V/Line local coach timetables, such as Benalla to Yarrawonga and Wangaratta to Corowa, will be adjusted to reflect the new train times from 30 October.
All trains will continue to have an onboard buffet selling drinks, snacks and light meals (but not alcohol).
The two daily return Countrylink XPT’s between Albury and Southern Cross will continue to have 68 seats available on each trip for V/Line ticketholders at V/Line prices.
“Although the current train is not running to the high standards of service that is expected it is hoped that ARTC works will mean speed restrictions in place can be lifted as track and signal issues are addressed.”
Dr Sykes concluded, “I encourage passengers to revisit www.vline.com.au as the train times are updated to reflect the new 30 October 2011 timetables.”
A return to full services is expected to be introduced in early 2012.

Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes has welcomed the first official service of V/line trains on the North East Line over the weekend of Saturday 25 to Sunday 26 June 2011.
“I am sure the community will be excited with the return of the North East Rail services after its cessation two years ago for rail upgrade works.
“To help community involvement my office has 40 commemorative tickets for interested people to take a ride on the first passenger train to run between Benalla and Wodonga on Saturday 25 June.
“The train departs from Benalla at 10.05am with a return coach back to Benalla leaving from Wodonga at 2.30pm.
“These commemorative tickets are limited and are offered on a first in, first served basis,” Dr Sykes concluded.
To register interest in a ticket contact Bill Sykes MP office on 5762 2100 or email bill.sykes@parliament.vic.gov.au. Arrangements will need to be made to collect tickets from Bill Sykes’ office, 2/55 Carrier Street, Benalla between 9am and 4pm Monday 20 June to Friday 24 June.

Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes has welcomed the first official service of V/line trains on the North East Line over the weekend of Saturday 25 to Sunday 26 June 2011.
“I am sure the community will be excited with the return of the North East Rail services after its cessation two years ago for rail upgrade works.
“To help community involvement my office has 40 commemorative tickets for interested people to take a ride on the first passenger train to run between Benalla and Wodonga on Saturday 25 June.
“The train departs from Benalla at 10.05am with a return coach back to Benalla leaving from Wodonga at 2.30pm.
“These commemorative tickets are limited and are offered on a first in, first served basis,” Dr Sykes concluded.
To register interest in a ticket contact Bill Sykes MP office on 5762 2100 or email bill.sykes@parliament.vic.gov.au. Arrangements will need to be made to collect tickets from Bill Sykes’ office, 2/55 Carrier Street, Benalla between 9am and 4pm Monday 20 June to Friday 24 June.

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes said today that he has commenced discussions regarding the re-opening of the Glenrowan Railway Station with the Minister for Transport, Terry Mulder.
Dr Sykes said that he has spoken to the Minister and also written to him to request investigation of the possibility of Glenrowan Railway Station being re-opened.
Dr Sykes also spoke in Parliament last week on the matter.
Dr Sykes said that in opposition he had made extensive representations on behalf of the Glenrowan community to have the railway station re-opened however his requests received no support.
“I and the local community believe that the previous government had no intention of re-opening the railway station.
“This is in spite of their $20 million commitment to the Winton Wetlands project which they believed would attract 300,000 visitors per year, and many of these visitors may wish to arrive by train at Glenrowan and experience some Ned Kelly history as well as the wetlands.”
Dr Sykes told Parliament on 23 March 2011, “I am hopeful we can put a railway station at Glenrowan so that the good people of Glenrowan, which is Ned Kelly country, can have access to public transport.
“People will be able to come to our area, see the Ned Kelly history and go to the new Winton Wetlands in the comfort of public transport.”
Dr Sykes concluded, “The Glenrowan community is passionate about securing the return of the passenger rail service to Glenrowan, and as I have done many times in the past, I will continue to support them on this matter.”

People in country areas in the north-east of the Benalla Electorate are becoming increasingly frustrated by a lack of V/Line passenger trains Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes told Parliament this week.
“Not a day goes by when my office is not contacted by someone asking the question, ‘when are passenger services going to be returned to communities in the north-east?’” Dr Sykes said.
Dr Sykes likened the current situation to the failed myki system.
“This has had a longer gestation than an elephant, and it is turning out to be a monster.
“Myki is still not working properly and we have had a significant cost blow out.”
Dr Sykes said that one of the frustrations for the country people that he represents is that not only does the myki system not work on V/Line trains but north-eastern Victoria does not even have V/Line trains.
“This is because we have had another botched project mismanaged by the Brumby Government.
“The $500 million north-eastern rail corridor upgrade is not functioning because there are several issues including numerous mud holes along the railway line which have meant it is unsafe for trains to travel there.
“Not only do we not have V/Line trains and not only do we not have the myki system on our V/Line trains but even the XPT train service has not been travelling that line because of delays of up to two hours.
“The people in my electorate are asking ‘why is it taking so long?’.
“We have seen an upgrade to the Euroa Railway Station.
“We have recently seen a re-upgrade at Avenel Railway Station after I raised the issue of shortcomings in the basic safety and access infrastructure at the station.
“There are plenty of people waiting to use these new facilities however the one thing these stations do not have is trains.”
Dr Sykes said that recent correspondence from V/Line to his office said that they are waiting on accreditation of the track from the Department of Transport and ARTC and were unable to provide a date for the return of passenger services.
“The people in my electorate will continue to ask questions and they want to know whether the Brumby Government will be able to announce to the people in north-east Victoria of a return to passenger rail services before the end of 2010.”
 

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes said today that it was good news to hear additional upgrade works had commenced at the Avenel Railway Station following his representations to the Minister on behalf of residents.
“Residents at Avenel raised their concern with me in August about inadequacies in the upgrade of the Avenel Railway Station as part of the north-east rail upgrade.”
Dr Sykes said he met with locals and representatives from the Avenel Stationeers Group at the site and agreed that the concerns raised by the people of Avenel were valid.
Residents were concerned about the entry and exit points and disability access at the recently refurbished railway station and believed the standard of the upgrade fell short by comparison with upgrades to the Euroa Railway Station.
“I wrote to the Minister to request the situation be investigated and addressed, in particular the significant barriers to access for people with a disability and the absence of safety fences.”
Dr Sykes said he had been contacted by a committee member of the Avenel Stationeers Group, Peter Brazil-Smith who said he was extremely pleased to see that work had commenced at the railway station to address its inadequacies.
Mr Brazil-Smith said Avenel Station update works had commenced and included the asphalting of the platform, reconstruction and relocation of the pedestrian crossing and a remodelling of the approach to the station.
“This is a good outcome for the people of Avenel,” Dr Sykes said.

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes has written to the Minister for Public Transport on behalf of concerned residents at Avenel in relation to their concerns about the recent upgrade to the Avenel Railway Station.
Dr Sykes said, “I have been contacted by local residents and organisations who have raised their concern about the entry and exit points and disability access at the recently refurbished Avenel Railway Station,” Dr Sykes said.
“The upgrade to the railway station is part of the north-east rail upgrade.”
In response to the issues raised Dr Sykes met with locals and representatives from the Avenel Stationeers Group on site at the railway station as well as visiting other upgraded railway stations including Euroa.
“There are significant barriers to access for people with disability at Avenel,” Dr Sykes said, “however access at Euroa Railway Station is satisfactory.
“Safety fences, which are prominent at Euroa, are absent from Avenel.
“After inspecting the site I agree with the concerns raised by the people of Avenel.”
Dr Sykes has requested that the Minister for Public Transport immediately investigate the situation and advise of proposed action.
The issues surrounding the north-east rail upgrade extend beyond the localised concerns at Avenel Railway Station.
“I have been contacted by many people seeking a confirmed date of return to normal rail services.
“Residents have raised their concern about rough levels crossings such as the one at Gould Road (Winton North) and identified points along the track where it appears the foundations have been disturbed during the sleeper replacement and associated ‘mudholes’.
“This week my office has also been contacted by residents angry about the suspension of rail services along the Sydney to Melbourne rail line with buses to carry passengers from Albury to Melbourne.
“This disruption is due to speed restrictions along more than 200 kilometres of track between the NSW border and Melbourne due to ‘mudholes’.”
Dr Sykes concluded, “I strongly endorse the action by the Shadow Minister for Transport Terry Mulder who has requested that the Federal Auditor-General immediately investigate a number of serious concerns.
“The public of Victoria has the right to expect a $500 million project to be ‘done right’ and delivered on time. Again the Brumby Government’s inability to deliver has been exposed.
“Mr Brumby must ensure immediate resolution of this appalling situation.”