Victoria’s public transport system will get a much-needed shot in the arm next month when new peak-hour services are added to some of Melbourne’s busiest rail lines, and sweeping changes are made to tram and bus services.
Chronic overcrowding on the Dandenong rail corridor will be addressed with the addition of two extra peak-hour services in the morning and two in the evening. The extra peak hour trains were a $25 million commitment in last year’s state budget. The Frankston railway line will also get two extra peak-hour trains.
Meanwhile, one of Melbourne’s busiest tram routes will be split in two. The route 112 from West Preston to St Kilda will be broken into two new routes – route 11 running between West Preston and Docklands and route 12 between Victoria Gardens in Richmond and St Kilda. Both routes will run via Collins Street in the CBD, which will become significantly busier as a result.
The changes, to come in on July 27, will create the capacity for 34,000 more passengers a week on the network, state public transport authority Public Transport Victoria says.
“These service improvements are another step in transforming our network, with more service where they are needed most,” the transport authority said.
Four infrequent, part-time tram routes will be scrapped.
Bus routes across several parts of Melbourne will also be overhauled, including Brimbank in the north-western suburbs, Port Phillip in the inner south and Manningham in the east. In all, more than 130 bus routes will change, the authority said.
“Around the state, more than 130 local bus routes will have timetable changes to better coordinate with trains, provide more direct routes along major roads, and to boost public transport in areas that have grown and changed.”
Major changes to Brimbank’s bus networks were first put to the community last year. Under the transport authority’s proposal, the area’s meandering bus routes would be straightened out and a brand new bus route be added that would run every 20 minutes between Watergardens shopping centre and Sunshine.
The mooted changes would increase frequency but put some neighbourhoods further away from the nearest bus stop.
