The importance of rural and regional transport

Public transport is a vitally important service for residents and visitors in rural and regional Victoria. The same principles for good public transport in metropolitan Melbourne apply throughout Victoria. Public transport should form a comprehensive network across rural and regional Victoria, by providing frequent, coordinated services.

Transport between towns and cities in Victoria

Rail services can provide faster and more comfortable long-distance travel than coaches and cars in major transport corridors. The Auditor-General reported reduced patronage in all cases where trains had been replaced by coaches under the Kennett Government. The PTUA supports the return of regular rail services on lines to Leongatha, Bairnsdale, Cobram, Echuca, Maryborough, Mildura, Horsham and Portland, as well as from Geelong to Ballarat, Maryborough to Bendigo, and Seymour to Echuca. Some additional restorations should be considered for significant tourist destinations. Tracks should be upgraded and regularly maintained to allow consistent 160km/h running.

So long as travel times are competitive with cars, service frequency is far more important than increased speed. Train services in more densely populated areas of Victoria should run at regular intervals (ie hourly) seven days a week, along the lines of the successful Swiss pulse-timetable system. Higher frequency services should be provided for cities on the current Fast Rail corridors (and between Melbourne and Seymour). Trains to the more remote city of Mildura could run twice daily.

A network of regular bus and coach services connecting with trains is needed to ‘feed’ passengers to rail services, provide services to smaller towns, and make more direct connections between regional cities and between rail corridors. Better timetabling should minimise the wait between connecting services. The bus and coach network should match train frequency where possible, and serve most rural towns at least every two hours. All but the smallest and most isolated of rural settlements should be on bus routes served once, twice or three-times daily.

Fair fares everywhere

Fare prices should be competitive with the cost of driving. Despite the importance of public transport access to country Victoria, fares that range from being uncompetitive to prohibitively expensive discourage the use of many transport services. The drop in V/Line fares in March 2007 is a good start to making fares more competitive.

The PTUA supports the current moves to integrate fares across Victoria, so that long distance train/coach fares include travel on local services at each end of the trip.

Transport within regional cities

Most regional cities have comparable densities to Melbourne suburbs where good public transport is provided, and can support comprehensive public transport networks operating with tram-like service levels. In fact, over the years in a number of major regional cities, governments have removed tram services and allowed good quality public transport to deteriorate markedly.

Coordination between town bus services and inter-city train and coach services needs to be radically improved. Town buses should provide well-timed connections at stations or coach stops. Despite almost 20% of country Victorians using the train to visit Melbourne, a 1995 survey revealed that as few as 0.09% visitors to regional Victoria used the train, a situation that can be improved by upgrading services at the ‘regional end’ of rail and coach services.

Transport systems within regional cities should have similar fare options to metropolitan Melbourne, with two-hour, daily and periodical tickets available for use on all public transport services within the city or regional zone.

Community transport in rural areas

All Victorians deserve access to transport services. Where sufficient public transport genuinely cannot be provided, members of the general public should also be able to use school buses and community transport services. The State Government must take greater responsibility for community transport, which needs to be more effectively coordinated, advertised and integrated with public transport services.

Updated: March 2007