Regional Victorian residents and public transport advocates are pushing for the return of passenger rail services along crucial routes in the state, as it heads towards the November election.
Two of Victoria’s largest regional cities, Geelong and Ballarat, have had no rail connection for three decades, while Mildura in Victoria’s north-west has been without a passenger rail service since 1993 when the Kennett government discontinued the service.
For years, residents along the Geelong-Ballarat route, which is currently only used for freight, have called for the return of passenger rail services, with those calls backed by the Victorian Greens.
Deputy leader of the Greens and MP for western Victoria, Sarah Mansfield, said “it’s time to open a conversation” about reinstating the service.
“A lot of people actually do travel between the two places, but they have to rely on a car,” she said.
The other options are buses, with three daily services between Geelong and Ballarat, or catching a train into Melbourne first, but Dr Mansfield said “you’re looking at several hours each way”.
“It’s no wonder people end up resorting to using their cars,” she said.
Dr Mansfield said there was high demand for a Geelong-Ballarat service due to significant growth in the area, which she said was only set to increase more in the coming decades.
“As Geelong and Ballarat become more significant economic and educational centres in and of themselves, there is more interest in people being able to travel between the two,” she said.
The Greens hope to connect the route with the Maryborough to Ballarat line.
