Tom Parry
DEMANDS are growing to reinstate catering facilities on passenger rail services in Gippsland, with Member for Gippsland East Tim Bull being the latest figure to support the cause.
Mr Bull has called on the Public Transport Minister, Ben Carroll to provide a buffet service on all V/Line long-haul trains that travel directly to and from Melbourne, including those on the Gippsland line.
“Over recent months there has been an increasing amount of people lodging complaints that they can no longer purchase a snack or a drink on this long-haul route, which is a step back in service delivery,” Mr Bull said.
“You would think in this day and age we would be looking to improve services to patrons, but it is not the case here.
“I don’t think it is too much to ask for a passenger on an almost four-hour long train trip to be able to buy something to eat or drink.”
Mr Bull’s plea comes after V/Line retired its fleet of N-class locomotives and carriages on the Gippsland route, and with it the “Café Bar” that provided food and beverages to passengers – as reported by the Gippsland Times in September last year.
All services to and from Bairnsdale are now serviced by high-speed VLocity units.
Mr Bull spoke about the matter in state parliament last Tuesday, February 21, noting that there were “a lot of elderly people” living in his electorate that benefit from the buffet service.
He further noted that a Café Bar was still in operation on the Albury line, despite the introduction of VLocity services to that route.
“That should be standard practice on all long-haul V/Line services in Victoria, and the government ought to… make that a priority and make sure that is delivered,” Mr Bull told parliament.
Last Thursday, February 23, Mr Bull asked Minister Carroll whether the Gippsland line will be serviced by the new VLocity buffet carriage that is currently operating on the Albury line.
He also claimed that rail users were reporting to his electorate office “in droves” about poor rail services in Gippsland.
Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch told the Gippsland Times he was “not at all” surprised by this claim.
“We are hearing the same from communities on other lines which, until fairly recently, have had on-board catering services provided and now seem set to lose them,” Mr Hearsch said.
But he cautioned that the Albury line’s catering service had “degenerated into a farce” with less than 50 per cent of passengers able to access the service.
“This is because on many occasions the facility is not staffed and therefore closed, or it is open for only a portion of the journey; or when the train consists of six cars (two lots of three-car sets), the facility is only open in one half of the train with no access to passengers from the other half,” Mr Hearsch explained.
Mr Hearsch put forward a trolley service as a more suitable alternative: “this could be achieved at very modest cost with minimal carriage modification, compliance with health and safety requirements and the loss of no more than six seats.”
Mr Bull’s question in parliament was taken on notice; Minister Carroll has until March 25 to respond.
