PUNCTUALITY of V/Line services on the Gippsland line improved last month but remains short of par.
Data for February put the line at 84.4 per cent for services on time, which was up 3.4 per cent on January and 1.8 per cent on the 12-month average, but shy of V/Line’s punctuality target of 92 per cent.
The result was comparable with other ‘short distance’ services to Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Seymour, while Gippsland topped the reliability charts at 99.1 per cent of services running.
It comes after the introduction of 10 new weekly train services for Traralgon from 29 January.
A new night service leaves Southern Cross at 11pm each weeknight and arrives at Traralgon about 1am.
In the other direction a new train leaves Traralgon at 8.21pm and reaches Southern Cross at 10.43pm.
V/Line chief executive James Pinder welcomed the improvement and addition of later services.
“It means our passengers can enjoy a weeknight out in the city and still take the train home,” Mr Pinder said.
“This (also) allows passengers to travel between Traralgon and stations like Moe and Morwell later in the evening.”
Punctuality is measured on time to five minutes and 59 seconds for short distance lines.
Compensation is available to commuters when performance targets are not met.
