By AIDAN KNIGHT
THE state government made it personal for Gippsland last week, announcing free travel for any V/Line passengers starting their journey between Nar Nar Goon and Bairnsdale.
To deliver this news on Tuesday, October 23 was the Premier herself. Jacinta Allan spent an hour delivering a press conference at Traralgon Station alongside Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams and Member for Eastern Victoria Region Tom McIntosh.
The news came a week after the state government announced free travel across all of Victoria for every weekend during summer.
“Free travel on the Gippsland Line in November is our way of saying thank you for your patience while we delivered this major upgrade,” the Premier said.
“Thank you to the Gippsland community, to Gippsland passengers who use the train services here on the Gippsland Line. It has been quite a period of disruption whilst we’ve transformed the Gippsland Line, undertaken a massive infrastructure upgrade of the Gippsland Line, and now that’s complete.”
The Premier claimed to be fond of the Gippsland Line, from her term as Transport Minister circa 2014-2023 under the then-Andrews government, stating, “One of the first communities I heard from was the Gippsland community, how they wanted to see a better train service for their community and the Gippsland community deserved a better train service”.
The current Minister of that portfolio echoed this statement, as Ms William admitted “Gippslanders have borne the brunt of the pain” involved in the metro tunnel disruptions, and that the state government is committed to “really make sure that we’re focused on them, that we’re rewarding them and saying thank you.”
Ms Williams did however answer sheepishly when asked if coach replacements had come to an end on the repeatedly impacted Gippsland Line.
“There’ll be some further disruptions (…), but obviously with the Gippsland line upgrade now complete the works at this end of the corridor now mean that it’s much more freed up than it has been over summer,” she said.
These disruptions, which were not given specific dates at the presser, relate to the Metro section of the Gippsland Line, removing the final rail crossing at Webster Street, Dandenong, and some trial operations as the Metro Tunnel opening gets closer.
The Premier also gave a vague response when pressured by the Express as to when Gippslanders will see more than three carriages on a Traralgon service, as more and more people are shifting to V/Line to get to work and study in the cost of living crisis.
“This is why we’ve added 87 weekly services, because we know that the demand is there on the Gippsland Line,” Ms Allan said.
“Additional services bring additional seats.”
The Premier’s response implied commuters struggling to find a seat should simply take an earlier train 40 minutes beforehand.
For many Latrobe Valley commuters travelling to work or study, this is not always practical.
The earliest weekday service to Traralgon, which aligns closely with school starting times, often sees passengers forced to stand for at least part of their journey, often not emptying out until arriving at Moe at 8.13am.
The Express also asked Ms Allan if this increased usage, to which these perks and fare-cuts would likely contribute, will see any further development or additional services added in the South Gippsland area.
Commuters there are currently limited to three coach departures on the Yarram-Melbourne route per day (either direction), despite being as much of a potential regional tourism area as Baw Baw and Latrobe are along the Traralgon Line.
The Transport Minister confirmed that “we are putting on more busses as part of the re-timetabling” that will take place next February as part of the ‘Big Switch’, when the Metro tunnel is officially opened and integrated as the new heart of the PTV network.
“In addition to that though, we have been working to boost our investment in bus services,” Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said of South Gippsland services
“A record investment last year of $180 million for additional and upgraded bus services, built on again in this latest budget with $160 million of funding into bus services. And that is work that is ongoing, because more and more the value of the bus network is being realised, particularly as we’ve invested so heavily in making sure that we’re delivering more train services, ‘turn up and go’ corridors. Now I think busses really come into their own in being able to connect people to that world-class rail system that we’ve been busily building over the last decade.”
Similarly, commuters further along the Gippsland corridor on the Bairnsdale Line feel somewhat left out, receiving only one new service in the hyped up works this year that saw their Traralgon line neighbours, who share a majority of the line, receive 87. Minister Williams emphasised that the new stabling yard that has been established in Bairnsdale as part of the same project is a physical indication of the government’s commitment to the area, and the upgrade of tracks along that section of rail now enables the latest, fastest V/Locity trains to travel.
“I know what a difference that has made to the Bairnsdale community, if you look at the other communities too along that corridor, that have benefited from the reliability, the frequency of those services,” Ms Williams said.
“And I know that the community has been talking to local member, Tom McIntosh, about how we can build on that. And I think for now, putting in place additional coach services is part of that, but it is all about understanding that regional communities get why regional public transport matters.”
Mr McIntosh was quite focused on the socio-economic factor of the announcement, speaking on the relief families will feel with the reductions and free travel being introduced.
“This is fantastic news for local families, students and workers who rely on the Gippsland Line every day,” he said.
“Free travel will make a real difference to household budgets and give even more people a reason to jump on board.”
While there are still multiple items to improve on, and for the public to see if the government will remain accountable to, the news delivered at Traralgon station was mostly positive, and showed a genuine interest in the Gippsland Line.
Whether or not that is merely performative leading up to the election year remains to be seen, but the free travel over November and weekends all summer, on a more frequently running service, is still a cause to celebrate in the short term
The free travel initiatives provide a boost for those ‘leaving the car at home’, but the broader challenge of meeting demand on Gippsland’s regional lines is not solved that easily, with many commuters still asking the unanswerable question: whether trains will continue to be replaced by coaches in 2026.
