New V/line Timetable For Bendigo Begins Sunday 9 November

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9th October 2008, 03:29pm - Views: 817
Thursday 9 October 2008


New V/Line timetable for Bendigo begins Sunday 9 November


V/Line will introduce a new regional train timetable from Sunday 9 November to coincide
with the new metropolitan Connex schedule.

The majority of Bendigo services remain unaffected, however the 18:20 Sunbury to
Southern Cross train will now run 41 minutes earlier at 17.39.

V/Line General Manager Ursula McGinnes said the change will allow for more carriages
to be available for the busy outbound evening trains departing Melbourne.

"The 18:20 Sunbury to Melbourne train only had an average of 12 people catching it, so
we've altered the departure time to get it into Melbourne earlier," Ms McGinnes said.

"The extra 360 seats can now be used on busy services coming out of Melbourne."

Sunbury people heading to Melbourne can catch the earlier 17:43 service, or the later
18.40 service.

Ms McGinnes said with fuel prices rising, V/Line has seen unprecedented growth on
their trains. The Bendigo line has seen a patronage increase of 25 per cent in the past
financial year.

"Ever since 2006 when we added 98 services per week to the Bendigo line, people have
embraced cheaper fares and extra services in record numbers.

"We've maneuvered the fleet to provide more carriages to some services that are
consistently full, and there are now more than 210 services per week between Bendigo
and Melbourne.

"We also have new carriages being progressively added to the VLocity fleet, so
customers should be starting to see an increase in capacity on some of our peak trains,"
Ms McGinnes said.


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Passengers are encouraged to pick up a new timetable from staffed V/Line stations from
6 November for the latest details.

Downloadable copies of the timetable will be available at vline.com.au from 28 October.

For more information please phone V/Line on 136 196.


Media notes:
The Bendigo and Gippsland lines were the first to receive extra carriages to be
added to existing two-carriage trains. The State Government has provided
funding for 22 extra train carriages, with one carriage to be rolled out across the
state each month for the next 22 months. This means V/Line will be able to run
the popular VLocity trains in multiples of two or three carriages, with the flexibility
to meet varied train needs around regional Victoria. For more information visit
vline.com.au/expanding

In April this year, an extra 186 services between Bendigo and Melbourne started
stopping at the newly refurbished Kangaroo Flat Station.


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