Train overcrowding shows infrastructure shortfalls, V/Line commuters say
Lisa Waller regularly deals with overcrowding on the Ballarat train. (ABC Ballarat: Alexander Darling)
For university professor Lisa Waller, riding the Ballarat train to and from Melbourne has been like having a front-row seat to Victoria's evolution.
When she began in 2007, a round trip cost her $42. It's now no more than $10.60 on weekdays.
Back then, a one-way trip was 56 minutes. It's now closer to 90.
And overcrowding is now common, an issue brought into sharp focus for Professor Waller a few months ago.
A record 23.8 million trips were taken on V/Line services in the year ending June 30, 2024. (ABC Ballarat: Alexander Darling)
"There were two young neurodiverse people on the train, and [they had] anxiety … over how they would actually negotiate their way to their door," she said.
"They kind of found each other in the crowd, and people helped them get to the door.
"They'd been pushed to the middle of the carriage, and they were basically panicking about how they would make their way back to the door — it was packed so solid.
"So people around them, myself included, had to calm them down … that was really distressing to see."
On Sunday, new timetables came into effect for five regional Victorian lines, aimed at addressing how busy they had become.
But Professor Waller thinks infrastructure upgrades are the answer to the overcrowding problem.
And she's not alone.
Daniel Bowen shared this photo of his trip from Melbourne to Ballarat on Saturday, November 17. (Supplied: Daniel Bowen)
Expanding city
Daniel Bowen, spokesperson for Victoria's Public Transport Users Association, is also familiar with overcrowding.
He recently took a train to Ballarat that had three carriages instead of six, and noticed people having to stand or sit on the floor on their bags due to the crowding.
"It's great to see more people on trains, but V/Line and the government need to keep a very close eye on that and deliver capacity upgrades to make sure the system can cope," he said.
This year Victoria has been rolling out VLocity trains to replace its five-carriage locomotive-hauled V/Line services.
V/Line has been rolling out three-carriage VLocity trains on the Warrnambool line. (ABC South West Vic: Jean Bell)
On the Warrnambool line, these trains have been only three-carriages long due to the station platforms not being long enough for six-carriage services.
The three-carriage services have 222 seats.
Mr Bowen said while the timetabling changes on the Geelong and Warrnambool lines would help address overcrowding, platform upgrades were also needed.
"Patronage will continue to grow," he said.
"In the shorter term they could look at running additional services, and we understand that's what the plan is for some of the V/Line network, but where there are limitations and they can only run three-carriage trains they really should be looking at station upgrades."
There are currently 22 train stations in regional Victoria with platforms shorter than 159 metres — the length needed to accommodate six-carriage VLocity trains.
These include Warrnambool, Camperdown, Drouin, Malmsbury and Heathcote Junction.
A total of 23.8 million trips were taken on the V/Line network in the year ending June 30, a record.
Long-term plans
In a statement, a Department of Transport spokesperson said it was continuing to invest in the regional rail network.
"The $650 million Melton Line Upgrade is expected to be completed in 2028 and will enable the rollout of nine-carriage VLocity trains, increasing capacity on the line by 50 per cent," they said.
Level crossing removal and station works on the Melton line project are underway as of this week.
The department spokesperson said more than 70,000 sleepers were upgraded on the Warrnambool line ahead of the VLocity trains being introduced, and that further upgrades would be considered in the future.
Planning is also underway for trains to run every 40 minutes on the Ballarat line to Wendouree between 8am–9pm on weekends.
Many people rely on train travel for work and medical appointments. (ABC Ballarat: Alexander Darling)
The spokesperson said more than 97 per cent of V/Line's services ran as scheduled in the past year and the department had also completed a new train washing facility in Bendigo and was upgrading its Footscray Maintenance Facility to improve performance.
Ultimately, commuters like Professor Waller said they hoped the state could be more ambitious with its upgrade schedule.
"More trains and bigger trains on the weekends will make everybody's life better, and obviously V/Line's only got the infrastructure they've got — they've been building sidings where they can do more passing of trains," she said.
"But until we have electrification out to Melton or arguably Bacchus Marsh and the line is duplicated all the way, I think what they can do with the timetable is really limited."