EXTRACT FROM
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES
HANSARD

Ms SHING
Eastern Victoria

ADJOURNMENT
Gippsland public transport

Wednesday, 1 November 2017

Gippsland public transport
Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (17:40) — The matter which I wish to raise this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, in the other place, and I refer to disruptions which have occurred recently and which will occur as part of upgrades along the Cranbourne–Dandenong route, as well as the Gippsland line, as part of maintenance and upgrades. I note that recent disruptions and delays have caused significant inconvenience to commuters along the Gippsland line.
We have in fact improved and increased the number of services that are being provided for Gippsland commuters who use the line often as a means to travel within the region and not simply as a commuter corridor down to Melbourne, as occurs in many
other parts of the network. In this regard I note that
with the replacement of buses throughout the Cranbourne–Dandenong part of the line, as well as with the changes that will occur to the timetable as works occur along the Gippsland line, there is in fact some confusion around when and how services will operate. To this end I would ask that the minister make sure that Public Transport Victoria and V/Line can provide regular updates to commuters using social media, as it does already, but again providing that information to the best extent possible in real time, as well as making sure that additional bus services can be provided to people as part of our broader commitment to connectivity in the regional network development plan.
These things, as far as intermodal connectivity and transport within the region go, will provide us with the means necessary to continue to grow and to provide the best opportunities for employees, for young mums — often with strollers and pushers — and for our older travellers, who are often frail and have particular physical needs, to access buses which are disability compliant and which provide better access.
In this regard I also ask the minister to provide ongoing information and updates to public transport users throughout Gippsland to make sure that they can be as aware as possible of disability compliant buses and access to vehicles with low floor or modified fit outs to enable people in wheelchairs to travel on buses to the greatest extent possible, rather than simply using wheelchair enabled taxis, the cost of which is met within the cost of a train ticket or bus ticket. We are enabling public transport to be more broadly available to people within the Gippsland area, including as our work goes on to upgrade the Gippsland rail line as part of the $530 million package secured and committed to by the Andrews Labor government.