Residents of Paynesville, Eagle Point and Newlands Arm will not see an expansion of timetabled bus services under the State Government.
Following his 2022 pre-election commitment to trial increased bus services for these communities, The Nationals’ Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, wrote to the Minister for Public Transport, Gabrielle Williams, seeking the same outcome.
“The intention was to trial increased services for a set period to align buses with the V/Line timetable. This would also have served the dual purpose of offering more transport links for those living in Newlands Arm, Eagle Point and Paynesville,” Mr Bull said.
“When you have a trial, you can then assess patronage levels and determine if the usage is at a level strong enough to make the service permanent.
“Frustratingly, the Minister claims that the existing schedule is sufficient for current and likely demands, so there is no recognition of the population explosion in these areas.”
Mr Bull said he was sick to death of country people being inadequately served and cited the removal of buffet services on four-hour train journeys and ignoring the community’s public transport requests.
“They simply had to order the new carriages with this provision but have determined not to do it, so it then makes it very difficult to re-implement that service without a massive cost of carriage renovations,” Mr Bull said.
“We want more travel options, not restrictions, on the public transport network.
“The Minister is completely out of touch with what public transport users in this region need, and I urge Minister Williams to reconsider these matters.”
