The V/Line may need to run more frequent train and bus services to cope with an influx of new passengers encouraged to ride the regional transport network when fares are drastically discounted next month.

Trips anywhere around the state on a V/Line service will cost a maximum of $9.20 a day from March 31, under a $203 million Andrews government election promise to bring regional public transport fares in line with those in Melbourne.

There are concerns V/Line will struggle to deal with a large jump in passengers. Credit:Darrian Traynor 

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said he welcomed the fare reduction but was concerned that extra passengers enticed by the discount would struggle to fit onto already crowded V/Line services.

Morton said Geelong and Ballarat trains were already overcrowded on some services, particularly on weekends, forcing passengers to stand up on long journeys.

“We don’t want the situation where we tell people: here’s a great cheap train services, and then it falls over in a heap,” he said. “If we are going to see that V/line service truly compete with the Princes Highway … it’ll probably need a significant upgrade to the timetable.”

The new flat daily fares – $9.20 on weekdays and $6.70 on weekends, with concession fares half that – are a significant discount from existing ticket prices. Passengers currently pay $27.60 for a weekday return journey from Geelong to Melbourne and $45.60 from Ballarat, while a return ticket to Swan Hill is $92.

The fare cut comes as V/Line passenger numbers gradually recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, with travel demand last week back to 83 per cent of 2019 levels, when 22.4 million passengers used the service.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Vik Sharma said his union was also concerned about whether V/Line was prepared for a sudden increase in passenger numbers.

“We will continue to work with V/Line and state government through these concerns to ensure adequate service and staffing is present to keep everyone safe,” Sharma said.

The Public Transport Users Association says Geelong and Ballarat trains are already overcrowded. Credit:Darrian Traynor 

Monash University’s chair of public transport Graham Currie estimated the fare cut would spark a 20 per cent bump in patronage across the network. That may cause overcrowding in a few cases but in general would help fill up seats that have been empty since the pandemic, he said.

“It will encourage more regional rail tourism travel, and some [people] driving to Melbourne will think again about using the train as it’s so cheap,” Currie said.

When Germany introduced a nine-euro ($13.90) ticket for three months last year allowing unlimited travel on all local and regional trains, medium-haul rail trips (100 to 300 kilometres) jumped 64 per cent above 2019 levels.

An Andrews government spokeswoman said V/Line was working on passenger demand forecasts to decide whether it would need extra services in response to the fare reduction. Spare capacity on a number of services would also absorb the expected increase in passengers, they said.

“The regional fare cap will transform the way Victorians travel across the state, bringing affordable and accessible public transport to more people,” she said.

Along with the fare reduction, the Andrews government pledged before last November’s election to order 23 more VLocity regional trains and run more frequent weekend V/Line trains.

But those service improvements are more than a year away, with election policy documents suggesting the Geelong line upgrade would start on July 1 next year and that other lines would follow in mid-2025.

Information published by V/Line shows that before the pandemic, most peak-hour Geelong and Ballarat trains were standing room only at some points in their journey.

Morton said overcrowding on those lines was exacerbated by commuters living in Melbourne’s outer-west, who still relied on V/Line trains after the Andrews government failed to deliver its 2018 election promise to extend the Metro network to Melton and Wyndham Vale.

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