CAFÉ services and baggage checks won’t be returning to Gippsland V/Line trains any time soon.
Following a request to have buffet car facilities on the Bairnsdale rail service and bag checking re-introduced to support senior passengers, the Minister for Transport, Ben Carroll has said neither will be happening.
Gippsland Nationals MPs Tim Bull (Gippsland East) and Danny O’Brien (Gippsland South) say the response is disappointing.
“These are services we have had for decades and now they are gone. In a period when we are meant to be improving services, we are going backwards in certain areas,” Mr Bull said.
“The Minister has advised that to have catering (buffet) facilities, modelling shows ’42 seats would need to be removed on a three-carriage train and 84 seats on a six-carriage train’.
“This is ridiculous – we are not asking for a five-star restaurant, just a cup of tea and either a sandwich or a scone and you should not have to remove 42 seats out of a carriage to achieve this.
“Whoever did the ‘modelling’ needs to go back to the drawing board and have another look.
“It was also stated the checked luggage service will not be introduced on VLocity trains.”
Mr Bull said if VLocity trains were going to be used on long haul journeys like the Bairnsdale line, they needed to be designed for suitability, and if they could not cater for something as simple as a small buffet, then they are not suitable.
“I would not have thought it was that hard. Pull a dozen or so seats out of a carriage, put in a small counter and serve a cuppa and some basic food items,” he said.
Mr O’Brien said Gippsland rail passengers deserve better.
“The Minister’s position makes no sense because the government has just added a buffet car on the long haul VLocity trains on the Albury line – so why should Gippsland miss out?” he said.
“This is an issue that Gippslanders raise with me regularly and the government needs to revisit its position.”
Last year, the state government announced that high-speed VLocity sets will be utilised on all passenger train services on the Gippsland line.
Buffet and checked luggage services are currently available on the Warrnambool and Swan Hill services, which continue to utilise carriages hauled by diesel-electric locomotives.
With the Gippsland line now serviced exclusively by VLocity sets – which contain in-carriage luggage storage facilities, rather than a dedicated luggage van – both services have been removed.
Customers who need special assistance with their luggage, but are not travelling on a service where checked luggage is available, are encouraged to ask V/Line staff for help.
Information about travelling with luggage is available on the V/Line website at vline.com.au/fares-general-info/bikes-luggage-animals
