Two days of free travel will not fix deeper problems within the regional transport system, The Nationals’ Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad said today.
Every V/Line service, including the Bendigo and Seymour services, was affected over two days this week following a nationwide Telstra outage which left regional Victorians stranded.
“I had people contact me who couldn’t get to important medical appointments in Melbourne. People were put out with plans for work and study, and tourism was affected during school holidays. Commuters were stuck in Melbourne with no way back after a full day’s work,” Ms Broad said.
“This is completely unacceptable. If a telecommunications outage can bring the entire regional rail network to a standstill, the government needs to explain why there is no system in place to keep people moving.
“What assurances do regional Victorians have that this will not happen again?”
Ms Broad has requested a briefing from the Transport Minister.
Ms Broad said money should be spent on making sure there is a reliable and resilient network right across the state.
“Regional Victoria was at a standstill while transport services in metropolitan Melbourne continued to operate.”
Ms Broad said the announcement of two days of free travel next week was not the answer.
“Every time something goes wrong in this state, the premier thinks ‘free will fix it’. But this is doing nothing to address the underlying problem.
“They are hoping people will forget by the time the election comes around in November, but people will not forget being stranded in the middle of winter because the V/Line system has collapsed.”
News reports have also revealed that Telstra had been warned by federal government agencies and academics for months that it was vulnerable to the type of issue that cause the nationwide outage.
Ms Broad said regional Victorians had endured years of unreliable services and deserved better.
“Regional Victorians already put up with fewer services, longer travel times and constant disruption. They shouldn’t also have to wonder whether the whole network will collapse every time something goes wrong.”
The Nationals and Liberals are committed to a Fair Share Guarantee, locking in at least 25 per cent of the state’s infrastructure spending for regional Victoria.
Media Contact: Linda Barrow 0484 303 764 linda.barrow@parliament.vic.gov.au
