Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Would you believe that on every journey of the Albury to Melbourne train the catering staff close the canteen when the train arrives at Violet Town station, in my electorate, and are then offloaded and driven by car to Seymour, where they climb back on board and re-open the canteen service for the last half of the journey into Melbourne. I hear the laughs on the other side, and I can understand it. Why the absurdity, you ask? Well, the trains buck and rock and roll so badly on the line that some canteen staff have had to have knee reconstructions. Back injuries are also prevalent. Regarding the condition of the Albury to Melbourne and Shepparton to Seymour train lines—the Shepparton people then join the Albury to Melbourne line at Seymour—it is now supposed to be up to ARTC standards. It has been ticked off as a job well done.

The operators also claim that 92 per cent of arrivals are on schedule. In fact, people from Shepparton with specialist medical appointments, particularly the elderly, very frequently take the train to Melbourne the day before, knowing that the likelihood of the train service being too late for their appointment is so great that they inevitably will have that critical appointment rescheduled for, say, six months later. This, of course, is a combination of state and Commonwealth responsibilities. When I took the train from Euroa station a little while ago, it was an hour late arriving. On the way back, the train's electronic doors malfunctioned. We were carried to a station further down the track and had to be taxied back to where we had left our car. This is not uncommon. The conductor said, 'Oh, not again,' as she offloaded us and the other elderly customers at the wrong station at Violet Town, from where we had to be transported back to Euroa.

Since 2009, $730 million has been spent on trying to fix up the Albury to Melbourne section of the track. Why haven't we got it right yet? Why is it ticked off as okay? I have to say that the state is planning to undertake a regional rail strategy. We want to make sure that this line becomes the centre of their intention to have a full upgrade. We want a business case prepared for doing a full upgrade of this line so that modern rolling stock can be used. We can have on-schedule service rather than one that has to see staff offloaded because of the damage the train does to their physical wellbeing.

We have the East West Link monies, which, of course, are no longer to be spent on this project. There is quite a bit of money there and, unfortunately, the only thing with a rural flavour about it that was on the Victorian shopping list sent through to the Commonwealth as alternative spends was the line to Mildura. I want to see this line, the Albury to Melbourne line, which goes through my electorate—the Shepparton to Seymour connection as well—on their list for alternative funding or use of those East West Link moneys. And it needs to happen soon, because it is not right, it is not fair, that my constituents and the constituents next door in Indi are so disadvantaged in the 21st century.