Train services on the Ballarat line are among the most reliable in the state with performance levels at their highest since April.
Latest V/Line figures show 98.5 per cent of Ballarat line services were delivered in August, up on the previous month.
Chief executive James Pinder said it was always pleasing to see an increase but there was still some work to be done to tighten up arrival times.
“It’s really good to see reliability on the Ballarat line has exceeded the 96 per cent target each month for the past year,” Mr Pinder said.
“On-time performance has dropped slightly to 86.7 per cent compared with July so that is something we need to take a closer look at.
“Of the 975 trains that operated for the month on the Ballarat line, 858 arrived at their destination on time.”
Mr Pinder said one of the main reasons for delays to Ballarat line services last month was some trains stopping at stations longer than scheduled to allow passengers time to board and depart their service.
“There’s a lot of work going on to improve dwell times at stations,” he said. “This includes station announcements from staff to encourage passengers to spread out along the platform and use all available doors when boarding to help ensure a train departs on time.”
Work is under way on the $518 million Ballarat Line upgrade, which will deliver more frequent and reliable services to Ballarat passengers by duplicating the track from Deer Park to Melton.
An extra 18 trains on the Ballarat line have been introduced since the end of August.
Information: www.ptv.vic.gov.au
