The duplication of the Ballarat train line and a push for renewable energy are at the forefront of the Greens’ campaign for the state election.
Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber and the party’s candidate for the upper house seat of Western Victoria, Lloyd Davies, visited Ballan at the weekend to meet supporters ahead of the November poll.
Mr Barber said it was clear more trains for the Ballarat line were needed more than ever.
“V/Line put a plan to the government at the beginning of their term to invest in extra services for this line and for this to be possible, the government needs to provide more infrastructure,” he said.
“The new Regional Rail Link will allow one extra morning service, but until they duplicate the train line to Melbourne, Moorabool still won’t get frequent services in peak hour.”
From July, after major signalling and commissioning works are complete, Ballarat trains will progressively use the new Regional Rail Link tracks from Sunshine to Southern Cross Station for the first time.
This means Ballarat trains will no longer get caught behind Metro trains between Sunshine and Southern Cross Station, improving service reliability and enabling more V/Line services in the future.
Ballarat trains will also have dedicated regional platforms at Footscray and Sunshine railway stations.
Mr Barber said the services were adequate heading to Melbourne in the morning but, because of the single line, were infrequent towards Ballarat.
“The V/Line is no longer just for day trips or to visit the grandkids … the government needs to keep up with the growth they’ll be getting along the line,” he said.
Mr Barber said a grassroots approach and talking to voters one-on-one was a strong way to drive home key policies.
“We’ve already doorknocked almost 1000 homes in Ballarat and now we’re branching out with a team of keen Ballan locals,” he said.
