A fast, safe and reliable train service between Bendigo and the state’s capital has never been more imperative.

But in recent weeks the much-vaunted V/Line service has failed miserably on all three counts.

Passengers travelling to and from Melbourne for business, pleasure, study or medical treatment have repeatedly been left in the lurch.

Instead of enjoying a quick two-hour trip on a train, they have been forced to wait cluelessly on platforms before enduring hours on a cramped bus.

The result is missed meetings, missed appointments and even missed flights.

Compounding the understandable frustration for those impacted is the abysmal communication of not just V/Line but the state government.

Why has it taken so long for V/Line and the government to get their act together and offer explanations for the disruptions?

More worryingly, why is it that V/Line has known for two years that its VLocity class trains can, in some instances, fail to trigger boom gates and the problem has not been fixed?

The belated offer of free travel on V/Line trains and buses from this Saturday through until the end of the month is little consolation.

Embattled Transport Minister and Bendigo East MP Jacinta Allan admitted as much yesterday in a press release when she described it as merely a “small acknowledgement of the frustration recent service disruptions have caused”.

Unsurprisingly, the same press release  laid the blame for the faults on the former Liberal-National government, saying “cuts in the tens of millions of dollars” had left “the operator on its knees”.

Some leadership that shows. If the Andrews government knew the network was in such bad shape, why did it take until yesterday to announce an “independent review of the operational capacity of V/Line”?

The Bendigo lifestyle, which its residents hold so dear, is inextricably linked to the city’s proximity to Melbourne and all it has to offer in terms of services and events.

An inexperienced government has been derailed by this crisis and has a lot of ground to make up to get back on track.

- Ross Tyson, deputy editor