I knew it was a new service this week and allowed myself plenty of time but it still was not enough. I am vision impaired and rely on public transport. This morning I had to catch a taxi and I cannot afford to be driving around in taxis just to make appointments on time. 

I wasn’t alone in my displeasure. As I was waiting for the bus home in Mitchell Street, there were many other people confused and some were really angry because they had been waiting for an hour for their bus to come. 

Some services have been decreased and some streets in the bus routes wiped out. I simply cannot believe it. We were all saying that we’d just got used to the last bus service and now they change it to one that is absolutely ludicrous. These angry passengers were also late for appointments and late getting home. They were unsure of times, where the bus went and which route the bus continued onto. This is unacceptable. 

We were discussing how the elderly would cope with this debacle. I also wonder how the severely disabled would be able to manage with it as well. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to drive a car or afford a taxi. 

I simply cannot understand why many bus stops have been removed, certain streets omitted from certain routes and times changed – in some cases with less buses running on certain services. 

The people I spoke to today were angry and rightly so. I am personally enraged at now having to walk longer distances to get where I need to go when I suffer from a scoliosis and have an injured knee.

The letter from Ivan Kitt (Friday, January 22) shows the failure of politicians to ensure the fast-train concept operates without disruptions.

The real reason the railway service is facing difficulties is because politicians threw away a highly-trained workforce of 26,000.

This workforce included the highly renowned and world-recognised apprenticeship program and closed a unique double line operation that existed between Bendigo and Melbourne.

Politicians found in the decade 1950 to 1960 that rather than invest in new technologies and upgrading the organisational methods, they relied on outdated and dilapidated machinery. Apart from the period of dieselisation program carried out between 1952 and 1965.

This created a vicious circle of poor service and lower patronage as a direct result of the railways shabby state at the time.

Politicians shifted their focus and priorities away from public transport to providing roads and facilities for car owners, discarded those workers with specialised skills who had kept the railway system operating safely and effectively with poor equipment, poor pay, poor conditions and poorly inadequate technological advances.

What’s changed today? After travelling to Spain, a very hot country, and noting how the train service from Madrid to Barcelona takes only 2.5 hours for the through train at speeds of 300km/h – what is wrong with our system?

Those 26,000 employees who represented a voice of the people in this state of Victoria, representing organisations in their community, some mayors, shire presidents, councillors, others in sporting clubs and as volunteers, who provided strong representation to politicians.

Do you have an opinion? Send a letter to the editor to addynews@fairfaxmedia.com.au or PO Box 61, Bendigo, 3552.