Transport minister Jacinta Allan has said a decision is yet to be made in the tender process for Victoria’s public transport fare system.
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The member for Bendigo West said reports Public Transport Victoria had inked a new deal with current myki operator NTT Data over rival Cubic – the company responsible for London’s Oyster card – were untrue.
“The tender process is still underway, no contracts have been signed, no final decisions have been made,” she said.
She said contracts for myki operation would be finalised in the the coming months.
Ms Allan was at Bendigo station on Friday morning to spruik transport funding announcements from last week’s state budget, saying the $16 million refurbishment of Bendigo and Eaglehawk stations would improve accessibility for commuters with disabilities.
“It's not really acceptable in today's environment that people with mobility issues, people with accessibility issues, find it a challenge to access the train services here at Bendigo,” she said.
She said cash set aside to plan new infrastructure would improve the reliability of services to and from the region.
At least nine Bendigo line services were delayed by an average of almost 20 minutes in the first three days of May.
City of Greater Bendigo chief executive officer Craig Niemann welcomed the funding boost, describing the station upgrades as “a win for greater Bendigo”, and a stimulation for growth in Eaglehawk.
Ms Allan was also critical of Tuesday’s federal budget, saying treasurer Scott Morrison’s economic plan “did not change one thing for Victoria or for regional Victoria”, with the state continuing to receive about 9 per cent of national infrastructure funding.
She also said money announced for Melbourne’s Metro Rail Project was not a new announcement and was already earmarked for Victoria by former prime minister, Tony Abbott.
“There's no difference when it comes to investing in public transport between Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott,” she said.