Gaps between train services can impact livability across regional Victoria, with people in towns like Maryborough disproportionately impacted they did not have a car, an RMIT researcher says.
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Two trains from Maryborough to Melbourne via Ballarat were scheduled today, as well as a coach. That is compared to 27 trains and a coach in Bendigo, said
Senior research fellow Melanie Davern said that, on average, people in Maryborough waited for a train for more than six hours on a weekday, compared to between 30 minutes to an hour in stations around Bendigo and Ballarat.
“That area (Maryborough) is quite disadvantaged, so there’s quite a number of people there who are struggling,” she said.
“If you think about the social, economic and environmental impact of that, you see it has a big impact on the town and people’s ability to see each other, to get around, to get to work, to get an education – all those sorts of things that makes life hard for people.”
Bendigo was also doing better than Shepparton, a growing regional centre, but where there are on average only four services on weekdays.
Dr Davern said that questions about population growth, livability and how regional areas were connected to rail were becoming more important as Melbourne’s population grew.
“There’s the likelihood that people aren’t going to want to fit into the city or that there is going to be this need to increase regional development across Victoria,” she said.
“So the argument is about planning for the future too, because if people want to live outside Melbourne we need to think about how regional Victoria connects to our capital cities.”
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The RMIT research came at a time when few projects had looked at the links between rail connections and livability, Dr Davern said.
While they were not focused on Maryborough, researchers had been talking to people in Shepparton and Benalla, as well as broader areas like the Mallee and the Mitchell Shire.
They were also looking at local government areas in New South Wales and Tasmania.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
