A signal failure at Sunshine station on Tuesday left people stranded, then facing hours of delays as they battled their way home after V/Line struggled to find replacement coaches at short notice.

They had advised people to find alternatives. Really? Image you were a school-aged child left standing on the platform in Melbourne (and the anger of the parents faced with distressed, stranded children). Or somebody without the means to Uber it home nearly 200km.  What then?

There have long been calls for a better service on the Bendigo line. But Bendigo remains down the list of cities to get faster trains, with Ballarat and Geelong first cabs off the rank in the Labor fast rail plan, coincidentally also announced on Tuesday.

What are we waiting for? Better rail infrastructure? More staffing? If that’s what’s needed then it’s time that became a priority. No more political handballing. No more excuses. 

With the Federal Government looking to implement visas that will force more people into country areas, the provision of reliable public transport is imperative.

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Rail travel helps people commute to work and events in metropolitan areas. It can take the pressure off the already over-crowded Melbourne freeway system and help to cut emissions by providing an alternative to driving a car into the gridlock of peak-hour traffic. 

It can also curtail the ever-expanding suburban sprawl by putting rural living within reach. But it’s going to be difficult to convince people that moving to the country is a good idea if they can’t get a train to the city in under a couple of hours. And a guarantee that the service will actually run.

Too often V/Line are Tweeting about service delays, or apologising for passenger service slip-ups, or passengers being put onto buses because of technical faults or staff shortages.

It’s not good enough. We deserve trains that are that are fast and run on time. Then more of us would be likely to use them.

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