TRAIN services on the V/Line Bendigo line last month were more reliable and timely than the 2018 average, and compared favourably with the previous January.

But trains only ran for part of the month.

Coaches replaced trains for all or part of the journey on the Bendigo line from January 12 – 27 to allow for track, structure and station improvements.

“On the days trains were running, we saw an almost 12 per cent improvement in on-time performance for January, compared to the same time last year,” a V/Line spokesperson said.

A total of 87.3 percent of services on the line were on time this January, compared with 75.4 per cent 12 months prior.

V/Line measures train performance against the number of train services delivered each month.

RELATED: Coaches to replace trains on Bendigo line in January

The V/Line spokesperson said the improvement was partly because of new extreme heat timetables.

On days when the temperature is expected to exceed 36 degrees Celsius, V/Line allows extra journey times for services departing or arriving between midday and 8pm.

Train speeds are reduced and some services are replaced by coaches for all or part of the journey.

EARLIER: Reliability and timeliness were higher than averages for 2018 on the Bendigo V/Line, and much higher than the previous January.

A total of 87.3 percent of services on the line were on time this January, while 98.2 percent of services were delivered.

But punctuality and reliability have dropped on average on the Bendigo line since October 2014.

Read more: V/Line reliability, punctuality improved but not meeting targets

V/Line delivered nearly five percent more of its scheduled services on the Bendigo line during January 2019 than in the January of 2018.

During January of 2019, 93.4 percent of scheduled services ran on the Bendigo line.

Just 75.4 percent of services were delivered on time in January 2018.

Bendigo’s results for January 2019 were higher than the statewide average. 

Across Victoria’s V/Line network 95.4 percent of scheduled services ran, 2.8 percent less than on the Bendigo line.

The Bendigo line was 0.9 percent more timely than statewide, with 87.3 percent of services running on time compared to 86.4 percent across the network.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.