ONE in ten Bendigo V/Line services did not run in December, the latest Department of Transport performance data shows.
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Only 90.6 per cent of services were delivered on the Bendigo line last month, compared to 97.4 per cent in November and 96.2 per cent in October.
Punctuality was also down to 86.1 per cent in December, while about 9.4 per cent of Bendigo V/Line services were cancelled.
Read more: More V/Line train strikes possible
That cancellation figure was the highest it had been since January 2016, when 10.9 per cent of services were cancelled. In November, 2019, only 2.6 per cent of Bendigo V/Line services were cancelled, while that figure dropped as low as 1.8 per cent in January last year.
"Extreme weather conditions in December impacted on-time performance on the Bendigo line, and protected industrial action led to cancellations network-wide," a V/Line spokesperson said.
But the significant drop in the Bendigo V/Line services' reliability and punctuality for December was reflected across all of the regional lines.
Only 90.7 per cent of V/Line services were delivered in December, while only 85 per cent of services were on time.
That was compared to the November performance data, which showed an average reliability of 97.2 per cent and punctuality of 89 per cent.
The Victorian Department of Transport's head of transport services Jeroen Weimar said there were a number of factors that affected the latest performance data.
"December saw our regional passengers significantly impacted by speed restrictions as a result of the extreme heat and protected industrial action by staff affecting all lines," Mr Weimar said.
There were no train services on the Bendigo, Swan Hill, and Echuca lines on December 11, after 98 per cent of V/Line staff voted in favour of industrial action.
Ballarat, Maryborough, and Ararat services were also cancelled on December 12.
The Rail, Tram, and Bus Union confirmed there could be further industrial action on regional services in the coming weeks, with the union yet to reach an agreement with the state government.
The next bargaining meeting is scheduled to take place in the coming days.
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