Figures released this week back that up.

Public Transport Victoria confirmed that the number of Bendigo line trains arriving on time during February was the lowest since mid-2018, dipping below 85 per cent.

One-in-ten services was cancelled - the worst result for four years.

Read more: Bendigo V/Line reliability, punctuality drops in February: performance data

As is always the case, weather, animals, trespassers and staff illness all played a part.

Track, signal and train faults were also an all-too-common feature.

Each delay, service interruption or cancellation is met with a mix of anger and weary resignation.

The weariness is a product of years of promises from Victorian governments and various V/Line officials that services will improve.

Huge amounts of money are pumped into the system each year, but key performance indicators - such as punctuality and reliability - continue to be volatile.

Talk of even greater funding continues as officials in Victoria and Canberra debate just how to build a rail line to the Melbourne Airport.

As has been reported over several years, patronage continues to grow.

But for regular commuters trying to get to work and school, there must be a debate going on about how much disruption is enough.

When the system works well then travelling is easy, especially with improved mobile coverage along the line making a stable connection to the internet possible.

But any problems create the need to rearrange plans and offer apologies for another late arrival at the office or home.

The train is an increasingly important social and economic link between central Victoria and Melbourne, and it is up to V/Line and the State government to make improvements.

Given the amount of work done over such a long period, it seems a mammoth task to lift the quality of the service and meet passengers' basic expectations.