No end to Bairnsdale line’s poor performance
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No end to Bairnsdale line’s poor performance

The crisis in VLine has hit rock bottom with the Bairnsdale line recording another month of failing to run on time.
VLine released February performance data that showed Bairnsdale trains again failed to meet the 92 per cent punctuality target, with just 86.2 per cent running on time.
The Gippsland line was the worst performing short distance service recording only 73.6 per cent punctuality.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, said Bairnsdale trains haven’t met the 92 per cent punctuality target once in the more than five years since Daniel Andrews was elected.
“Unreliable and late train services make it harder for the people of East Gippsland to get to medical appointments, to connect with other transport links and see family and friends.
“The people of East Gippsland deserve reliable, timely and comfortable services which connect them to the city but many have had to adopt the expensive contingency of travelling the day before and incurring overnight accommodation costs,” Mr Bull said.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien, said better public transport was a priority for people in Sale and Rosedale. 
“Locals have been putting up with slow and unreliable trains for years and Labor has been slow and unreliable in its efforts to address the problem,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Even the Gippsland Regional Rail Revival project, which is predominately funded by the Federal Government, has taken the Andrews Labor Government three years to get started.
“Gippslanders deserve better.”
Mr O’Brien said a dedicated rail line for Gippsland trains through the south-eastern suburbs was a priority project to provide Gippsland with faster and more reliable trains into the future.
The VLine performance data revealed every short distance service across the state– Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and Gippsland lines – failed to meet reliability and punctuality targets. 
Shadow Minister for Regional Public Transport Steph Ryan said four of VLine’s six long distance services also failed to meet punctuality targets.
“The Andrews Labor Government is failing to fix the worsening problems in VLine,” Ms Ryan said.
“Ripping $149 million from VLine’s budget at a time when most regional lines are constantly failing to meet punctuality targets will only make the problems worse.”
VLine’s reliability target is for at least 96 per cent of scheduled services to run. Meanwhile, 92 per cent of services must arrive on time (within six minutes for short distance services and within 11 minutes for long distance services) to meet punctuality targets.