Public Transport Fares Lower for Outer Suburbs, Country

A Fare Go

The Fare Go package takes the next step - cutting the cost of travel on our public transport networks.

Every public transport user who travels in Zone 3 and anywhere in regional Victoria would have their travel bills slashed by up to $725 per year under a future Bracks Government.

If re-elected the government would roll out a five-year, $94.1 million plan to cut public transport fares from 4 March next year including:

· Abolishing Metropolitan Zone 3 and replacing it with an extended Zone 2 region;
· Reducing the cost of all V/Line train and bus tickets by an average of 20 per cent;
· Reducing local bus fares on the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas; and
· Placing a further six outer-suburban V/Line stations into the Zone 2 pricing system

Progress in the last seven years

Since 1999 the Bracks Government has:

· Created a new Sunday Saver ticket, providing cheaper all-day travel on Sundays across all three metropolitan zones.

· Extended the availability of concession fares to include Health Care Card holders.

· Cut the price of a Tertiary Student Concession Card to come into line with the cost of primary/secondary concessions.

· Extended the metropolitan train network to Watergardens (Sydneham) with a further extension to Craigieburn currently in progress.

· Opened new railway stations at Grovedale (Marshall) and Deakin University (Warrnambool).

· Undertaken the biggest upgrade of the country rail network in over 120 years, reversing years of underinvestment.

· Extended the tram network to Box Hill, Docklands and Vermont South, and launched the Think Tram program to improve tram travel times and reliability.

· Introduced more than 370 new and refurbished trains, including 38 new high speed V’locity trains and nearly 100 new trams onto the tracks.

· Extended the operating hours of trains and trams on Friday and Saturday nights by an hour so the last services now leaves between 1.00am and 1.30am.

· Put more than 5 million kilometres of new bus services into our public transport network, including Smart Buses.

· Upgraded more than 80 transport interchanges to provide better connections between different forms of public transport.

· Managed the Southern Cross Station at Spencer Street redevelopment which is now a world class station for Victoria.

· Employed more than 300 extra front line staff on the public transport network to increase security and assist passengers.

· Established the Public Transport Ombudsman to conduct independent scrutiny of public transport complaints.

· Developed a new training scheme to provide an additional 180 new Victorian train drivers.

· Encouraged more environmentally friendly transport options through Travel Smart, which encourages participants to consider options such as public transport, cycling, carpooling and walking.

· Improved security at train stations including installation of CCTV, distress buttons on all trains, better lighting at railway stations and transport interchanges and roving security staff after 9 pm.

· Provided an additional 400 regional rail services every week as part of the new V/Line timetable.

· Reopened regional train services to Ararat and Bairnsdale.

But there is still more that needs to be done to improve Victoria’s public transport network.

Earlier this year we outlined a massive 10-year, $10.5 billion investment program to further improve our transport infrastructure.