Victorian opposition pledges to halve V/Line fares

The Victorian opposition has pledged to halve V/Line fares for regional public transport trips for four years, if elected at the state election in November.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and shadow public transport minister Danny O’Brien’s announcement on Tuesday morning follows the Coalition’s promise on Sunday to set $2-a-day public transport price caps in metropolitan areas.

Matthew Guy has promised to slash V/Line train fares if elected.Credit: The Age

Planning and transport experts warned on Sunday that the Coalition’s promise to limit myki fares to $2 a day would disproportionately benefit wealthier areas and starve the government of funds needed to improve outer suburban services.

Professor Jago Dodson, director of urban research at RMIT University, said on Sunday free public transport was an “economically regressive policy” and risked worsening social inequalities by benefiting wealthier households.

The opposition has also pledged to make V/Line train replacement bus services free.

Halving V/Line fares would reduce the cost for an adult ticket for a daily on-peak return trip from Ballarat to Melbourne from $45.60 to $22.80, while a Bendigo to Melbourne return trip would drop from $68.80 to $34.40. A Geelong to Melbourne return trip would fall from $27.60 to $13.80.

V/Line commuters on a platform at Southern Cross Station.Credit: The Age

The opposition claimed that under the plan, a daily, on-peak return commuter travelling from Geelong to Melbourne would save $1762 a year, Ballarat to Melbourne $2074 a year and Bendigo to Melbourne $2408 a year.

“For regional Victorians, public transport costs can run into thousands a year. Our plan will cut this in half and allows households to put those savings into what really matters,” Guy said in a statement.

V/Line commuter Nikki Parker said she supported halving fares because she wanted to encourage people to use public transport to get cars off the road, reducing emissions and helping tackle climate change.

Parker said she travels multiple times a week to Melbourne on V/Line from Maryborough in the state’s central-west for her work as a lawyer.

V/Line user Nikki Parker, from Maryborough, at Southern Cross Station on Tuesday.Credit: Lachlan Abbott

“Yes, there’d be a loss of revenue, but at the same time, we should be using money in a wise way so that it’s improving things like climate change,” Parker said.

“And if we can increase people on trains and public transport more generally, then it reduces the cost of our roads, which are far more expensive than our public transport system.”

Geelong commuter Stan Coath, who regularly travels to Melbourne on the train, said he wanted to see the cost of the proposed fare reduction on the state budget.

“I really think in the situation we are in, we should be spending less. Looking after the debt we’ve got,” Coath said.

Guy said the halving of V/Line fares – the estimated cost of which was not disclosed in the party’s announcement – would be possible because a Coalition government, if elected, would reduce the state’s debt.

Coath added he thought the Coalition’s proposed 50 per cent reduction for regional train fares was “not an even balance” with its pledge to reduce metropolitan train fees to a maximum of $2 per day. Currently, a daily adult myki fee is $9.20 for the metro system.

Tree-changer Tamara Reinisch, who was leaving Southern Cross Station after catching the train from Bendigo for work, said she thought fares were currently too expensive.

“It’s cheaper for me to come in by car than it is by train, but I prefer to take the train,” Reinisch said.

The fare for a Geelong to Melbourne return trip would fall from $27.60 to $13.80, if the Coalition is elected.Credit: The Age

Reinisch, who travels to Melbourne for her work as a consultant at least twice a week, said politicians needed to consider the growing population of regional areas, which has become more pronounced since the pandemic hit.

“It’s either that or we create more jobs regionally, where I could be doing my professional services there,” she said.

The opposition’s transport spokesperson said the plan would ease the burden of the rising cost of living and help promote regional tourism.

Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan, who represents the regional city of Bendigo, said: “The Liberals are leaving behind regional Victoria again, but asking us to pay up to 20 times more to use a train than people in Melbourne.

“Previous Liberal-National governments cut regional train lines, closed regional stations and sold off public transport — if he gets the chance, Matthew Guy will do the same.”

The Age’s Victoria’s Agenda project launched on Monday and asked thousands of Victorians what they want political parties and candidates to be talking about as they compete for their vote. It found that transport was a key issue for many voters.

One of the six key questions The Age will ask politicians after surveying the community will be: “What are your plans to deal with population pressures in Melbourne and the regions?”

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