Victoria’s public transport system is struggling to cope with the added number of commuters now taking advantage of the state Government’s free ride as queues and crowded stations are stretching services to the limit. [VIDEO]



Posted by gccmelb

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24 Comments

  1. Vline doesn’t put extra services for the footy though.

    At least not on the Traralgon line.

  2. ClearlyAThrowawai on

    Hopefully this is the kick in the arse the gov needs to start increasing services.

    Wishful fucking thinking, I know.

  3. Honestly who died and made Daniel Bowen the only spokesperson for pubic transport users.

  4. PumpinSmashkins on

    It’s school holidays and Easter. Of course it’s packed. Last week was absolutely fine even during peak. 

  5. crumplechicken on

    Now do a headline story on the Monash freeway being congested almost every day.

  6. Brabochokemightwork on

    People would use PT if they made it affordable for all Socioeconomic statuses

    I just wish Federal/State government builds a ultra fast train that can get you from Ballarat to Melbourne in under 35mins

  7. As soon as they made the ‘free public transport’ announcement, it was immediately obvious that we were going to see issues like this.

    I don’t think eliminating fares is the solution just yet. Once this fuel crisis is over, I would prefer to see them reinstate the normal fares and use the money to instead start actually improving the network (frequency, coverage, etc).

    Maybe after we make those much needed improvements we can then look into removing fares permanently, but for now the money is much better off going elsewhere into the network.

  8. AlbionLoveDen on

    I think this is fucking great! There’s a whole heap of Melbourne long weekend people leaving to spend their $$ in regional Vic. Without free travel, most of these people would have either stayed home, or driven anyway but spending way less. This is the second biggest internal tourism weekend of the year, and no doubt countless tourism operators would have been against the wall without the leg up.

  9. Isn’t it good that people use public transport? Gets car congestion off the roads. Why is this being framed negatively?

  10. Thick-Insect on

    its good if the trains are full. Better full than half empty.

    It’s kind of weird that demand has gone up for Vline at all tbh, it was already insanely cheap for the distance you can travel. Like, the fact you could get pretty much wherever you wanted in the state for $11 was already so cheap, if you weren’t doing it before I don’t think it being free would change your mind.

  11. CurrentlyCurious on

    I think the headline is an exaggeration given the arguments raised by everyone here, but if it ignites a conversation about increasing service frequency then let the media go for it I reckon