It’s been fantastic to see the enthusiastic community response to the Victorian Government’s announcement for four new weekend passenger rail services coming into Maryborough in the morning and returning to Melbourne in the afternoon on both days and stopping all stations, within the 2022-2023 Budget.
Clearly these added services will bring a strong boost to tourism and hospitality and support industry recovery which was so badly impacted by Covid-19. Also, residents are already seeing the added flexibility these services will offer in terms of weekend travel to Ballarat and Melbourne.
It’s always good when Government announcements move into implementation and last week Council met with officers from the Department of Transport (DOT) to start the detailed planning for the commencement of these added services. There was clear understanding about the objectives driving the added services and some discussion on the planning required.
Council raised two key issues which we were able to discuss in some detail with DOT. We lobbied for the activation of the Myki ticketing system and added opening hours for the Ticket office at Maryborough Station. We think this added access and flexibility is really important to support the additional services and we know our community is keen for Myki convenience.
We also proposed that Government and V/Line marketing resources be engaged to showcase the wonderful attractions of our Shire, region and the key destinations of each station. DOT readily agreed to consider both issues.
DOT were unable to currently commit to a commencement date but certainly are working towards that.
