Bacchus Marsh Regional Meeting Outcomes!

I have a number of things to mention as outcomes of the PTV Regional Meeting these include: the intention of the meeting, acknowledging the attendees, and outcomes. The intention of the meeting was to discuss the Regional Planning rather than to address peoples concerns over the issued created by the timetable change on the 21st of June. While this Planning is fantastic and deserves to be acknowledge as people of Bacchus Marsh had a chance to have their voices heard. The unfortunate result of this is that people of Bacchus Marsh still don’t feel heard on the turmoil in their lives due to the change of the timetable. Planning relates to what will happen in the future, rather than what can be done NOW! Now for PTV is over the next 5 years…. Despite this I did manage to preserve with the timetabling issues and I hope this has been heard. It was wonderful to see a number of local residents, at least one journalist (student), representatives of the Local Government, State Government and Federal Government. As there are reports that these people are doing nothing I am going to highlight here that this is not the case. I know Don Nardella worked to get this meeting and that action enable our voices to be heard. So thanks. Indeed I thank all who attended acknowledging this is an important issue. A special thanks goes to Cr. Tonia Dudzik for waiting for me to emerge from my meeting to acknowledge my efforts and give her support. What are really important are the outcomes. With regard to the formal forum, with the broad agenda, I missed this due to me being in a meeting with two representatives from V/Line, one local and the other from Planning Department, and a representative from PTV. However, I heard that while people got to express their issues and concerns and what they would like to see, an undertone of dissatisfaction was present. I would venture to consider that this is due to the element of brushing aside the real issues people want dealt with NOW! Or at the very least acknowledged! I hope I was able to get this across in my meeting. In the meeting I made it very clear I was not there as an individual, I was representing close to 500 residents of Bacchus Marsh and I wanted answers. I expressed my mortification at the claim they had not heard of or seen the petition! Considering it had been posted on V/Line Facebook, provided to V/Line, PTV, Don Nardella, Mayor Paul Tatchell, The Premier Daniel Andrews MP and Minister for Transport Jacinta Allan MP, I can only ask where the communication system is falling down…. It is no wonder it takes so long for things to happen… Oh well they did take a copy of it last night! Ignorance no more! I preserved with ‘something needs to be done now’, and it was finally decided that whilst it is too difficult to change the timetable (indeed I accept they are working on improving it and the infra structural changes that have occurred still need to be adjusted too) it is possible to consider options. What we have settled on is they will look into the possibility of using coaches to address the gaps in peak hour service, this has not been promised. If they manage to do this I am hoping it will be instigated in a couple of weeks. Apparently it is not possible to do any faster. I have argued for coaches from Melbourne express to Bacchus Marsh via Sunshine. To reduce the gap in services, from Melbourne to Bacchus Marsh in the afternoon peak hours. I anticipate if this goes ahead it will also assist reduce the overcrowding due to the fact that the people will use the coaches reduces the number attempting to board the trains. Fingers crossed! With regards to Sunshine peak hour gap, this coach is going to have minimal impact. However it appears indirect services from Sunshine to Bacchus Marsh can be achieved and V/Line has agreed to do a flyer providing information on how this can be done with minimal disruption. I know this is not ideal, by a long shot, but it is a step in the right direction. I would like to think this flyer would be out within a week! Keep your eyes open Sunshine travellers. Re overcrowding, sorry folks, the news is not great. Beside the potential for some reduction due to the coaches, there is not likely to be any improvement in the near future. I directly asked about the distribution of the carriages across the state, related to service demand, and was told they were distributing the carriages related to capacity demand and every line is having the same issue. I hope this is accurate. Assuming it is, I followed up with the question of when we can expect more carriages. Apparently there are 60 units to be used across the state. Currently 48 of these are three cars and 12 are two cars. Naturally not all can be in service at the one time as maintenance is required. In addition the two car units are progressively being refitted to become three car units. This will thus improve capacity. Unfortunately this will not be completed until mid 2016. The new units ordered include seven three-car units. They are even further off. As a consequence the delay to reducing overcrowding is unavoidable, unless we increased coach services….. To follow up I reinforced my point that Bacchus Marsh is central between Melbourne and Ballarat and it is important we have good service in both directions. This was taken on board as part of the ‘What is regional service’ for the Planning and Development. No idea when or what could happen. Finally I assert that it is really important to be transparent and informative about what they are doing. By providing planning guidelines and timelines it is easier for people to see progress and thus build confidence in the Public Transport Service Organisations. Lets hope they take this on board! Rest assured I am still working on it. I expect to have feedback from V/Line next week and will let you know what I hear. For those that did not manage to attend please not that you can still provide feedback via forms are provided at the Library and Railway Station. In unity for Bacchus Marsh Janelle Sheen