Funding cuts by the former Coalition Government put significant pressure on Victorian regional operator, V/Line, Labor Government public transport minister Jacinta Allan has said.
Allan is currently driving a review into V/Line as the result of recent wheel wear issues on its VLocity rollingstock, and the failure on at least two occasions of rollingstock to trigger boom gates at level crossings on the networik.
The minister said on Tuesday that the former Denis Napthine-led Coalition Government had made excessive cuts to the operator’s budget.
Victorian Parliament’s Standing Committee on the Economy and Infrastructure this week heard the Coalition reduced funding to V/Line by more than $70 million.
“This has put significant pressure on the operational capacity of V/Line, which is being looked at as part of the review of the organisation currently being undertaken,” a statement from Allan’s office said.
“The Labor Government has invested $23 million to install axle counters at level crossings on the Metro network used by VLocity trains, which will fix the boom-gate issues that first arose under the former Government.”
The minister also noted that the Andrews Government had invested in V/Line through its order of 21 new regional carriages from Bombardier, the manufacturer of the VLocity line of rollingstock.
“We’re fixing the problems the former Liberal and National Government helped create when they ripped more than $70 million out of V/Line,” Allan said.
“You can’t rip millions out of the regional operator and expect services to be unaffected.
“The Liberal and National parties need to answer for the cuts they made, the carriages they didn’t order and the problems they helped create, which are still impacting on regional passengers today.”
How will axle counters (which rely on track circuits) on their own cure the problems of boom gates not being activated?
Axle Counters don’t rely on Track Circuits, they are independent in operation and are usually used to replace Track Circuits. You may be thinking of Treadles, which can be used to enhance Track Circuit operation.
Yes, I did rather word that badly – that they have the same end result as track circuits – detecting a vehicle.