General News
30 April, 2026
Coalition unveils vision for rail
THE opposition has announced it will immediately begin upgrades of Warrnambool rail passenger services to expand to six cars trains if elected at the November state election.
Shadow Minister for Public Transport Matthew Guy visited Terang on Tuesday, alongside South West Coast MP Roma Britnell, to speak with Western District Newspapers about plans to expand services on the line.
The plan includes requisitioning VLocity rolling stock to allow the expansion of south west services to six carriages.
An elected Coalition Government would also ensure seat reservation bookings are reinstated and honoured.
In addition to the immediate changes, medium-term planning to lengthen platforms on the Warrnambool line will also be explored while there will be a long-term vision for purpose-built VLocity trains with six carriages, on-board catering and seating designed for long distance travel.
Mr Guy vowed an elected Coalition Government would make service improvement on the Warrnambool line a priority.
“Only the Liberals will focus on restoring the south west to a first-class regional rail service,” he said.
“The Allen government has reduced seat numbers, service quality and treated Warrnambool line passengers as second class.
“A Liberal government would reverse this atrocious treatment.
“After a decade of lies and poor treatment for the south west, longer trains with better services will be the focus of a Liberal government.”
Mr Guy said the first step would be an immediate expansion of carriages through requisitioned metropolitan stock.
“Our short-term plan is to take out of the pool for the western suburban fleet because they have five excess, three-car VLocity trains,” he said.
“We would requisition two of those to be requisitioned back onto the Warrnambool Line, as well as not stabling the last train out of Waurn Ponds, which is a six-car to Waurn Ponds, and then three cars stabled there – taking it all the way into Warrnambool.
“That way you could have six cars for both of the morning services and one of the afternoon services, which we could do fairly promptly.
“We’d also change the booking service to have a similar service to New South Wales – it comes back online and when you book a seat, it is your seat.
“Those things are short-term, they’re not difficult and I don’t understand why the government won’t do it.”
In the medium term, new cars would be delivered to the western metropolitan line while platforms on the Warrnambool Line are extended to allow for six cars.
“In the medium term we will order a different form of rolling stock to service the western suburbs of Melbourne,” Mr Guy said.
“We’ve now got Warrnambool trains at capacity but they’re using country trains as suburban trains.
“In the medium term we can do a backend order and at the same time extend the platform lengths to allow an additional carriage.”
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Mr Guy said in the long-term, the Coalition would look to order custom built trains which are designed for long-distance travel to be used on the Warrnambool Line.
“In the longer-term it’s about ordering purpose-build VLocity trains for long haul, having the six cars rather than the three,” he said.
“In that you would have catering and a different style of seat – it would be a long-haul train, which is what we’ve said for the last two elections and we’ll say again now.”
Mr Guy said he has had ongoing discussions with Ms Britnell regarding some of the horror stories she’s received from passengers enduring overcrowding and poor service.
“It’s just unfair,” he said.
“The government believes its own spin by saying we’ve got a better service – if it’s only three minutes quicker, does that really cancel out the fact you have elderly people sitting on the floor, toilets that don’t work or 150 fewer seats on a train?
“I don’t think so – people want the quality of service to improve, and it’s not too much to ask.
“I would have thought it would be a guarantee for new trains to be bringing improved service.
“I just don’t know how the government get off on saying they’ve improved the service on the line – it’s not, and nobody believes it – let alone people who are disabled and can’t get a seat.”
Ms Britnell has been an outspoken critic of the reduction of carriages and seating capacity on the Warrnambool line since the introduction of VLocity trains, which has resulted in overcrowding which she described as “chronic and unsafe”.
Since the elimination of locomotive hauled five carriages trains, which had up to 400 seats along with a buffet car service, the replacement three carriage VLocity services seat just 220 and have no onboard food service.
As a result, trains are at capacity, passengers are left on platforms and the quality of service has declined – which Ms Britnell said resulted in south west Victorians being treated as second-class citizens compared to metropolitan counterparts.
She said south west residents deserved a safe and reliable long-distance public transport option.
“Overcrowded trains, unreliable services, poor cleanliness and a chaotic booking system have made what should be a simple journey an exhausting and, at times, unsafe experience,” Ms Britnell said.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe and respected when they travel.
“Right now, vulnerable passengers are being left behind by a booking system that doesn’t guarantee them a seat.
“That must change.
“When public transport fails, it’s not just an inconvenience, it disrupts lives – that’s why getting it right matters so much.”