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V/LINE wants to build a shed near the Bendigo Railway Station to clean dead kangaroos' remains off its trains. The "bio-wash" facility would come complete with high-pressure washers, a water treatment plant and a room for staff members, according to a planning application lodged with the City of Greater Bendigo. V/Line trains have hit 4000 animals in the past five years and Bendigo's line has seen the most kangaroo strikes of any in the state, the transport corporation has told city planners. Trains need to be cleaned as soon as practicably possible - and not only to make sure they are presentable. Cleaning ensures they are safe to travel on and that parts are not contaminated, the application states. Bendigo crew members would work overnight to clean each train ready for redeployment in a 30 metre shed overlooking the Myrtle Street bridge. The 30 metre long shed would be big enough to fit one train car at a time. As each car is cleaned the train would be moved forward. V/Line would expect a three-car train to be cleaned in two hours. V/Line already has a bio-wash facility in Melbourne but it cannot meet rising demand alone. The number of passenger services on regional Victorian lines has risen 38 per cent in five years. "The deficiency in bio-wash capacity has resulted in trains regularly being out of service for more than two days at a time which has a direct impact on fleet availability and performance across V/Line's network," V/Line said in its application. The backlog leaves V/Line with shortages of places it can house trains awaiting cleaning and means extra work every day to relieve congestion, it said. More news: A Bendigo bio-wash shed could free up the equivalent of two extra trains per day, and stop stop at least one service on average from being cancelled. V/Line has told town planners seven trees might need to be removed to allow a path for cars and trucks to drive off Arthur Street and access the bio-wash shed. Two of the trees are in a heritage zone, which was set aside because of the area's ties to Bendigo's railway past. However, V/Line says it planted the trees itself and that their would not alter the area's historic or cultural significance.

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