news, local-news

PASSENGERS yesterday welcomed back the third daily Border V/Line train as a cheaper, more comfortable public transport option. The train station was in the dark — a scheduled power outage leaving it without electricity — but unlike the morning service from Melbourne the 12.55pm left on time. Yesterday was the first time in 1261 days, since Melbourne Cup Day 2008 and as a result of the Wodonga rail bypass project, that buses had not replaced at least one of the daily trains. Wodonga’s Phillip Weber was headed to Melbourne to help his brother with a tiling contract. “When you allow for petrol, parking and road tolls it is cheaper to catch the train,” he said. “But I can tell you that I wouldn’t be here at lunchtime if they still had the buses running.” Alison Sezonor, from Geelong, had been visiting her boyfriend. “I’m very excited by the fact there are no more transfers, shuttling between buses and trains,” she said. “It is quicker, there is the food car and fingers crossed, it is more reliable.” Peter Pridmore’s wife was travelling to Melbourne on the lunchtime train. “When the train is working it is the better, more comfortable option,” he said. “For us it is about economics; when only one of us is going to Melbourne it is cheaper to use the train.” Yesterday morning’s first 7.10am train out of Melbourne ran about 1? hours late. Early in the morning V/Line posted a tweet saying the train was 20 minutes late and amended that to more than 50 minutes. The City of Morwell engine and carriages arrived in Wodonga around midday.

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