Double train wish list

By Tania Martin
A BELGRAVE/Lilydale train line duplication tops a south eastern transport improvement wish list.
The Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC) last week delivered its short-term priority list to the State Government.
The government called for the list at a community cabinet meeting in July.
The ETC delivered the short-term wish list after surveying more than one million residents from the south east.
ETC chairman and Knox councillor Mick Van de Vreede said the coalition submitted a list of long-term projects to the government earlier this year.
But he said the government also requested a range of smaller projects for consideration in the development of its Metropolitan Transport Plan.
Cr Van de Vreede said three out of five people in the south east would consider getting out of their cars if they had decent public transport options.
At the top of the list is the need for the government to take immediate action on the duplication of the Belgrave/Lilydale line.
It also calls for the extension of free early bird tickets for buses and trams and an increase in off peak trains on the line.
But Shire of Yarra Ranges councillor Samantha Dunn said this could not happen without the line duplication. “Many problems with trains being late and many of the cancellations are because of the single track sections of the Belgrave line,” she said.
“Those problems then continue throughout the timetable.”
Cr Dunn said there needed to be action such as line duplication to get people out of their cars and back into public transport.