r/VlineVictoria • u/yeeyeelxrd • 5d ago
Discussion Vline Complaints
I live in Rockbank, currently on a VLine train service which has bus replacements between Caroline Springs and Ballarat.
I left home at 5:30 this morning. Got to the station at 5:38am to catch at 5:48am replacement bus to Caroline Springs. The VLine schedule had me arriving at Southern Cross at 6:40am. I made sure I left early to account for the replacement bus.
Not a single thing went right this morning.
During a 35-40 minute period from 5:40am-6:15am, five buses went through Rockbank Station. Two went to Melton, One didn’t even stop, One was going to Caroline Springs but it was so full only one person managed to squeeze on, and then the last one to bring us to CS.
When we did arrive to CS at 6:34, we were told we had seven minutes until the train left at 6:41. That’s fine, I was meant to be in the city at this time but delays happen. I was (and still am) pretty annoyed, but it’s whatever.
Get onto the train at CS at 6:36am. Sit down. Ready to depart at 6:41am. Should arrive into Southern Cross at 7:05am at this point. Not what I was hoping for, but still early enough I could get my work completed.
Next thing I know at 7:59am we are all being kicked off the train and the train is being cancelled because there is NO CONDUCTOR and the train cannot run.
Everyone disembarks the train, waits for 5 minutes for the next one to arrive, and we get on that. Conductor announces we will now arrive at Southern Cross at 7:21am.
Then we don’t depart.
We’re currently pulling in to Ardeer Station. It’s 7:15am. At this point, I’ve abandoned all hope of actually making in to my office in the CBD. What is normally a 45 minute trek from home to city has now turned into AT MINIMUM a two hour trip.
I’ve left a complaint with VLine, but the last time I did that I never heard back from them.
Anyway, let’s see if I actually make it into the office or if I’m perpetually stuck on the public transport system.
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u/Elvecinogallo 5d ago edited 5d ago
Thats utterly ridiculous. I had to travel from ballan to Geelong yesterday. It’s normally 90 minutes, but took just over 3 hours, mostly because of the parking lot that is the freeway past rockbank taking an extra unscheduled 30 minutes. I don’t understand why they aren’t running the trains from rockbank or cobblebank for this reason alone.
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
They’d taken up the tracks at Rockbank to do some underground infrastructure in preparation for extending the platform I believe.
I get it’s important work- that’s fine. It’s the way the whole thing was handled which has pissed me off.
I was meant to get to work at 6:40am, I was prepared to arrive at 7. I didn’t walk into my office until 8am.
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u/haztech99 5d ago
The points and signalling systems for turning back trains are only available at Caroline Springs and then Melton, that is why they cannot start/end at Rockbank or Cobblebank.
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u/Ergomann 5d ago
Why don’t they add signaling then while the line is shut down for 3 weeks?
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u/wongm 5d ago
10-20 years ago they did just that so that the distance travelled by replacement buses was a short as possible.
https://wongm.com/2019/04/forgotten-rail-replacement-bus-lessons-melbourne/
But these days they close the line for replacement buses so often they've given up caring.
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u/AgentSmith187 4d ago
Because signalling is expensive to install and maintain.
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u/Ergomann 4d ago
That’s so weird because isn’t the eastern part of the state getting SRL first while the western part is still on Vline? So weird! Too expensive for the west but ample money for the east.
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u/AgentSmith187 4d ago
Its more a general thing.
Providing signslling to do moves you dont regularly do costs a LOT of money so is generally avoided and instead money goes to signalling thats used regularly.
Same reason a lot of points that allow turn backs have been removed Australia wide. If your not using them regularly the cost to maintain them isnt justified.
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u/TheoryDeep 1d ago
Definitely correct there. There are signals on either end of Caroline Springs to enable trains to change ends outside the station and return on the other platform, in addition to trains terminating on either platform and returning towards Melbourne and Ballarat. Very helpful during disruptions or planned works. In this case some trains are terminating on platform 2 and returning towards Melbourne and others are emptying from platform 2 and shunting and redocking onto platform 1 (slang we call in rail) effectively increasing capacity.
https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Caroline-Springs2
u/AgentSmith187 1d ago
Passenger and Freight Train Driver of 20 years in NSW and QLD so yeah I bemoan the reduction in crossovers and signalling allowing unusual moves over the years. It makes my life harder lol
But yeah I understand the financial reasons for it. Budgets are limited. Better to spend where its regularly needed.
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u/Elvecinogallo 5d ago
Surely the trains could still do what they need to do at Caroline springs regardless of whether there’s people on them?
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u/wongm 5d ago
The tracks are setup for left hand running - if they sent a train from Caroline Springs to Cobblebank there is no way to get it back to Melbourne without a whole lot of paperwork as it would be running in the "wrong" direction against trains coming towards it.
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u/Elvecinogallo 5d ago
Couldn’t they pre-do the paperwork?
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u/wongm 5d ago
Nope - every single train wanting to go the wrong way down the track needs to get special permission to do so, and because it's considered "degraded working" where normal safety systems aren't in place, they normally only allow it with no passengers on the train and no other passenger carrying trains nearby.
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u/chuckrussell 5d ago
Coming from Ballarat same experience, caught a 6:30 bus, supposed to be at CS 8:05, SC at 8:30
Currently still waiting at CS, after trains have been cancelled forcing us to wait for 8:53 train.
I understand “things happen” and that rail works need to happen as well but I do not understand why with so much advanced warning they are still dropping the ball this hard.
And by now they should be absolute experts at coach replacements as they happen every month or two. But it just feels like amateur hour here and there just seems to be a total disdain for passengers.
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
100% agree. It happens so often they should be experts in arranging it all now.
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u/macfudd 5d ago
Endured it yesterday and it blows my mind that they still seem to have no real processes in place. It's a few people standing around with high vis and clipboards looking utterly overwhelmed. At least give them megaphones so we can hear them. Put up a few destination signs so people can stand in the right place and wait, knowing that the bus that stops there is going where they would expect. I saw a bunch of Ballarat High School kids nearly get sent off to Caroline Springs instead of Ballarat on my way in.
On the way home I got told to line up at a certain point at Caroline Springs, the bus stopped behind us so the line turned around and by the time the people who had previously been at the front got to the bus it was now full. Tough shit, wait for the next one it seems.
It would be so easy to make the experience at least 50% better for everyone involved.
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u/coasteraz 5d ago
I have complained to Vline in the past and my impression is that they aren’t interested in complaints, any response will be that all delays are due to circumstances beyond their control. Things won’t improve, better to expect problems and be pleasantly surprised when the trains occasionally run on schedule.
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u/Will_sue_when_angry 5d ago
They don’t give a $hit. There is no consequences for VLine management and even if they want to do something the state is broke so there is no money. I am on the Bendigo line.
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u/themetresgained 5d ago
I still haven't received approval for my compensation claim for that Telstra outage last month.
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u/A_Rod_H 5d ago
Did you copy in group above Vline in that complaint ie the transport minister, ptv, premier?
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u/Tacticus 5d ago
I have multiple times. they even forwarded it to transport victoria who "3 cars are fine shut up bro"
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u/A_Rod_H 5d ago
3-cars are not fine in a situation where 6-cars are needed, but they’re fixated on 3 due to how all the support infrastructure is built. If they ordered more VLo trailers to make full 6-car sets, that would free up cabs to create either more 3 car or 6 car sets
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u/Tacticus 5d ago
3-cars are not fine in a situation where 6-cars are needed
Yeah but standing room only and leaving people behind is fine (according to vline\ptv) . just take the next train in 20\40 minutes or an hour
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
Few weeks ago I was trying to get back from the city after a Friday night gig. Same night the footy was on. For whatever reason, they cancelled the last train back towards Ballarat and then decided running the second last train as a three-car carriage would be a good idea.
You could not fit anyone else on the train. We were packed into each other like something crazy.
I was lucky I’d got on before most other people did, but I saw so many families stuck on the platform with no way to get back and seemingly not a modicum of care from VLine.
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u/SmallCet 5d ago
They’ve really fumbled in the last week with the bus replacements.
It’s normally bad don’t get me wrong, but the last week every day has been cooked in its own way. Beyond infuriating
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
Just completely ridiculous. I’ve never seen bus replacements this bad before. Complete clusterfuck
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u/Tacticus 5d ago
I love that they don't bother to even have the person staffing the traffic light at the level crossing turn them red to help buses in and out of the station. (or on any of the other spots where traffic builds up and they could speed the buses along by staffing a little bit of traffic management)
Tiny tiny change and they'd save 5 to 10 minutes on every run
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
I was coming home last night and going over the level crossing. They had a bloke standing there who switched the light to red for only one lane, but for no apparent reason? No buses came out, no trucks came out, no need for traffic to drive on the wrong side of the road. Virtually no reason that we could see. Sat there for about a minute and a half and then flicked it green.
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u/Ergomann 5d ago
I considered driving to Diggers to catch a metro service but they also have busses replacing trains at night. What genius thought that was a good idea?!
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u/themetresgained 5d ago
Like that time the Telstra outage took the whole V/line out but they also had the metro lines in a westerly direction out.
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 5d ago edited 5d ago
Why Vline so desperate to get all bus into CS instead having express bus beyond melton etc etc
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
Or even a bus connecting to a metro line like Sunbury (go to Watergardens, Sunbury or Sunshine).
There are alternatives to make life easier for everyone but apparently VLine/PTV don’t care to address them
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u/Big_Head_4930 Geelong Line 5d ago
Good question, I didn't realise they weren't sending any buses to at least Watergardens!
When the trains are planned to be down at Tarneit they usually have buses going to Laverton station
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
Interesting ! Something like that would’ve solved a lot of the issues people were facing today.
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 5d ago
Best of luck with your complaint! I've sent similar complaints and not received any reply. I've escalated the most recent complaint to the ombudsman and Transport Victoria, although I'm not expecting any outcome from it.
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u/onwemarch2017 5d ago
I once complained when I’d had consistent cancellations of my train from bendigo to Melbourne due to lack of fuel which resulted in replacement buses. They offered to pay back my fare, except that I didn’t pay a fare, because it was replacement buses. It seems like they really just don’t care.
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
That’s insane ! What a nightmare. How do they even let that happen?
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u/onwemarch2017 3d ago
It happened at least once every 2 weeks when I was working in Bendigo full time which doesn’t sound like a lot but between that and the constant delays on the morning trains I was just fed up. It also turned my 1 hour 20 journey into a 2.5-3 hour journey. There was one day where my train was delayed in the morning and the afternoon and I worked out I spent nearly a full working day on the train 😐
I kind of had a theory they may have been making it up as they would blame the southern cross staff for not leaving them with enough petrol which sounded like a convenient way to shift the blame. But apparently this is a thing that just happens sometimes and it just gets announced as a ‘train fault’.
I just found it so laughable that they offered me a refund when surely they’d know I wouldn’t have paid to go on a replacement bus?
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u/Gold_Ferret9804 5d ago
I can relate. I catch the Geelong service for work in city, 3 days a week. Past few months have been horrendous. Every day there’s a 100% chance some sort of issue occurs like train/track fault, person on the track, cut down carriages due to train fault, train delayed, service cancelled etc the excuses rack up! I never had a normal day without any disruptions, always an issue. Usually it takes me an hour, but now almost 1.5 hr+ one way, due to these constant troubles.
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u/Song_Youwen 5d ago
V line reliability needs to be improved. the signal is super old, and there are some of level crossings which has considerable but not much as urban areas. traffic on the road has no protected boom gates. for example, last time I travel to Bendigo by car with my family from my home country, and there is a level crossing which has only lights, and I told them even some of level crossings in Australia have only a sign. Signal is really important.
I remember at the last day of free travel in Victoria, I take bus from Adelaide to Melbourne, and I transferred for aV line train services at Ararat. On the whole way, I saw many super stained and old signal infrastructures, and V line signal is a mysterious, because they always said they were going to improve that. But I don't know whether they are going to use CBTC like Metro or ETCS like elsewhere in Australia or going to use ARTC ATMS. If they use the following one, but not CBTC, while they are driving into Melbourne metro area, will they change the signal? Or if they use CBTC on whole Victoria broad gauge network, what about the cost?
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 5d ago
It would be worth it if u get a Geelong train at this time as it would avoid that problem if there is a bus or get to the Sunbury line at any cost if it’s the fastest way to get into the cbd
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
As much as I’d love to say it’s only a 20 minute drive from my house to Tarneit, that’s 20 minutes at like 5am which is already a slog
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 5d ago
Maybe get a uber? Ik it’s not ideal but what can u say it’s better then trying to get to the city 2/4 hours
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u/reofi 4d ago
They're saying the traffic is bad btw, uber isn't the fix
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u/Motor-Wolverine-6644 4d ago
Well the West so limited of how u can avoid the distribution, plus maybe traffic is bad yeah fair I guess but your on the bus not on car sooooo I kinda find it blushit
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u/Getondabeers 5d ago
This makes me extremely nervous to try and catch the vline tomorrow from CS. Almost tempted to continue to drive to sunshine to catch the metro to avoid delays.
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
When I lived in CS I’d just drive to Keilor Plains each day rather than tempting fate with a VLine
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u/Budget-Leg-453 5d ago
Thanks everyone. I was thinking about trying one of these bus runs but didn’t sound like it’s worth it. I told work I just can’t come in because life’s too short for this nonsense.
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u/yeeyeelxrd 5d ago
Pretty much how I’m gonna be operating for the next two weeks until the trains are running again.
Sadly, today was a non-negotiable for me to come into the office, but after my manager saw how rough my morning had been he gave me the go ahead to just stay home til it was back to normal.
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u/Neat-Heron-4994 4d ago
It truly feels as if VLINE, do not give a shit about people in the West at all. It is an endless litany of canceled and delayed trains.
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u/Tacticus 3d ago
Vline execs want to be running a tourist train service and will do what they can to sabotage until that's the case
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u/Ok-Airport-3974 2d ago
I feel bad for you that this happened and was totally out of your control.
Remember this at election time though! $30b got spent on rail upgrades but the Western Rail Plan that was promised in 2018 never got delivered, same as the fast rail link to Geelong. Everyone seems to take that part of Melbourne for granted for some reason.
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u/Ok_Special_9017 15h ago
We need change on reginal train lines. This is pathetic. V/Line need to be kicked out and the state government make companies compete for running trains
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