The hectic Warrnambool train line has been plagued with overcrowding, replacement buses and limited services in recent years.
With a state election looming, Labor and the Liberals are making promises they say will address the frustrations of regional commuters.
The problem: It takes three hours and 20 minutes to travel the length of the line, which runs from Warrnambool to Southern Cross station in central Melbourne.
There have been extensive upgrades in the past five years, but this has led to trains becoming more crowded, according to South West Victoria Alliance chair Dennis Heslin, “particularly during peak periods”.
Speaking to the Brolga in April, South West Coast Liberal MP Roma Britnell said her office had been contacted by people undergoing cancer treatment and recovering from surgery who were unable to sit down for the commute from Melbourne and Geelong due to overcrowding on the train.
“We were promised an upgrade … and now what we’ve got is a very substandard service, which goes from bad to worse, and it’s now just a diabolical, chaotic mess.”
Pledges and promises: Labor announced last month it would introduce longer trains across the weekend, increasing the number of carriages from three to six on peak services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
In a joint statement, member for Western Victoria Jacinta Ermacora and minister for public transport Vicki Ward said the introduction of the longer trains followed the recent completion of the Warrnambool stabling facility, enabling more trains to be housed in Warrnambool overnight.
The Liberals followed with a pledge last week to bring six-car trains to every service on the line by redeploying excess metropolitan trains.
It is unclear how much each party would spend on the service.
How many people use it? On average, 3,170 people between Warrnambool and Geelong travelled along parts or all of the Warrnambool line every day in 2024-25.
Tight squeeze: Warrnambool currently has five return services a day on three-car V-Locity trains.
The three-car trains have a capacity of about 220 seats, meaning total seating capacity for passengers daily is about 1,100 each way.
The older V/Line trains had a seating capacity of about 400 and offered services three times a day, making the total daily seating capacity roughly 1,200 each way.
“Common-sense” approach: Warrnambool mayor Ben Blain said in a statement that “the sticking point was that our platforms were not long enough to accommodate longer trains”.
“If we were to wait for longer platforms at our stations, it would be years before we had trains big enough to meet the demand.”
Passengers are expected to board the train through the front carriages and move to the back internally. V/Line has tested the new train configuration and will use door banners, on-board announcements and conductors to ensure patrons get on and off trains safely.
How would things change? Under Labor’s commitment, the number of seats would grow to roughly 400, bringing total capacity closer to 2,000 seats each way on the selected weekend services.
The Liberals’ pledge to make all services run with six-car trains would see roughly 2,000 total seats each way available daily.