The Nationals Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland MP, has called on the Allan Labor Government to explain why regional Victorians were left stranded for a second consecutive day as a nationwide Telstra outage brought the entire V/Line network to a standstill.
The shutdown affected every regional line across the state, including the Seymour, Shepparton and Albury lines, leaving passengers across the Euroa electorate unable to travel and scrambling for alternative transport to work, medical appointments, study and other essential commitments.
“Communities across my electorate rely on these train lines every single day,” Ms Cleeland said.
“People reasonably expect that if they need to get somewhere, they can get there. Instead, they were left standing on platforms with no certainty, no clear alternative and barely a replacement coach in sight.”
Ms Cleeland said the impact reached well beyond a missed train.
“We’ve had locals missing medical appointments they’ve waited weeks for. Students unable to get home. Commuters stuck in Melbourne with no way back after a full day’s work,” she said.
“People have been forced to spend hundreds of dollars finding another way home, at a time when families are already being crushed by the cost of living.”
Ms Cleeland said the disruption was made worse by the state of regional roads, which many locals rely on the train specifically to avoid.
“A lot of people catch the train because our roads are in such poor condition. When the trains stop running too, people are left with nowhere to turn,” Ms Cleeland said.
Ms Cleeland said the multi-day failure exposed how vulnerable Victoria’s regional transport network had become, and demanded to know what contingency plan existed for the next one.
“It raises a very simple question: what is the backup plan? If a telecommunications outage can bring the entire regional rail network to a standstill, the Allan Labor Government needs to explain why there is no resilient system in place to keep people moving,” Ms Cleeland said.
Ms Cleeland said regional Victorians had endured years of unreliable services and deserved far greater investment in the infrastructure they depend on.
“People in regional Victoria already put up with fewer services, longer travel times and constant disruption. They shouldn’t also have to wonder whether the whole network will collapse every time something goes wrong,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Our Fair Share Guarantee will lock in at least 25 per cent of the state’s infrastructure spending for regional Victoria, because country communities deserve more than being treated as an afterthought,” Ms Cleeland said.
