MORE than 800 postcards calling for the duplication of the Altona Loop single train track were delivered last week to Premier Ted Baillieu.
Western Metropolitan Greens MP Colleen Hartland told state Parliament that Werribee-line commuters to Seaholme, Altona and Westona wanted the track duplicated, and more frequent trains that travelled direct to the city and through the City Loop. “Every public transport customer satisfaction survey filled in since the introduction of the new timetable shows that the Altona Loop commuters are the most dissatisfied on the whole train network,” she said.
Timetable changes introduced last May resulted in off-peak (9am-5pm) journeys between Altona and the City Loop blowing out to as long as 80 minutes on three separate trains. Previously, it took about 30 minutes on one train. Ms Hartland said many people had been forced off public transport and into cars.
“The elderly and those with a disability have been hardest hit – for example, Annemarie Kelly, who has a vision impairment, has been forced to take action in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.”
