Photo: latimes.com

Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan and Minister for Employment Wade Noonan today visited Southern Cross Station to inspect the first of 48 new VLocity regional carriages ordered by the Labor Government, delivered four months ahead of schedule.

The first new X’Trapolis metropolitan train ordered by the Labor Government is now also on the tracks, with 18 more to roll off the production line in Ballarat and into service in the next three years.

The X’Trapolis and VLocity trains will relieve pressure on the network ahead of 65 new high-capacity metro trains that will begin arriving in late 2018 – the largest single order of new trains in Victoria’s history.

Our unprecedented investment in trains is supporting thousands of local jobs in the rolling stock industry, and providing opportunities for young workers and people re-skilling from the auto-industry and other sectors.

It comes after four years of chronic underinvestment by the former Liberal and National Government, who didn’t order a single regional carriage for two years and only ordered 15 new metropolitan trains – a failure that is still hurting passengers today.

In contrast, we’ve ordered 48 new V/Line carriages and 84 new metropolitan trains in our first two years, and set out a 10 year order-book for hundreds more with Victoria’s first ever rolling stock strategy – Trains, Trams, Jobs.

The three-carriage VLocity set will enter service on 7 November and will be added to the 7:39am from Wendouree to Southern Cross Station, and the 4:00pm from Southern Cross to Ballarat – doubling the number of seats on each service.

The X’Trapolis train will run on the Alamein, Belgrave, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, South Morang and Hurstbridge lines.