new minister for public transport

It’s been an interesting week for public transport with the resignation of the former Minister Lynne Kosky. As chairwoman of the Eastern Transport Coalition I welcome the appointment of Minister Pakula to the Public Transport portfolio. The ETC looks forward to meeting with Minister Pakula in the coming days to discuss his plans for improving train, tram and bus access in the outer east.

It is good to see Minister Pakula on board Melbourne’s public transport, as he travels around the network I hope he takes the time to travel on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines. The Belgrave line, Melbourne’s longest line, with an off peak travel time of 1hr and 12mins to Flinders Street Station could certainly do with day time express services, first hand experience by Minister Pakula would give some valuable insight.

With the high number of cancellations on the Belgrave/Lilydale lines, train failures in hot weather, lack of integration with connecting services, commuters continue to lose faith in our public transport system. I look forward to highlighting the public transport needs of the east to Minister Pakula.

The Eastern Transport Coalition represents seven municipalities and over one million people in eastern Melbourne. It advocates for accessible and integrated transport in the eastern region of Melbourne to improve liveability and reduce car dependency.