Tuesday 16 October 2018
Today Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan have announced faster rail for Ballarat and Geelong. But the Latrobe Valley misses out entirely under Labor.
No dedicated Gippsland line out of Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs. No high speed rail Traralgon-Melbourne. No new trains for country rail lines.
And to add insult to injury not only will the Latrobe Valley miss out on high speed rail but local residents will have to pay higher taxes so Geelong and Ballarat can get faster rail.
By contrast under the Liberal Nationals’ plan the Latrobe Valley will get high speed rail Traralgon to Melbourne and faster rail Traralgon to Bairnsdale slashing travel times.
The Liberal Nationals’ plan for high speed rail between Latrobe Valley and Melbourne will more than halve travel times from a current time of 2 hours and 12 minutes to just 62 minutes – a saving of 70 minutes. On a roundtrip that’s a time-saving of 2 hours and 20 minutes every single day.
Reaching speeds of 200 kilometres per hour Victoria’s new High Speed Rail network will be the fastest in Australia.
It’s obvious that Jacinta Allan and Labor have no interest in helping the Latrobe Valley to grow and attract new jobs by making it easier to travel to and from the region.
At next month’s election Latrobe Valley voters will be able to send Labor a message they won’t be treated like this.
