BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 929 FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015
Charlie takes a shine to his work BENDIGO Gem Club Life member Charlie Bock is keeping a close eye on his work, and you can do the same when the club hosts its Gem Expo on September 12 and 13 – Story Page 16
TRAIN GAIN Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
By PETER KENNEDY
GREATER Bendigo mayor Peter Cox wants trains on the Bendigo line to run every 40 minutes as part of a push for improved public transport services. There are 18 services to Melbourne every weekday from Bendigo, compared to 19 from Ballarat. By contrast, there are more than 50 trains each weekday from Geelong. Cr Cox said a 40-minute service frequency was achievable and that discussions with Public Transport Victoria were continuing via the
Mayor pushes for improved transport
Bendigo Metro initiative. “Having buses and local trains connect to Bendigo station will enhance people getting to the station to catch a train to Melbourne,” he said. He said while council was keen to retain skills in Bendigo, there were about 1400 people who use the morning services to Melbourne, and it was important for them to have access to a reliable service. He said Bendigo Metro was about
terminating more services at Epsom and Eaglehawk – all part of a goal of getting people to think about changing their mode of transport for one in every five days of the working week. “If trains and buses can offer that alternative along with walking and cycling, we could get up to 1000 cars off our roads every day,” Cr Cox said. Cr Cox said it did not make sense to have so many cars travelling on our roads every day, when some of us
could travel together. “We’re not saying everybody travel on the train or the bus, but if we can have a diversity of transport options and think about them, people choose more healthy ways to travel,” he said. Cr Cox also acknowledged the need to improve parking at several key railway stations across Bendigo, saying “it has become a problem and council is writing to the minister.”
He said there were also opportunities for development around stations at Kangaroo Flat, Epsom and Eaglehawk which also fulfilled criteria laid out in the city’s Residential Strategy for a more compact city. And while it’s early days for the metro project, Cr Cox said council and the state government were “on the same page”. “It’s encouraging that public transport means so much to people now. We’ve just got to get the dollars to catch up with demand.”
METRO RAIL Page 5
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