23 January 2012

Passengers will travel for free this week to mark more than 800 new weekly bus services in the Latrobe Valley, Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Edward O'Donohue said today.

Mr O'Donohue joined Member for Morwell Russell Northe in Morwell to announce the Victorian Coalition Government's new bus services on behalf of Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder.

"From today until Sunday 29 January people in the Latrobe Valley will have the opportunity to travel on the new bus services for free," Mr O'Donohue said.

"The free travel period will allow regular passengers to familiarise themselves with the changes and give others a reason to try bus travel."

Mr O'Donohue said the overhaul of services in the region would not only include hundreds of extra bus services but also provide a new bus network to improve the efficiency and frequency of services.

"I am very pleased to announce that from today, people in Traralgon, Morwell, Moe, Churchill and our smaller communities will have a much improved local transport system," Mr O'Donohue said.

"Services will run more often, for longer hours, to a larger area of the region than ever before.

"This will mean better access to employment and local facilities for the thousands of people living and working in the region."

Mr Northe said the changes would have a myriad of positive outcomes for the Latrobe Valley community.

"From a small business and employment perspective, these changes have already benefited our community and economy by creating an additional 25 jobs with Latrobe Valley Buslines, which is just fantastic," Mr Northe said.

"With even more links between rail and bus services and education and shopping facilities, there are now more opportunities for people to travel inter-town for shopping, dining or employment.

"With the current parking challenges that are facing our larger communities, there has never been a better time than now to hop on the train or bus to travel to work and save the hassle of finding all day parking.

"With many services commencing between 7:00am and 7:30am and running through until 6:30pm or 7:00pm, access to public transport will be vastly improved," Mr Northe said.

Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood said the improvements would significantly improve coverage in Traralgon, Moe, Morwell, Churchill and surrounding smaller townships.

"Like many other regional areas, Latrobe Valley continues to grow and it is important that public transport in the area is expanded to meet the demands of the growing population," Mr Blackwood said.

"This also means improving connections between services to ensure people can get where they need to go with as little hassle as possible."

Mr Mulder reminded people in the region that these significant improvements would mean a number of changes for passengers.

"An enormous amount of work goes into planning for these kinds of changes and we have planned bus routes and stop locations that mean the network will operate in the most efficient way possible," Mr Mulder said.

"I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of the new timetable or have a look on the Viclink website to familiarise themselves with changes to their local bus stop locations and/or bus routes.

"I also encourage everyone to make the most of these improvements and enjoy the convenience of travelling by bus around the region," Mr Mulder said.

Timetables are available on board local buses, from your nearest Latrobe Valley Bus Lines Depot, from selected outlets or by visiting www.viclink.com.au