Cheaper V/Line fares come into effect across Victoria on Friday, as the state government implements one of its key election promises.
The cost of a daily ticket on the entire regional train network will be capped at the same price as a metro daily fare, meaning initial prices will be $9.20 for a full fare or $4.60 for a concession.
On a weekend or public holiday, full-price fares will be $6.70 and $3.35 for concession.
Taya Mantzioros commutes between the Gippsland cities of Sale and Traralgon daily on V/Line services, meaning she is "excited" about the fare caps that come into effect on Friday.
"It's a really great idea. Not everybody is able to drive, and tickets out this way … it can be quite pricey," she said.
Ms Mantzioros said some young people in the region have been put off using V/Line due to the previously high cost and irregular trains.
"They're just not that regular, which is something else I hope they change because it should be encouraged wherever people can to use public transport instead of driving everywhere," she said.
Ms Mantzioros said the price drop will help people who need public transport most.
"If people need to catch public transport, they should be able to. I don't think anyone is catching public transport, especially out to Melbourne and stuff like that, just because they want to have a fun trip on the train," she said.
Annette Dyer, who was travelling from Sale to Melbourne Airport, said she would use V/Line more in light of fare caps.
"It's a lot cheaper to go on the train than it would be to drive to the airport and park your car," she said.
Election promise fulfilled
The state government has implemented the regional fare caps across the state as one of its key election promises.
Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll said the fare cap would "transform" how Victorians travelled around the state.
"[It will] encourage more people to connect with family and friends right across our state, and will also benefit our fantastic regional tourism businesses," he said.
For those who travel on long-distance V/Line trains, the new prices can save more than $40 each return trip.
If completed in one day, a return trip from Melbourne to Ballarat during peak times will go from a total full-fare cost of $45.60 to the daily fare cap of $9.20.
Full-price tickets for the longer return trip from Melbourne to Warrnambool will be reduced from $78.80 to $9.20.
For concession ticket holders, a return trip from Melbourne to Warrnambool will be reduced from $39.40 to $4.60, if both legs of the journey are completed on the same day.
The fare cap also applies to all of Public Transport Victoria's regional buses, town buses, and V/Line coach services.
Prior to the November state election, both major political parties promised to slash regional train prices if elected.
Some regional councils are hopeful the move will boost tourism across the state, as well as help locals access important services in Melbourne.
Calls to ensure 'services are able to cope'
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) reiterated concerns about an increased demand on regional V/Line trains amid the price drop.
Across the state, V/Line's punctuality target of 92 per cent of trains arriving on time was only achieved on two of its 11 lines throughout February.
All 10 lines, which are categorised into short and long distances, met reliability targets for the month with at least 96 per cent of scheduled services running.
But the statistics do not take overcrowding and unmet demand into account.
Ben Lever from PTUA said there needed to be further considerations on how to keep up with an expected rise in demand.
"We've got to make sure the services are able to cope with those numbers," Mr Lever said.
"In the evening, services do drop off and — particularly if there is an event — those services get really full … there are still a lot of people looking to travel at that time of the evening."
Mr Lever said there needed to be more services across the regions.
"Weekend and night services are a particular concern on the Ballarat line … The Maryborough line only has two trains per day in each direction, compared with the Ararat line that has [around] five," he said.
"These are cities of similar distance and similar population, but one is getting way more services than the other."
Recently, the state government spruiked more engineers being trained to ensure there were more staff for extra services.
"We hope there are additional drivers to run more services but I suppose the question is, if they've got enough rolling stock, if they've got the infrastructure and the drivers, then why aren't we seeing these increases in services?" Mr Lever said.
A state government statement said a record 2,200 regional train services were operating each week, and almost 200 extra weekend services would be added in 2024.
More than 800 new services have been added to the V/Line network since 2015.
A state government spokesperson told the ABC: "We will continue to monitor and manage network demand following the introduction of the fare cap."
Concern over replacement buses
Buses currently replace some train services on several V/Line routes, as construction works take place as part of a $4 billion program to improve regional rail lines.
Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Melinda Bath said many constituents had been contacting her office with complaints about disruptions on the Gippsland line.
"There's delay, there's frustration, and certainly the V/Line system isn't meeting passenger expectations," she said.
"We want people to come off the roads, we want Victorians to use an efficient public transport system, and that's not the experience on the Gippsland and many other regional lines."
V/Line user Cathleen, who lives in the town of Boolarra in Gippsland, said she was concerned about how her local line would cope with the added demand.
She used the train regularly during the AFL season, to watch games in Melbourne with her family.
"It's not manageable now with the volume of people who catch the train back from the footy," she said.
"I don't know how they're going to manage, because people are going to do it, it's $9.20! You can't get to the footy [by car] with parking and fuel and all of that for less than ten bucks."
Cathleen said there had been problems on the Gippsland line for several years.
"Communication is really poor about [whether trains] are … running and are they going to be reliably running on the trip home," she said.
"If coaches are running, you need to run more than just one or two coaches … football season in particular, when you've got a crowd of upwards of 60 and 70,000 going because you've got to get those people home."
She called for more transparency about how construction works were progressing and more notice about replacement buses.
"A $9.20 fare, what's the point of that when I don't know whether or not I can get home?" she said.
