“The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) has confirmed no trains will run on the Albury, Seymour and Shepparton lines on Wednesday, December 18 as staff walk off the job for 24 hours as a result of the Andrews Labor Government’s industrial chaos,” Mr McCurdy said.
“This would further worsen the constant delays and cancellations already faced by North East passengers,” Mr McCurdy said.
“North East rail passengers are unfortunately very accustomed to interrupted, unreliable train services and this is yet another problem for them to endure due to the Andrews Labor Government.
“From lengthy delays, busses instead of trains and aged rolling stock that the government refuses to replace, North East rail passengers have suffered through it all.
“Now these same passengers have to put up with strike action in the busy lead up to Christmas because of the Andrews Labor Government – there is simply no end to the issues on this line that the government is failing to address.”
The cancellations come as a new timetable comes into effect this month that will see more than 270 VLine services permanently slowed down, instead of fixing the trains.
Shadow Minister for Public Transport Steph Ryan said regional train passengers were stuck in the middle of Daniel Andrews’ ugly pay dispute with the union.
“Regional train passengers already put up with constant delays and cancellations to services, but it’s set to get a whole lot worse because of the industrial chaos under Daniel Andrews,” Ms Ryan said.
“Regional rail has become a disaster under Daniel Andrews and his embattled Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne.”
Overtime bans and rolling stop work action across all regional rail lines will take place from December 11 to December 20, including 24 hour stoppages that will see all train services cancelled.
