Passengers from growing communities south of Geelong will soon reap the full benefits of upgrades to Waurn Ponds Station and along the corridor, with more trains and the introduction of longer nine-car VLocity trains, which will run to Wyndham Vale for the first time.
Coaches will replace trains on sections of the Geelong and Warrnambool lines for four weeks from Saturday 30 April to Saturday 28 May 2022.
During this time, commissioning of the new station infrastructure into service as well as safety testing and driver training will take place.
Crews will install the final two 50-metre sections of rail and relocate live signalling boxes from the rail corridor to complete track duplication at the station, allowing trains to pass each other in this section.
Waurn Ponds Station's new second platform and pedestrian overpass, as well as ramps, lifts and stairs will be open to passengers when trains return to the line in May.
From 29 May 2022, 20 peak and shoulder peak services will be extended to and from Waurn Ponds Station each week, with two extended services in the morning and two in the evening on weekdays.
More detailed information on the new timetables will be available from 13 May 2022 at ptv.vic.gov.au, vline.com.au and PTV's journey planner app.
Construction will also begin this month on a new walking and cycling path at the upgraded Waurn Ponds Station to extend the existing path on Baanip Boulevard, giving passengers access to the station from the south side once the new platform is open.
Nine-car VLocity trains will also be introduced on three Wyndham Vale services to help boost capacity along the south-west corridor, which is the busiest on the V/Line network.
Warrnambool passengers will also benefit from journey time savings of two to nine minutes on some services as part of the timetable changes made possible by works on Stage 1 of the Warrnambool Line Upgrade.
The first section of signalling upgrades will be commissioned while trains aren't running in May, with more than 64 kilometres of new signalling cable installed as part of critical upgrades between Waurn Ponds and Warncoort.
