Sheed welcomes Stage Three Funding for Shepparton Rail

Independent Member for Shepparton District Suzanna Sheed has welcomed the pre-budget announcement that stage three of the Shepparton rail line upgrade will receive $320m in tomorrow’s 2020/21 Federal Budget.

“This is fantastic and welcome news for our community. Stage three will ensure we can have 9 velocity trains run each week day between Shepparton and Melbourne. It will be transformational in many ways and set the scene for even more services in the future,” Ms Sheed said.

“In 2015 the All Aboard campaign took to the steps of the Victorian Parliament calling for better rail services for our region. Since then $356 million has been committed by the Victorian State Government to the Shepparton rail line with stage one providing 10 additional train services and 29 bus services weekly.

Just last month the contracts were signed for Stage two which will deliver the infrastructure for VLocity trains to travel to and from Shepparton for the first time, improving reliability and making journeys more comfortable for passengers,” Ms Sheed said.

Ms Sheed said that the community led campaign from the Shepparton District has been the important force that has made a strong case to both the state and federal government for better rail and it could not be ignored. “It has been our community’s strong advocacy which saw the Victorian State government fund stages one and two of this project and we now we have stage 3,” Ms Sheed said.

“This investment comes at a critical time for our region as our local economy has really felt the stress from COVID-19. It is so good to see our state and federal governments working together on these nation building projects. The Shepparton rail project will play an important role both at a national and state level to lead recovery and support employment in the region,” Ms Sheed said.

ENDS

Media contact Jacqui Hawkins 0403 657 267│jacqui.hawkins@parliament.vic.gov.au

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