By Tanya Steele
The Department of Transport and Planning (DOTP) released modifications to a number of outer east bus routes last week and the 684 changes have members of the Heasleville and Buxton communities frustrated and upset.
The initial press release on Wednesday 29 April stated the following about the 684.
“Route 684 from Eildon will terminate at Lilydale Station allowing passengers to connect to train services to complete their journey to the city. ”
“In response to community feedback through the consultation process, the service will extend to Ringwood Station instead of Chirnside Park Shopping Centre, providing additional transport and shopping connections.”
“The service will also wait for up to 20 minutes at Ringwood Station for late running trains, ensuring Eildon passengers do not miss their connection”
Save The Bus Action Group convenor, an arm of the Buxton Progress Association, Carmel Denham said the press release is confusing and raises so many questions.
“The plan to force country people to use the metro train is ill-conceived and demonstrates a disregard for this vital link to the city,” she said.
Star Mail contacted the DOTP for comment regarding why the service was being altered in this way and how it would address people connecting in Ringwood Station.
A DOTP spokesperson said the changes are due to the fact that the 684 Melbourne to Eildon via Healesville is poorly patronised and that it duplicates a train line with a regular turn-up-and-go service from the outskirts of the city.
“We’re delivering a better bus network for the Yarra Valley later this year that’s simple to use, gets you where they want to go at the times you want to travel, and delivers value for money.” they said.
“This includes improving public transport links with the CBD on Route 684 with the Sunday timetable to match the Saturday timetable making weekend day trips to greater Melbourne for Eildon and Alexandra residents easier.”
The DOTP labelled the 684 route inconsistent, with a hard to understand timetable that is unreliable due to regular delays on the Eastern Freeway and Melbourne’s metropolitan road network.
The Save the Bus Action Group has been frustrated by minimal communication and said the initial consultation sessions were poorly advertised and not directed at people living over the Black Spur.
The group feels the DOTP has not understood the conditions of driving the Spur and minimises the positives of using the bus all the way into the CBD.
Last March, Ms Denham said the DOTP held a consultation in Healesville and Alexandra, but it was not well advertised at the time.
The DOTP stated that it consulted the public in March and April 2022 and this feedback helped improve on the proposed routes.
Following community feedback the Route 684 will instead extend to Ringwood Station instead of the initially proposed Chirnside Park Shopping Centre, providing additional transport connections.
Brad Sanders, manager at McKenzie’s bus service, has said the company was involved in the consultation process but is awaiting further communications as to when and how changes will be implemented.
Eildon MP Cindy McLeish said the Public Transport Minister has also failed to respond to her request on behalf of the Buxton Progress Association to convene a meeting between them and the Department of Transport and that she is disappointed by the outcome.
“It is a real blow for those who rely on Bus Route 684 to travel in and out of the city, particularly to access the East Melbourne medical precinct,” she said.
The DOTP spokesperson told Star Mail that hospitals along Victoria Parade can be accessed by taking the train to Parliament Station and exiting Collins Street to access the tram network to the nearby hospitals.
Alternatively, passengers can walk approximately 250 metres from the Parliament Station Lonsdale Street exit to the hospital precinct, which is an approximately four-minute walk.
Ms Denham said that one of the greatest benefits of having a dedicated service into the city is safety; the bus drivers assist the aged, infirm, and children to get to their destination safely.
“Many of our members travel to Melbourne to attend medical appointments and have underlying health issues to make using the metro trains impractical and unsafe,” she said.
The DOTP has stated that savings made from shortening this route at Ringwood will also be reinvested in the network enabling better and more frequent services including the planned improvements to the Sunday service on Route 684.
The Alexandra to Eildon bus service previously operated two return trips on Wednesday and Friday only. The service was expanded to operate two return trips Monday to Friday.
“This adds to improvements to the bus services between Alexandra and Eildon we delivered for the Murrindindi community last year,” a DOTP spokesperson said.
Ms Denham said the Save the Bus Action Group has over 100 members with an email inbox full of people pledging support to the group, many had tried communicating in March and prior with the Public Victoria Transport (PTV) complaints hotline before the recent press release.
PTV responded with an acknowledgement email that stated the DOTP had collected feedback and would use it to inform planning for the routes.
Concerns by people who contacted PTV are that their complaints were being met with the same scripted responses.
The lack of communication and announcements have left the residents feeling misunderstood and unheard and Ms Denham invites the DOTP to walk in their shoes for the day.
“Come travel on the bus for a day to understand the concerns of the regional people who live in regional Victoria,” she said.
