V/LINE will run nine new train services between Ballarat and Ararat every week from August.
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This will include an extension of existing weekday services already running from Ballarat as well as four new weekend services.
The announcement follows an additional 10 services announced for the line last month.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the combined 19 new services would reduce wait times and give commuters more choice.
“We’re running more trains so people spend less time waiting for a train, and more time with family and friends,” she said.
“These extra services will reduce waiting and give local passengers more choice about when they travel, and how they get home.”
A new late morning service will run from Ararat to Ballarat on Saturdays and Sundays under the plan.
An early afternoon service from Melbourne to Ballarat will extend to Ararat.
V/Line does not expect the extended service to create overcrowding problems for trains arriving in Ballarat.
Late morning services on weekends will give commuters a chance to travel to Melbourne for football games and other events by train.
An extra weekday morning service from Ararat to Ballarat, connecting with a Melbourne-bound train, and a weekday afternoon service from Southern Cross, extended to Ararat were announced last month.
Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford said it was a huge win for passengers.
“We’re continuing our record investment in public transport, to get people in Ararat to work, education and each other, and get them home safer and sooner to the people they love,” she said.
The new V/Line timetable will add 151 extra across regional Victoria, on top of the 80 new services that started in January – taking the total number of new services to more than 500.
An updated V/Line timetable will be available for download from ptv.vic.gov.au in July.
