The numbers show 82 per cent of services arrived at their destination on time in February, which was slightly down on January. 

V/Line chief executive James Pinder said a higher than normal number of train faults contributed to delayed services. 

“We know that punctuality of services on the Ballarat line isn’t good enough and we’re working on what we can do better to reduce the number of train faults,” he said.

“V/Line has a plan in place to lift performance, but we know more needs to be done to ensure we’re delivering a service our passengers deserve and expect.” 

Another reason for delays was the additional time trains were required to stop at stations to allow passengers to board and depart services, V/Line said.

For reliability, 95 per cent of services were delivered for the month, with an emergency services incident at Melton resulting in several services being replaced by coaches in the afternoon peak. 

Mr Pinder said V/Line crews worked across the Labour Day long weekend to complete $2.7 million in upgrades and improvements along the Ballarat line. 

“We’ll have more than 220 V/Line staff and contractors working along the line to complete track, signalling and station improvements,” he said.

“Passengers are being reminded that coaches will replace trains between Ararat, Maryborough, Ballarat and Melbourne, with trains to return for the first service on Tuesday morning,.”

Across the V/Line network, 83 per cent of services arrived on time.

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