By Kyra Gillespie
The Pakenham line is one of nine railway lines that will be closed for up to three weeks in April.
From April 1 to 23, buses will replace trains on the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Frankston, Sandringham, Mernda, Gippsland and Geelong/Warrnambool lines.
Power, signalling and station upgrades will contribute to the disruptions, as well as construction on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel entrance at South Yarra.
In a bid to remedy the more than 150 days of planned disruptions experienced by Gippsland passengers since early 2018, their travel will be free.
A mixture of express and semi express coaches, including stopping at Parliament station will replace Gippsland line trains for the whole journey from Saturday 6 until Tuesday 23 April.
Buses will also replace trains on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines for part of the journey during the same period.
Passengers will have to allow for up to an hour extra travel time on their commute.
“I urge passengers during this busy time to check and stay informed about changes to the network, and plan ahead,” Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne said.
It comes as Metro Trains recorded its worst punctuality result for on-time services on the Pakenham line since May, 2017.
Additionally, more services were cancelled in January 2019 than ever before on the Pakenham line.
More than 17 per cent of services were late and more than four trains, on average, were cancelled entirely every day of the month.
Lines are scheduled to reopen on 23 April, after the Easter long weekend.
