Repair backlog, ageing fleet hits V/Line

Victoria's regional rail service is using trains up to 60 years old and has a maintenance backlog worth more than $500 million, a new report says.

V/Line's system is also plagued by cancellations, delays and overcrowding, the auditor-general's report tabled in state parliament on Wednesday said.

It blamed the failings over the past decade on a lack of maintenance funding and attention to customer needs.

"The scale of funding required to address the maintenance backlog is significant - approximately $534.8 million across the entire V/Line network," the report said.

Additionally, it found some of V/Line's classic fleet had been in use for double their 30-year design life.

The report made eight recommendations to V/Line and Public Transport Victoria, including improved service performance monitoring and a review of transport governance.

V/Line Chief Executive James Pinder admitted the past 10 years had been challenging but said the service was improving.

"We are experiencing record patronage growth on the V/Line network and the Victorian Government's order of 87 new VLocity carriages over the past two years will help us keep pace with this growth," he said.

V/Line in 2015 changed its approach to asset management and identified its maintenance backlog.