WANGARATTA Railway Station is set to extend the hours it is manned from next month, providing increased safety for the commuters. It follows changes to Benalla Station that will see it staffed from 7am to 9pm, seven days a week from this Sunday, thanks to the addition of four extra staff. Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) said it was a fantastic win for her home town Benalla, as well as Wangaratta. Extending the opening hours in Benalla to 9pm will mean passengers will have access to facilities, feel safer and no longer have to wait outside in the weather for their train or coach, she said. She said opening hours has been a concern of the public at the Regional Network Development Plan meetings shes been attending across the region. People can continue to have their say about the future of public transport in regional Victoria by sending written submissions to rndp@ptv.vic. gov.au or to PTV, PO Box 4724, Melbourne 3001 (attention RNDP), by September 11.