PATRONAGE across five upgraded bus routes around Melbourne’s West and one new service between Yarraville and Kingsville has grown by over 30 per cent on weekdays.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula said patronage had increased by 36 per cent overall since introducing the new and re-routed services in June 2008, with 50 per cent more passengers on Saturdays and 183 per cent increase on Sundays.

The State Government introduced changes to the bus network after doing bus service reviews around Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay and Moonee Valley.

And from last week, bus route 409 between Yarraville and Highpoint has been re-adjusted to run every 40 minutes.