Duelling train plans as One Nation hosts pre-poll lunch

Victoria's traditional major parties have traded insults over competing plans to upgrade train services as Pauline Hanson rubbed shoulders with business elite.

The Victorian coalition on Tuesday pledged $1.7 billion to buy 25 new hybrid-electric trains for the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines.

Diesel V/Line trains are currently used to service the lines in Melbourne's west.

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews revealed plans to extend electric services to Melton and Wyndham Vale before leading Labor to a thumping election victory in 2018.

Almost eight years on, opposition public transport spokesman Matthew Guy said Labor's electrification plan was "never going to happen".

The coalition would proceed with electrification if it wins the November state election, but Mr Guy said the planned purchase of hybrid trains would provide suburban services in a "realistic time frame".

"Melton and Wyndham Vale are the fastest-growing growth corridors in Australia," he told reporters.

"We can't wait ... we need a solution that is soon, that is quick, that is affordable."

Four electric and diesel-powered regional trains are being tested on the NSW rail network.

The project to replace NSW's regional fleet with 29 bi-modal trains has been plagued by delays and cost blowouts.

Mr Guy said the coalition would aim to start delivering the trains by 2030 and they could run through either the City Loop or Metro Tunnel, depending on the manufacturer picked.

Public Transport Minister Vicki Ward claimed hybrid trains would not be able to go into the City Loop and described the opposition proposal as a "bizarre side quest".

"This appears to be a very ill thought out, expensive promise that doesn't deliver for Melton residents the modern electrified trains that they want," she said at the newly upgraded Melton train station, which opened on Tuesday.

"They want to be a part of the metro train system ... that's exactly what we're committed to doing."