12 hours ago
Fast-growing councils seek urgent fix to unsustainable transport woes
The mayor of one of Victoria's fastest growing councils is urging state and federal governments to rethink their transport priorities, saying the current situation for suburban residents is not sustainable.
The Age on Thursday revealed the Allan government had commissioned and created an ambitious blueprint that canvassed a range of measures to urgently prevent 'crush' conditions in the city's fastest growing suburbs.
It included electrifying western rail lines and extending the Upfield line, but was also the origin of the state and federal governments' $4 billion revamp of Sunshine Station and surrounding rail network.
Details of the report, known as the North West Strategic Assessment, were welcomed by councils across the northern and western suburbs, but sparked fresh calls for immediate work to take the pressure off areas serviced by V/Line trains.
Mitchell Shire Mayor John Dougall said they had long called for electrifying the rail line to Wallan, one of the options canvassed in the report, and the construction of a station at Beveridge, where 1.2 per cent of residents travel to work by public transport and the population will double by 2030.
'Our residents deserve access to reliable, frequent public transport now – not in 10 or 15 years,' he said.
'The state and federal governments must act on the advice of their own experts and invest in infrastructure where growth is happening.'
Wyndham City Mayor Mia Shaw said the council already had 324,000 residents and by 2040 would have 500,000.
