Melbourne council weighs public-private partnership for train stations

In short:

Melton City Council has voted to explore a potential partnership with the state government to deliver two train stations in Melbourne's booming outer west.

The council will discuss the government's willingness to enter a public-private partnership to get the Thornhill Park and Mt Atkinson stations built.

What's next?

Residents say local infrastructure is a pressing issue as they prepare to vote in the state election on November 28.

A council in Melbourne's outer west has floated the prospect of a public-private partnership to deliver two train stations that residents in the booming area have demanded for years.

Melton City Council will also explore the idea of partnering with the state government itself in a bid to build new stations at Mt Atkinson and Thornhill Park.

It voted to undertake preliminary discussions to sound out the state government's interest, and see if the idea could generate revenue for the council, during a meeting last week.

In a statement on social media, Deputy Mayor Philip Zada said the motion was about asking the state government if they would consider working together.

Cr Zada also canvassed whether the move could generate revenue for the council, with the suggestion of charging for parking at the stations.

"Our community has been advocating for Thornhill Park and Mt Atkinson stations for years, and council continues to identify both as priorities in its transport advocacy," he said.

The two new stations on the Ballarat V/Line are listed on the council's election priorities, along with other transport projects, including road upgrades and electrification of the Melton rail line.

Station planned a decade ago yet to be delivered

The Melton area, along the Western Highway in Melbourne's sprawling outer west, frequently tops lists of the fastest-growing areas in Australia.

Council data shows the municipality is growing at a rate of 6.61 per cent annually, more than three times faster than the Melbourne average of 2 per cent.

The population of the Mt Atkinson residential development is anticipated to reach 32,000 by 2051.

The council's advocacy booklet says the new train stations are needed to take pressure off nearby stations at Caroline Springs, Rockbank and Cobblebank, where trains are crowded and car parks are "at capacity by 7:30am".

The council argues building the new train stations and electrifying the Melton line will result in 12,000 fewer cars on the road a day by 2041 and 15,000 more commuters.

The proposed train station at Mt Atkinson has been mentioned in planning documents since the suburb plan was first published in 2017.

Mt Atkinson resident Jaksha Shah said local infrastructure was a pressing election issue for the area, where congestion chokes the morning commute and the nearest supermarket is a 40-minute drive in peak hour traffic.

"I bought into a future where there was going to be a train station where I live, and the reality is very different," she said.

"We kind of need what we were promised and we deserve it."

Melton forms a crucial part of Labor's so-called "red wall", a line of ALP-held seats across Melbourne's west and north, where the population is rapidly expanding over what was once agricultural land.

Four years ago, Labor suffered a blow in some of those seats, and pollsters say the party is under threat again at this election, particularly in Melbourne's west.

Unmet infrastructure needs in growth areas

Crowded train station car parks are an issue across Melbourne, particularly in outer growth areas.

The West Tarneit station further south has been open less than a month, and already the car park is regularly full by 8am.

National Growth Areas Alliance chief executive Bronwen Clark said Melbourne's infrastructure, including train stations and community centres, had not kept pace with the growth of outer suburbia.

"There is a lack of ongoing state government funding or support for the infrastructure that communities need and economies need to thrive," she said.

Ms Clark said councils like Melton and Wyndham were left to fill the void, giving the example of an aquatic centre in Melton being built without state government investment.

"Councils are having to fill the gap, and it's a significant gap that councils are having to fill,"she said.

"The lack of state government investment is really changing the way councils operate."

Victorian Transport Minister Vicki Ward said Labor was building the Sunshine Superhub project, which she said would "allow for Melton line electrification and get more trains running in Melbourne's west".

She said site investigations to finalise the project design were ongoing.

"Jess Wilson's Liberal-One Nation Coalition are promising $40 billion in cuts and if elected, they will cut trains to Melton and send Victorian jobs overseas and buy expensive, foreign trains that don't suit our network," Ms Ward said.

The Coalition is promising $1.7 billion for 25 new hybrid diesel-electric trains on the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines if elected on November 28.

It has committed to manufacturing these trains in Victoria and would aim to deliver them by 2030.