New Sunday trains for Sunbury, Craigieburn welcomed, but commuters say more needed
This weekend partygoers in Melbourne’s north and northwest will have an extra Sunday train service to get them home. But will this be enough to save the overloaded lines?
North West
Don't miss out on the headlines from North West. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Weekend partygoers in Melbourne’s northwest will have an extra train service to get them home on the Sunbury and Craigieburn lines – just in time for the silly season.
But long-suffering commuters say it will hardly make a dent in the problems facing the overloaded lines.
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) announced last week that Southern Cross Station would open from 6am on Sunday mornings for commuters on the Sunbury, Craigieburn and Werribee lines, adding an extra early morning train.
The Sunbury Residents Association (SRA) president Malcolm Thomspon said Sunday morning trains were “more than welcome”.
Live your best Melbourne life with a Leader Community News subscription
“It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but it’s definitely something we agree with,” he said.
While the added service has been welcomed, some say more must be done for commuters.
“We need more trains along the Sunbury line because we’ve got a lot of passengers using more trains than cars,” Mr Thompson said.
Moonee Valley Mayor Samantha Byrne told the Leader while she fully supported improvements to the Craigieburn line, she wanted to see an additional train station built in Airport West to help fill the area’s public transport black spot.
“We continue to advocate strongly for a station in Airport West as part of the airport rail link and suburban rail loop and ongoing expansion and improvement to tram and bus services,” she said.
A community petition to build a new station on Terror St, Airport West as part of the planned airport rail link has amassed more than 2000 signatures.
MORE: STATE GOVERNMENT PROMISE ON SUNBURY RAIL PROJECTS
MASSIVE SURGE IN METRO PASSENGERS DURING PEAK HOUR
TRAIN STATION TOILETS LOCKED FOR MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS
News comes after it was revealed more than one fifth of trains on the Craigieburn lines were over capacity last year during peak times.
“Council strongly believes that public transport services should operate like a world-class metro service,” she said.
“Therefore we welcome and greatly support the recently announced additional weekend train services along the Craigieburn line”.