Commuters park in mud on vacant land near Cranbourne railway station
PARKING at your railway station a nightmare? Spare a thought for these desperate commuters in Melbourne’s southeast who have to wade through ankle-deep mud.
South East
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CRANBOURNE commuters are turning nearby vacant land into a bog and wading through ankle-deep mud on their way to work because the railway station carpark is so overcrowded.
Illegal parking is rampant at the end-of-the-line station — the closest for people living in the fast-growing areas of Cranbourne East and Clyde, where the population is expected to swell to 140,000 by 2041.
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HAVE YOUR SAY: How does your local carpark compare? Tell us below
According to Public Transport Victoria figures, 970 people tag on at Cranbourne between 7am and 9.30am each weekday, with 680 carparking spaces provided.
Spokesman John Lindsay said the agency was looking to improve carparking but said ultimately it needed more people to find alternative transport to the station.
“This gives Cranbourne station one of the largest carparking provisions on Melbourne’s metropolitan rail network,” he said.
“Longer term, PTV believes the best way to reduce carpark congestion is to provide other ways to get to the station, including taking advantage of connecting bus services or active transport modes such as cycling and walking.
“As part of that strategy, PTV is currently exploring options to increase the size of the bus interchange at Cranbourne to accommodate the new bus network for the Casey area.”
The Cranbourne Leader is advocating for the extension of the Cranbourne rail line through to Clyde North as part of its ‘Put Clyde Back on Track’ campaign.
Public Transport Users Association of Victoria president Tony Morton said the association had been calling for train services to be extended to Clyde since 2008.
He said more rail services would have the added benefit of getting people off the roads.
“A short extension to Cranbourne East and Clyde along the existing easement would follow the successful template now established by the extension from Epping to South Morang and soon to Mernda,” he said.
“Not only has this extension improved the travel options for those who used to travel to Epping to catch trains — it has also generated substantial new patronage and revenue from those who did not use trains previously.
“New patrons by the thousand are now catching trains at both South Morang and Epping.”
Cranbourne state Labor MP Jude Perera said the State Government was investigating
enhanced bus services to more areas for Cranbourne and its surrounds.
Extra bus services will start in November.
“Cranbourne station has one of the largest carparks on the network, and further expansion will be considered as part of ongoing upgrades,” he said.
“The extension of the Cranbourne line as far as Clyde is a project identified in Public Transport Victoria’s Network Development Plan and the rail corridor remains reserved to enable this extension to occur in the future.
“It is also my understanding that there is also the potential for a new train stabling facility to be constructed in Clyde.”
Last week the State Government released the tender for additional carparking at the Berwick and Hallam railway stations.
The project will see up to 110 extra spaces at Berwick and 50 spaces at Hallam as well as new lighting, CCTV and signage.
Construction will start in early 2017.
