Cranbourne station crush sparks call for multistorey carpark
Dozens of commuters say all of Cranbourne train station’s 641 car parks are regularly full by 6.30am, forcing them to squeeze into side streets up to 15 minutes away. But the congestion doesn’t stop once you get on the train. WATCH
South East
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Cranbourne railway station’s 641 car spaces are regularly full by 6.30am, sparking desperate calls for a multi-story carpark and line extension.
Dozens of commuters told the Cranbourne Leader, which visited the station last week, the station was plagued with parking issues as people scrambled to find a space before it was too late.
Regular commuter Lerato Masiyane said she was forced to park in a side street at least 15 minutes away if she arrived at the station after 6.30am.
“It really does slow things down and then I end up missing my train,” Ms Masiyane said.
“I have to walk quite a long distance and I also worry … that my car could get towed while I’m at work.”
Michael Stone said he arrived 40 minutes earlier than he used to so he could find a park.
Mr Stone said the station desperately needed a high rise carpark.
“If you’re here after 6.45am you have to hope to get one at Merinda Park or one of the side streets,” he said.
Rajadurai Thangavelu said many people drove to the station from as far as Tooradin.
She said if the line was extended to growth areas such as Cranbourne East and Clyde North a large portion of those drivers would go to the new stations.
“It would split the crowd and have enough parking as new stations will have their share,” Mr Thangavelu said.
The Leader rode the 7.49am Cranbourne train to Richmond, finding congestion was also an issue on carriages.
Commuters were unable to get a seat by the time the train reached Dandenong – the fourth station on the line.
People were packed in like sardines — with commuters boarding the train urging people to “move down” to make room — by the time the train reached Oakleigh, the middle station on the line.
Meanwhile, 93 weekday services will have an extra 1-5 minutes added to their journey times under a new schedule for Cranbourne, Pakenham and Dandenong rail lines announced last week to reflect delays created by more peak hour passengers piling on to trains.
But in good news for some commuters, another 16 will have up to two minutes cut from their trip time.
Since 2015, the Leader been fighting for the train line to be extended through its ‘Put Clyde Back on Track’ campaign.
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A Public Transport Victoria spokesman said works to fully duplicate the Cranbourne line and enable services every 10 minutes were set to start next year, as part of its line upgrade.
He said planning was underway to build more car spaces at Cranbourne and Lynbrook stations.
“The Cranbourne line upgrade, together with the Metro Tunnel slashing up to 50 minutes a day off travel times, will deliver a new fleet of bigger, better trains and provide room for 121,000 extra peak hour passengers each week,” the spokesman said.