Surf Coast Shire endorses Geelong to Torquay electric bus service

An electric bus service to Torquay has been endorsed by Surf Coast Shire, while the location of a proposed Torquay train station has some bemused.

Surf Coast Shire mayor Liz Pattison has endorsed an electric bus network to the Shire, while the location of a long-touted Torquay train station has some bemused.

An electric bus service to Torquay has been endorsed by Surf Coast Shire, while the location of a proposed Torquay train station has some bemused.

On Saturday, the Geelong Advertister revealed upgrades to bus services to Armstrong Creek and Torquay would be introduced in 2024, however the fate of further upgrades remained up in the air.

Now, Surf Coast Shire Council Mayor, Liz Pattison has said the shire’s immediate preference would be for an electric bus service.

“We would welcome a rapid and frequent public transport connection into Geelong, alongside a dedicated active transport link, to help people get to key destinations without having to rely on cars,” Ms Pattison said.

“An electric bus service linking Torquay to Armstrong Creek, and from Armstrong Creek to the centre of Geelong, with a corresponding active transport corridor, would be ideal.”

The state government launched a zero emissions bus trial in Sunbury in October 2022, with the government aiming for new buses from 2025 in Victoria to be zero emissions.

The Geelong Advertiser understands the shire has had discussions with the state government concerning the bus upgrades, but no discussions have been held over the transit corridor more broadly.

Ms Pattison said the transit corridor had not impacted decisions on development in Torquay.

A rail line between Geelong and Torquay - which would diverge from the Geelong line at Marshall station - has been touted for a decade.

In 2022, the Geelong Advertiser revealed about 70 homes in Armstrong Creek would be impacted if the transit corridor, which runs through the Warralilly Estate, was activated.

Torquay is not set to be sliced open by the corridor, however according to one public transport advocate, the popular beach town may have another problem - the location of the proposed station.

The transit corridor, outlined in a 2014 report commissioned by the Napthine government, would terminate at a station Surf Coast Shire “envisaged” would be located just north of John Pawson Junior Lane.

Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) Geelong branch spokesman Paul Westcott said he was “bemused by Surf Coast Shire’s lack of planning” around the transit corridor.

“Anyone who’s been to Torquay in the last five years, will see the Shire is allowing development to proceed northwards from Torquay,” Mr Westcott said.

“Development that would block any corridor or would make it impossible for any corridor to get anywhere close to the centre of Torquay.

“It would seem to be essential that if you’ve got a transit corridor and you want people to use it that you take it as close as possible to where people are.”

The proposed site for the station is yet to be developed and sits about 500m west of the future site of Torquay Community Hospital, and around 500m north of Surf Coast Secondary College and Torquay’s Wurdi Baierr Stadium.

However it is located more than 2km from central Torquay, and 4km from Torquay Front Beach.

Originally published as Surf Coast Shire endorses Geelong to Torquay electric bus service