Melton councillor Sophie Ramsey is urging the state government to commit to the much-needed duplication and electrification of the Ballarat train line from Deer Park to Melton.
At last week’s council meeting, Cr Ramsey asked the council to write to the Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan about the urgency of her request, which follows various Public Transport Victoria (PTV) consultations.
Cr Ramsey said the “imminent” opening of the Caroline Springs train station made the issue even more pressing.
“I think it’s important that advocacy at all times remain ever-so vigilant,” she said. “But this is an issue that’s very important to the City of Melton residents and it’s very, very, very, very overdue.
“We need to duplicate immediately, but we also need the state government to lay the foundation for the electrification of the line at the same time.”
At a PTV forum earlier this year, Bacchus Marsh and Melton residents raised a number of concerns, including overcrowding on the Ballarat line and the need for it to be duplicated and electrified.
Cr Ramsey said she hoped the state government would see “merit” in funding, and finishing, the project as soon as possible.
“It will allow for more trains to get on the line, help with better timetabling, and hopefully in the future trains may commence in Melton, which will mean that the first train won’t be cracker-jack full when it gets here,” she said.
Council officers said they hoped to work with Brimbank, Moorabool, Ballarat, Ararat and Pyrenees councils to advocate for the duplication and electrification of the train line.
“The duplication and subsequent electrification of the Ballarat line between Deer Park and Melton is the only real way to achieve additional stations for the growing population and to provide greater certainty and regularity of services across the entire length of line from Caroline Springs to Ballarat and beyond,” the officers’ report stated.
A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the short, medium and long term strategies for public transport across Melton and regional Victoria would be released in the Regional Network Development Plan soon.
