Liam McNally
A petition with more than 880 signatures is calling for a train station to be added to the Ballarat line in Thornhill Park.
Thornhill Park is a fast growing community in Melbourne’s western growth corridor, which according to Melton council’s Moving Melton prospectus is expecting 17,300 new residents by 2051, resulting in a population of over 23,000.
The suburb sits between Rockbank and Cobblebank stations, which are each about a six kilometre drive from Thornhill Park, and has no regular public bus route.
Petition organiser and Thornhill Park Working Group member Matthew Pearse said that highway congestion can blow-out driving times to the neighbouring stations to over 25 minutes.
“Both of those stations are at capacity… there’s not a lot of ways to get in and out of Melton… with a train station there would be less pressure on the rest of the municipality,” he said.
“The Thornhill Park train station will be a key part of the growing suburb, it will assist with residents who already have limited access to a road network and will provide better access to public transport, as well as help them to move safely around the community.”
Melton council has also advocated for a train station for Thornhill Park, and said it was provided independent analysis by Clarity Consult that found that construction of a train station on Paynes Road by 2026 would see total benefits of $68 million over 30 years.
It is also estimated that the station would have 4,000 users and reduce total car trips by 1,500 every day by 2041.
Melton Mayor Lara Carli said Thornhill Park residents have “poor access to public transport despite being a rapidly growing suburb”.
“We want to see new residents take up a public transport option when they move into a new neighbourhood,” she said.
“Investment in public transport is critical to getting our residents to and from work efficiently and safely.”
Melton MP Steve McGhie confirmed that once the petition is completed he will present it to the relevant minister.
Kororoit MP Luba Grigorivitch, who is also mentioned in the petition, said the state government is “always looking at ways to improve our public transport network across the state, including in Melbourne’s western suburbs”.
“Locals can also use the FlexiRide Melton South service to link them to other forms of public transport and get them where they need to go,” she said.
