Hospitality students at William Angliss Institute of TAFE, Cranbourne, say a new rail line to Cranbourne East would make commuting to and from school more convenient and encourage more students to school. Back, left, are Jess Brown, Melissa McDonald, Cathie Burns and Tristan Bunce. Front: Laine Duell. By Alison Noonan
RESIDENTS of Cranbourne’s fastest growing area are likely to remain cutoff from rail transport after Transport Minister Peter Batchelor confirmed recently that extending the state’s rail system was no longer a high priority.
The promised Cranbourne East rail line has been put on the back burner while the State Government focuses on improving existing lines and local bus services.
The news comes as thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the area with the development of sporting facility Casey Fields and the proposed multimillion dollar Aquatic and Leisure Centre.
Public Transport Users Association Outer East Branch spokesman Alex Makin slammed the decision.
He said promises of a Cranbourne East rail line were nothing more than a “vote grab” in the lead up to the 1999 election.
Mr Makin said the move to “shun” the new line displayed a lack of foresight and commitment for the future of the Cranbourne area.
“The Cranbourne rail line is absolutely vital for the future sustainability and viability of Cranbourne and Casey,” he said.
“The government has completely disregarded the concerns of council and residents by stating it is against any new rail development for the next five to 10 years.”
Mr Makin said commuters to the area’s new sporting facilities would most likely be families and young people, those often heavily reliant on public transport.
“There is one bus currently in operation from the Cranbourne station to Cranbourne East but that is nowhere near sufficient,” he said.
“And many people don’t have the means to drive, especially with increasing petrol prices.”
Brian Woodman, general manager of the Casey Fieldsbased Victorian Football League club Casey Scorpions, said construction of the Cranbourne East rail line would be of huge benefit to the club.
“It would certainly be a very big bonus for us to have the ground within walking distance of the station,” Mr Woodman said.
“It is so vital for our spectators to be able to commute to the ground easily, as we have people coming in from all over the place to watch our games.
“Obviously it’s a fair bit of commuting to catch a train to Cranbourne and then a bus to Casey Fields versus the opportunity to have a railway station next to us at Cranbourne East.”
William Angliss Insitute of TAFE, Cranbourne, hospitality teacher Phil Sealy said a new rail line would provide an opportunity for a whole new intake of students.
“I can’t tell you how good it would be. It would open up a whole new area for us,” he said.
Casey Council chief executive officer Mike Tyler said while a new rail line was vital to the longterm development of the proposed Aquatics and Leisure Centre, he was satisfied with the current Trainlink bus service operating from Cranbourne station.
“We consider it the best bus service in Casey and almost as good a service as with a railway station. However we will need greater coverage as the area develops and will look to expand that service to Casey Fields at the times when activities are taking place,” he said.
Mr Batchelor said the government’s key short to mediumterm priority was to address rail capacity constraints, particularly in the Dandenong corridor.
“The State Budget committed $25 million to planning and investigating options for public transport improvements to the Dandenong corridor to address the increasing level of demand. Building a stronger network with improved capacity will underpin future rail extensions to areas on the city fringe,” he said.
