Mixed reactions to transport policy

THE State Government’s transport policy has met mixed reactions from local government and transport union representatives.
Casey mayor Kevin Bradford welcomed the broad funding outlined in the $10.5-billion transport and liveability statement ‘Meeting our Transport Challenges’ but called for more detail on how specific projects would affect Casey.
Cr Bradford said the Lynbrook railway station had been promised by the State Government for years and needed to be completed as soon as possible, not started in six years’ time as now proposed.
“The Lynbrook residents need this railway station now – not next decade,” he said.
Cr Bradford said the council also wanted to see the urgent construction of the Cranbourne East station and extra parking at existing stations.
“Improved public transport is critical to ensuring residents can access the services they need.
“It is a major concern that the promised Cranbourne East station has simply disappeared from the radar,” he said.
Cr Bradford said bus services in Casey also needed urgent attention.
He said that the council-funded trial bus service for residents of Pearcedale and the coastal villages was an example of the council trying to cover a gap in public transport.
“It would be great to see the State Government continue the program and assist those in isolated communities,” Cr Bradford said.
He also encouraged the Government to consider a smart bus running through the middle of Casey linking Fountain Gate to Cranbourne and then to Frankston.
Hastings MP Rosy Buchanan said public transport services in Melbourne’s south-east would be dramatically boosted as a result of the transport strategy.
Ms Buchanan said the strategy included a significant upgrade of the Monash Freeway to reduce traffic congestion on the major link between the south-eastern suburbs and the city centre.
“This is a great result for both public transport users and drivers in Melbourne’s south-east,” Ms Buchanan said.
She said included in the statement were late-night train services up to 1.30am on Friday and Saturday nights on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
Also included was a boost to Melbourne’s local bus network over the next 10 years to extend hours to include evenings and weekends, increase the frequency of services on busier routes and extend routes into new suburbs as they develop.
Ms Buchanan said the south-east would also benefit from the construction of a third train track on the Dandenong rail corridor between Caulfield and Springvale stations.
But the Public Transport Users Association has condemned the statement, saying it is just the latest of an ongoing saga of plans that have provided few tangible improvements.
“While it may appear that the statement does more for public transport than for roads, in reality this does very little to address the fact that new road spending in the last decade has exceeded rail network expansion by 3000 per cent,” the association’s spokesman Alex Makin said.
Mr Makin said new stations at Lynbrook, Cardinia Road (Lakeside), Point Cook and Southland were needed immediately without waiting until 2010.
“The failure of this statement to radically boost the frequency of bus services and to immediately implement much needed rail extensions is due to the refusal to create an efficient planning and public transport authority,” Mr Makin said.