By Brendan Rees
An advocacy group for Casey Council has thrown its support behind the State Opposition’s biggest announcement to extend the Cranbourne rail line Clyde if it wins government.
South East Melbourne (SEM) – a group of councils, business and community leaders that advocate for jobs, sustainability and liveability in Melbourne’s south east region – says rail transport must be made available as a “big proportion” of south east residents lived a long way from public transport.
SEM Chair Simon McKeon said: “Because residents are forced to drive, congestion is worsening — driving down productivity and reducing liveability. To solve these issues, rail transport must be made available.”
“Extending the Cranbourne line will reduce congestion and attract new residents and business to the region,” he said.
In Clyde, more than 80 per cent of households maintain two or more vehicles – significantly higher than the metropolitan Melbourne average of 55 per cent – with one-in-five households requiring four or more vehicles, Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the 2016 census shows.
Mr McKeon said the extension of the Cranbourne line could, if necessary, be delivered in stages, allowing for spending to be spread over several budgets and fitting into existing infrastructure investments.
Rail-line duplications, extensions and stabling could be delivered independently of each other, so work can be completed gradually to ensure residents aren’t waiting for the project to begin, Mr Mckeon said.
Casey Resident and Ratepayers Association (CRRA) president Arvo Talvik said CRRA supported the announcement.
“It’s a very encouraging sign, the only thing I question is the amount of time to get it ready,” he said.
“I know what they’ve got to do, they’ve got lay five kilometres of track, they’ve got to do signals and you’ve got to build two stations and two car parks. If I was a planning project manager I can’t see why all those three things can’t be happening at once.”
