A NEW station should be build west of Newport and the Altona Loop duplicated, the state’s public transport lobby says.
In its state budget submission released last week, the Public Transport Users Association calls for a new station to service Altona North.
Association president Tony Morton said a new station was needed at Newport West on the Werribee line.
“There’s quite a substantial residential concentration in that area north of the train line running all the way from Newport to Altona North,” Dr Morton said.
“It could be a rail catchment if only there was a station there, and at the moment if you’re going somewhere by public transport . . . you’re looking at quite a long bus ride to get to Newport or Yarraville or places like that. It adds a lot to your travel time.
“There’s a golden opportunity to take that existing train line, add one more station there, which would be on the path of the trains to Altona, and provide much greater access for that whole region to the public transport backbone.”
The submission states: “A new station at Newport West would enable access to existing rail services in an area that currently has poor access despite Werribee line services running through the area.
“A station near Maddox and Champion roads would also provide access to educational institutions such as Bayside College and the Newport campus of Victoria University.”
The submission also calls for duplication on the Werribee line, stating that it “serves some of the fastest-growing areas in Melbourne, but it offers poor service levels relative to other railway lines.
“Duplication of the Altona Loop [Altona Junction to Laverton Junction] would boost capacity and reliability on the line, and indirectly benefit Geelong and South Western Victoria services by allowing greater operational flexibility,” the submission states.
Dr Morton said the Altona Loop — referring to the single track between Westona, Altona and Seaholme stations — made it “very difficult to run trains in either direction more than once every 20 minutes, which is a pretty hopeless frequency really.
” . . . that actually affects timetabling on the entire western rail network,” he said.
Western suburbs Greens MP Colleen Hartland said that at the bare minimum, the state government should allocate budget funds for a feasibility study into a new station and track duplication on the Werribee line for Hobsons Bay commuters.
“The Liberal Party promised to fix public transport, and that means investing in sensible proposals such as these,” she said.
Western metropolitan Liberal MP Andrew Elsbury has lobbied to re-open Paisley station at the Altona Mobil refinery.
“The fact of the matter is we don’t have the financial wherewithal at the moment to make that happen, but it’s something I will be raising again so that we can provide for the public transport needs of the western suburbs,” he said.
Mr Elsbury said he “had not been informed” if there was money for the Altona Loop duplication.
