$225 million in funding. Want to know more about the Frankston rail extension?
The Federal Government has just committed $225 million in funding to the Frankston- Baxter rail extension. For this project to become a reality, the State Government (- which owns the train line) now needs to match the funding.
This article outlines the many benefits that the train line extension will bring to the Greater Frankston region.
The Frankston Rail Extension benefits have been defined by Frankston Council as well as various advocacy groups past and present including the Committee for Greater Frankston. The top five will:
1. Connect 37,000 people in Karingal and Langwarrin to Melbourne’s public transport network and jobs up the line.
2. Free up car parking in Frankston’s Central Business District, much of which is taken by train commuters.
3. Bring metropolitan rail access to Frankston Hospital’s and Monash Peninsula’s doorsteps.
4. Get commuters out of cars, off congested roads and back onto our trains, reversing a decline in rail patronage at the southern end of the Frankston line.
5. Create a reliable backbone for public transport in the Greater Frankston region.
In 2018, the Committee for Greater Frankston are calling on both State and Federal governments to commit to the project by pledging an initial amount of $200 million each until, such time as a business case is finalised. We seek construction of the extension to start within the next term of the State Government.
1. Connect Karingal and Langwarrin to Melbourne’s public transport network and jobs up the line.
Connecting more than 37,000 residents of Karingal, Langwarrin and Langwarrin South to the metropolitan train network is crucial to improving prosperity in the region. In Greater Frankston we have fewer than 28 local jobs per 100 residents. Residents in the area can access less than 10 per cent of Melbourne’s job market in a reasonable commute time. The rail extension would better connect people to diverse job markets outside our region, giving people more employment choices, higher income alternatives and improved employment security.
2. Bring metropolitan rail access to Frankston Hospital’s and Monash Peninsula’s doorsteps.
A new station near Frankston Hospital would enable hospital staff, day patients and visitors to have easy access to the metropolitan train network for the first time. A station near Monash’s campus would greatly enlarge the catchment area of Monash students who don’t have a car. It would also free up parking space at the campus.
The Committee for Greater Frankston is advocating for a station between Clarendon St and Moorooduc Highway, to service both the hospital and university. The existing, “bare bones” Stony Point line station at Leawarra should be relocated to Karingal. (Leawarra has just one short platform, a small shelter, and a myki ticket machine.)
3. Free up car parking in Frankston’s Central Business District, much of which is taken by train commuters.
Statistics show that 3000 passengers, more than 40 per cent of those who use the train each weekday (Hale 2015), access Frankston station by car. However Frankston station has only 416 commuter car spaces. Some passengers are driven to the station by relatives or friends, but many park informally in the cheapest all-day parking within Frankston CBD and in side streets up to 500 metres away from the station.
Frankston workers, shoppers and visitors use whatever parking is left over after the weekday commuter rush. Paid parking in central Frankston can cost up to $13 a day- $65 for a five-day week- an impost for people earning a moderate income; people on a low fixed income such as retirees and students; in addition to welfare recipients. With more parking available, shoppers who previously avoided central Frankston could be enticed back to the city centre.
A new station at Langwarrin should include a 1000-plus car parking spaces to provide an affordable option for train travellers from the eastern parts of Greater Frankston as well as the Mornington Peninsula. As many as 70 per cent of the 3000 commuters who get to Frankston station by car each day would consider using one of the new stations on the proposed rail extension. This would enable shoppers, workers, TAFE students and visitors to more easily find an affordable car park.
4. Get commuters out of cars, off congested roads and back onto our trains, reversing a decline in rail patronage at the southern end of the Frankston line.
New stations at Karingal and Langwarrin would provide access to the metropolitan train network for Karingal’s 13,500 residents (including 6144 workers) and Langwarrin and Langwarrin South’s 24,000 residents (13,300 workers). More people would be able to catch trains in their own suburbs, or park easily at a station nearby, making the Frankston train line more attractive for commuting. This would reduce the number of people driving on arterial roads and the region’s freeways such as the congested Monash Freeway as well as EastLink and Peninsula Link.
The number of people using stations on the Frankston line between Frankston and Aspendale has declined 44 per cent in the past 9 years due to a number of factors. Yet the number of people using other parts of Melbourne’s rail network is increasing. A rail extension, with adequate and affordable commuter car parking, is critical for public transport usage. We need to fill commuter trains and run them fast.
5. Create a reliable backbone for public transport in the Greater Frankston region.
The Stony Point line is Metro Trains Melbourne’s least frequent and least reliable service. Consequently people don’t use it. Extending the Frankston line across our municipality would create a reliable public transport network. Residents will be able to access public transport in their own suburbs, at the three new stations, and disembark near destinations such as shops, hospitals and educational institutions.
Minimum design requirements
We are calling on both State and Federal governments to commit to the project by pledging an initial amount of $200 million each until such time as a business case is finalised. In the May 2018 Budget, the Federal Government announced its commitment of $225 million in funding to extend the Frankston train line to Baxter. For this project to become a reality, the State Government (- which owns the train line) now needs to match the funding. We seek construction of the extension to start within the next term of the State Government.
Our preferred design solution includes, as a minimum:
✓ Duplicated and electrified track to Langwarrin.
✓ Providing metro-standard train timetabling on this track.
✓ Three stations at Frankston Hospital / Monash University, Karingal and Langwarrin.
✓ A 1000+ space commuter park and ride at Langwarrin.
✓ Three grade separations/crossing removals at Playne Street, Moorooduc Highway (McMahons Road) and Peninsula Link.
✓ Provision for a future rail service on to Baxter and the Mornington Peninsula.
Show your Support
If you agree that the extension of the Frankston train line to Baxter will bring great benefits to our region (outline above), please contact your State Government representative and urge him or her to help our community advocate for the additional $225 million that is required to build it. Here are the contact details of your State and Federal parliamentary representatives:
Paul Edbrooke Frankston (State Lower House)
phone: 9783 9822 email: paul.edbrooke@parliament.vic.gov.au mail: 140 Young Street, FRANKSTON 3199
Neale Burgess Hastings (State Lower House)
phone: 5977 5600 email: neale.burgess@parliament.vic.gov.au mail: PO Box 909 SOMERVILLE 3912
David Morris Mornington (State Lower House)
phone: 5975 4799 email: david.morris@parliament.vic.gov.au mail: PO Box 2000 MORNINGTON 3931
Sonya Kilkenny Carrum (State Lower House)
phone: 9773 2727 email: sonya.kilkenny@parliament.vic.gov.au mail: PO Box 4, SEAFORD LPO 3198
Michael Lamb Preselected candidate- Frankston
Phone: 0455 341 258 email: michael.lamb@vic.liberal.org.au mail: PO Box 11087, Frankston 3199
Chris Crewther Dunkley (Federal Lower House)
Phone: 9781 2333 email: chris.crewther.mp@aph.gov.au mail: PO Box 501 FRANKSTON 3199
Greg Hunt Flinders (Federal Lower House)
Phone: 5979 3188 email: greg.hunt.mp@aph.gov.au mail: PO Box 274 HASTINGS 3915
Inga Peulich South Eastern Metropolitan (State Upper house)
Phone: 9772 1366 email: inga.peulich@parliament.vic.gov.au mail: 376 Nepean Hwy CHELSEA 3196
Peta Murphy Preselected candidate – Dunkley
Phone: 8390 6166 email: peta.murphy@vic.alp.org.au
