Easy sell or sellout?
The following letter to the editor was submitted to The Herald Sun in response to a Leader article published on the 11th of November: New Leawarra train station an ‘easy sell’ to unlock long awaited upgrade.
Frankston Council’s mayor Cr Kris Bolam suggests extending the Frankston train line 1.2km to Leawarra station.
This is a politically expedient, stopgap fix to Frankston CBD’s problem of congestion and lack of affordable car parking.
It’s a Band-Aid over the underlying problem. The Frankston line commuter park and ride should be at Langwarrin, well beyond Frankston’s CBD and hospital–university precinct.
The council and mayor are taking the line of least resistance and this begs the question: Is their suggestion an “easy sell” or “sellout”?
Let’s do the job properly by extending 5km to Langwarrin and fixing public transport for our whole city. Then 37,000 residents of eastern Frankston and 160,000-plus residents of Mornington Peninsula will finally have proper access to Melbourne’s rail network.
If the federal government needs to save money, the cost of 5km of single-track electrification to Langwarrin is comparable to 1.2km of double track to Leawarra.
Both options provide a Monash campus station, a Playne St underpass and expensive grade separation at Moorooduc Hwy, but only Langwarrin achieves all long-term benefits.
Frankston’s waited 92 years for this extension. Come on state and federal governments – let’s do it properly.
-Ginevra Hosking, CEO, Committee for Greater Frankston
