A landmark railway station in Williams Landing, which opened less than two years ago, is already failing to cope with demand and commuters who drive to the station risk fines every day for illegally parking.
The $110 million Williams Landing station opened in April 2012 and is used by commuters in the boom suburbs of Point Cook, Truganina and Williams Landing, which are forecast to collectively house about 90,000 residents by 2030.
Yet the station has just 500 parking spaces and is served by buses that run at 20- to 22-minute intervals in the peak along choked arterial roads.
Predictions before the station opened that it would be swamped have proved true, with Wyndham City in recent months taking to fining motorists, including commuters, who illegally park near the station. The council issued more than 900 fines last year. It also issued almost 1300 fines around Hoppers Crossing, the next station down the line.
Point Cook resident Peter Ristevski, who has challenged a fine he received in November, says he parks illegally because there is no alternative.
Mr Ristevski drives to the station at 8am each day and says the search for a parking space is “hopeless”.
“To try and get a legal spot, I have to be circling the streets at around seven,” he says.
On some days he rides a bicycle, and has even subscribed to the station’s Parkiteer bike cage, but often finds the cage’s bike racks are all occupied, leaving him with nowhere to lock his bike.
He says he has never contemplated using the buses because they are too slow. The grassy patch of vacant land he and scores of other commuters illegally park on each day should be converted into a car park, Mr Ristevski said.
In response, the Andrews government said it would investigate expanding parking at Williams Landing, as part of a citywide audit of land near stations that could be converted into extra car parking.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said pressure on Williams Landing would be relieved with the opening of the Regional Rail Link in June, by dispersing passengers across two lines.
“The Labor-funded Regional Rail Link will give Wyndham residents access to two new stations, 2000 extra car parks and extra bike parking,” Ms Allan said.
Williams Landing station looms over the Princes Freeway on the Werribee rail line, on the southern edge of a new estate planned to have 2500 houses.
The suburb of Williams Landing has been promoted by its planners as an example of “transit-oriented development”, where residents have good access to public transport and neighbourhoods are easily walkable.
But the station precinct was described as “underwhelming” by Canadian urban planner Brent Toderian when he visited it late last year, with too much emphasis on access by car.
“A successful transit-oriented development has to be a great place to walk first,” Mr Toderian said.
“The preference is that most things you need are within walking distance, so you need to get on public transport only to access things that are far away. It didn’t strike me that the plan I saw for the station would accomplish that.”
Western Metropolitan Greens MP Colleen Hartland said the key to improving access to the station was boosting bus timetables so they ran every 10 minutes.
“People have to be convinced that the bus service is going to work,” Ms Hartland said. “We can see that with the success of the 401 bus out of North Melbourne station.”
The number of train passengers travelling to Williams Landing station by bus is three times higher than on the rest of the train network, Public Transport Victoria data shows, with 80 per cent of passengers reportedly satisfied with the service.
This story first appeared in The Age
