By Esther Lauaki
Wyndham council believes the federal budget missed the mark, with no funding allocated to the municipality’s road and rail.
Mayor Mia Shaw said while some initiatives to come out of the budget, handed down last week, would benefit locals, the west had been short-changed.
“Our request for increased capacity on the Regional Rail Link was ignored, as was the request for new and expanded bus services, increased capacity on the Werribee line, and a Werribee and Wyndham Vale rail connection,” Cr Shaw said.
Cr Shaw called on the state and federal governments to offer solutions to Wyndham’s “crippled” rail services.
“The fast train between Melbourne and Geelong is a fantastic initiative, however in Wyndham we are at the point where we just need increased services,” she said.
“Focusing on the speed of services would be a luxury.
“Trains are beyond capacity, bus services don’t sufficiently link up with the train timetable and it’s extremely hard to get a carpark at any of our train stations.
“If there is money to be spent on rail infrastructure, I would think that some consideration should be given to Wyndham.”
Cr Shaw said that Wyndham would not benefit from the $500 million national commuter carpark fund, despite the municipality’s train stations operating at capacity.
Victorian Local Government Authority president Marg Attley last week said the commuter carpark fund was a missed opportunity to solve the “suburban congestion problem”.
“In our view, that money will be much better spent on outer suburban bus networks to increase network reach, frequency and connectivity,” Cr Attley said.
“An integrated public transport infrastructure will help to ease peak hour traffic congestion.”
Cr Attley noted that it was almost inevitable that most of the federal budget’s funding commitments would be reviewed and readjusted by a new government.
