UP to 1000 commuters will board crowded peak-hour trains at the new Williams Landing station when it opens in April.
Under questioning from Western Metropolitan Greens MP Colleen Hartland, the state government has revealed Public Transport Victoria’s passenger projections of between 500-1000 each day in the morning peak period.
The figures have fanned fears the 500-space car park will quickly fall short of demand.
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Point Cook Action Group president Nick Michaelides, who drives to Laverton station every day at 6.30am to nab a space, said there was “no way” the new station would cope.
Massive growth in Wyndham, particularly the 32,000-strong population in Point Cook, had brought the Werribee line to bursting point.
“At Laverton, there are at least 500 illegally parked cars around the station on the grass on both sides, and in the winter it just turns into a complete quagmire,” he said.
“The area around Williams Landing is a huge growth area, so by the time the new station is ready to go, the 500 car spots will fill so quickly and the people who drive to Laverton will still go to Laverton to avoid more expensive zone 2 fares.”
Mr Michaelides has written to Transport Minister Terry Mulder’s office 18 times since July 2011 calling for a fix to congestion and car parking problems along the Werribee line.
“I’ve had three standard letters sent back simply saying ‘it’s not a priority for the Coalition government’. It’s an issue that’s getting worse by the day but no one wants to listen.”
Mr Mulder did not respond to questions from the Weekly.
He has previously pledged that planning for new bus routes linking surrounding suburbs to the new station was under way, with details to be announced closer to the station’s opening date.
But Ms Hartland said the new station and bus links had the potential to alleviate the pressure “only if done properly”.
“If this new station isn’t matched with a bus connection that is fast, efficient and direct, driving a car to the station will be the only option available for many.”
