There is no certainty Caroline Springs commuters will get on board when their new station opens next month – passing trains are already at capacity, transport data shows.
Last month, the state government announced four peak hour Ballarat line trains would stop at Caroline Springs, but V/Line performance figures show the existing morning and evening peak hour services are already full.
Six morning peak hour trains on the Ballarat line – including those scheduled to arrive at Caroline Springs at 7.26am, 7.41am, 8.01am and 8.27am – are already full by the time they pass Caroline Springs, while four evening services are also full by the time they pass Caroline Springs.
Other peak hour services are almost full, the data shows.
Plans for a Caroline Springs train station were floated almost a decade ago, but construction started only last year.
Greens regional development portfolio spokesman Greg Barber said it is disappointing residents who have waited almost 20 years to get a station won’t be able to get on the line. He said successive state governments had been too slow to invest in Melbourne’s outer west.
“Every time you improve the V/Line service, it gets a massive increase in patronage,” Mr Barber said.
“If you’re improving the service, people are going to use it, and you need a further plan … for that increased use.
“There’s been decades of under-investment by both Labor and Liberal governments, and it’s not due to a lack of money.”
Mr Barber said adding extra off-peak services would not reduce overcrowding on trains. Last month the state government announced it will introduce 10 new weekly services on the Ballarat line from January 29, but it has not yet released the timetable for these services.
It has also ruled out early bird specials on regional trains, which are currently being offered on Metro services to encourage commuters to use earlier services.
A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said, in the past 18 months, 15 new carriages have been added to Ballarat line services, giving people more travel options.
