Thursday, 31 October 2024

Beveridge train station

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (22:11): (1254) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and the action that I seek is for the minister to commit to building a new train station in Beveridge as a matter of urgency. The history of rail in Beveridge goes back over 150 years. The original station opened with the rail line in 1872, and then in 1883 the first platform was extended and a second platform added. The station operated for over 100 years before being closed by the Cain Labor government in April 1990, with the platforms demolished in February 1991 by the Kirner Labor government.

At the time of the station’s closure, Beveridge was still a tiny country town, but times have changed. The population of Victoria has exploded, and the boundaries of Melbourne have expanded. The formerly small towns dotted along the Seymour–Shepparton rail line are growing rapidly, filled with new families who want a taste of country life while being able to commute into the city for work. The state Labor government has told Mitchell shire that it is required to increase housing by 312 per cent, which is a massive increase for a rural local government area where traffic congestion is already notoriously bad and demand for education and health care is stretching services to capacity. The Beveridge train station is a top priority for Mitchell Shire Council, and it should be a top priority for the Victorian government too. At present, Beveridge residents have to make the journey up to Wallan or down to Donnybrook if they want to catch the train, but both of these areas are also growing and struggling with their own traffic congestion around the stations.

The federal government recently announced that it will spend $750 million on the Camerons Lane interchange, a crucial piece of road infrastructure for the Beveridge intermodal freight terminal, a transformational project that will create 20,000 jobs. Last week the Victorian government announced that the northern freight precinct, which takes in the Beveridge freight terminal and surrounding lands, will be one of three priority greenfield sites where land will be released for new housing in 2024–25. The current population of Beveridge is about 9000, but it is expected to grow to almost 75,000 by 2041. Such an explosion in population must be managed properly, and that means putting public transport infrastructure in before the congestion becomes overwhelming.

Workers commuting to Beveridge freight terminal or from Beveridge housing developments into the city will need access to the V/Line service that runs through the middle of their area. Driving to Wallan or Donnybrook to catch a train will put enormous pressure on those stations and surrounding roads that are already suffering from congestion. Beveridge needs its own V/Line station. The precinct structure plan for Lockerbie North already contains a space for a potential future train station in Beveridge. The station cannot remain stalled as a mere potential station – it must become a reality before the end of this decade.