Melton Residents Frustrated by Infrastructure Shortfall Amid Rapid Growth

In the outer suburbs, many residents are familiar with the daily struggle of trying to get a car park at the local train station.

In Rockbank, in Melbourne's outer west, the sealed car park with 350 spaces is full by 7:15am, and cars spill out onto nearby streets, including on the side of the busy Leakes Road.

It is a situation that is familiar to data analyst Manish Baisoya, who lives in Mt Atkinson — 23 kilometres west of central Melbourne where he works.

"You have to try your luck in the morning to find a car park," he said.

He said the issue was a key source of frustration for residents and that the solution was clear: a new train station in Mt Atkinson.

"Especially [because] we have the train line that goes past the northern edge of our suburb. It's frustrating, it's obvious, we all can see that is the ultimate solution," he said.

A 2024 petition calling for a new train station in Mt Atkinson was tabled in state parliament, with nearly 5,000 signatures.

Council calls for three new train stations

The issue is front of mind for Melton City Council, which has listed three new train stations and road upgrades among its priority projects ahead of the November state election.

Two are on the diesel-powered regional trains on the Melton line in the fast-growing communities of Mt Atkinson and Thornhill Park.

A third station is proposed for Calder Park on the Sunbury line, where there is a 10-kilometre gap between Diggers Rest and Watergardens stations.

Council data shows the population is growing at a rate of about 6.61 per cent annually, more than three times faster than the Melbourne average of 2 per cent a year.

Deputy Mayor Phillip Zada said the community's vibrant, multicultural feel made it a popular place to move to.

But he said the area needed more state investment in infrastructure, particularly roads and rail.

"If we look at it, we have the Western Highway, and if we look at the rail, we have the V/Line."

The issue was made more pronounced earlier this month when the Telstra outage brought the V/Line train network to a standstill, leaving outer suburban commuters stranded.

Infrastructure Victoria last year recommended starting work on electrifying the Melton line in 2027, as well as the two new train stations.

Cr Zada said locals talk to him daily about a lack of infrastructure for the growing community.

"You know, we're currently sitting at around 241,000 residents, and we're expected to grow to 456,000, which is pretty crazy if you think about it," he said.

Council data shows 86 per cent of the local workforce leave the city to go to work daily.

The council is also calling on both sides of politics to invest more in creating local jobs, with five new employment precincts.

Roads 'insane' in Melton

When it comes to roads, the council wants to see upgrades to the Western Highway, which carries more than 86,000 vehicles a day, but in parts has no sealed shoulders or public lighting.

The council also wants funding for new and upgraded interchanges, where populations have moved in without adequate access to major roads.

Cr Zada said traffic on the Western Highway was "bumper to bumper" during peak hours.

"It's insane," he said.

He said several new bus services had recently started up in the area but that transport remained a serious issue for locals, and council can't afford to fund it themselves.

The federal government recently committed $1 billion to upgrade the Western Highway.

Cr Zada said while that was welcome, it was not enough.

"There's other roads as well, like the Melton Highway, Hopkins Road, Ferris Road, the Palmers Road corridor and the famous Taylors Road," he said.

Some local roads are so infamous they have their own Facebook pages, with community members posting pictures of bad accidents and lobbying for upgrades or traffic lights.

Cr Zada, who is a Labor member, said there has been investment in Melton, "so it's not like we're being abandoned," but argued the rate of growth meant investment needed to happen more quickly.

"It's just one of those things that we've got to keep working through, keep advocating for," he said.

Some residents say they do feel taken for granted by government.

Jaksha Shah, who has lived in Mt Atkinson for about three years, said she blamed both sides of politics for what she described as inadequate infrastructure.

Ms Shah said the council needs to do its bit too, arguing there was a need for an expanded and linked-up bus network to help residents get around locally.

A Victorian government spokesperson said electrification of the Melton line was on the way to deliver more trains, more often, with site investigations to finalise the project design now underway.

"Whether it's making the Werribee Line and Melton level crossing free, getting on with Airport Rail, putting more services on the Werribee Line or opening the West Gate and Metro Tunnel — we are reducing congestion, helping busy families in the west get home sooner," they said.

While the opposition did not commit to funding the projects if elected, the Coalition's transport infrastructure spokesman, Evan Mulholland, said Labor had lied to Melton residents for two straight elections.

"Labor don't care about Melton; they never have. It's why they're spending one-fifth of the entire infrastructure budget in Victoria over the next four years on the Cheltenham to Box Hill line in the eastern suburbs," he said.