Melton City Council has voted to ask the Victorian government whether it would back a public-private partnership to build two long-promised train stations. The move could bring private money and parking revenue to projects residents say they’ve waited years to see.
At a meeting last week, the council agreed to hold preliminary talks about building Thornhill Park and Mt Atkinson stations on the Ballarat V/Line in Melbourne’s outer west. It will sound out the government’s interest in a PPP, consider whether the proposal could generate revenue, including through station parking charges, and explore partnering directly with the state.
The Council’s Pitch
Deputy Mayor Phillip Zada said the motion simply asked whether the state would consider working together. “Our community has been advocating for Thornhill Park and Mt Atkinson stations for years, and council continues to identify both as priorities in its transport advocacy,” he said. The stations sit among the council’s election priorities, alongside road upgrades and electrification of the Melton rail line.
The case rests on hard numbers. Council data puts Melton’s annual growth rate at 6.61 per cent, more than three times Melbourne’s average of 2 per cent. The Mt Atkinson residential development is expected to reach 32,000 people by 2051. The council says the stations and electrification would mean 12,000 fewer cars on the road each day by 2041 and 15,000 more commuters.
State government planning documents first included a Mt Atkinson station in 2017, when the suburb was being planned. That’s nine years ago. There’s still no station.
Residents Left Waiting
Mt Atkinson resident Jaksha Shah said infrastructure is a pressing election issue. Congestion hits the morning commute, and the nearest supermarket is a 40-minute drive in peak-hour traffic. “I bought into a future where there was going to be a train station where I live, and the reality is very different,” she said. “We kind of need what we were promised and we deserve it.”
The council’s advocacy booklet says new stations are needed to ease pressure on nearby Caroline Springs, Rockbank and Cobblebank stations, where trains are crowded and car parks are “at capacity by 7:30am”. West Tarneit station, open less than a month, already regularly has a full car park by 8am.
Councils Filling the Gap
National Growth Areas Alliance chief executive Bronwen Clark said Melbourne’s train stations and community centres haven’t kept pace with outer-suburban growth. “There is a lack of ongoing state government funding or support for the infrastructure that communities need and economies need to thrive,” she said.
Clark said councils such as Melton and Wyndham are left to cover the shortfall, citing a Melton aquatic centre built without state government investment. “Councils are having to fill the gap, and it’s a significant gap that councils are having to fill,” she said. “The lack of state government investment is really changing the way councils operate.”
The Political Contest
Melton sits in Labor’s so-called “red wall”, the ALP-held seats across Melbourne’s west and north where suburbs are spreading over what was once agricultural land. Labor suffered a setback in some of those seats four years ago, and pollsters say the party is under threat again, particularly in the west.
Transport Minister Vicki Ward pointed to the Sunshine Superhub project, which she said would “allow for Melton line electrification and get more trains running in Melbourne’s west”. Site investigations to finalise the design are ongoing. Ward also attacked the Opposition, saying “Jess Wilson’s Liberal-One Nation Coalition are promising $40 billion in cuts and if elected, they will cut trains to Melton and send Victorian jobs overseas and buy expensive, foreign trains that don’t suit our network.”
The Coalition has pledged $1.7 billion for 25 new hybrid diesel-electric trains on the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines if it wins the November 28 election. It has committed to building them in Victoria and aims to deliver them by 2030.
Why This Matters: Melton’s vote shows a local council weighing private capital and user charges because waiting on state budgets hasn’t delivered. If a PPP model proves workable, it could offer a template for other fast-growing outer suburbs where infrastructure trails population. It also raises a fair question about priorities: a station promised in planning documents in 2017 remains unbuilt while growth runs at three times the metropolitan average. Voters in marginal western seats will now weigh a government pointing to the Sunshine Superhub against an Opposition offering a costed $1.7 billion train commitment. Whatever the outcome, councils are being asked to carry more of the load, and ratepayers should expect clear answers on who bears the cost and risk.