Mt Atkinson Advocacy Forum

08/09/2026

$1.55 BILLION FOR THE WESTERN FREEWAY — A BIG INVESTMENT IN A RAPIDLY GROWING WEST

The Western Freeway is finally getting the scale of investment our growing communities have been calling for.

The $1 billion Commonwealth commitment + $550 million from the Victorian Government will deliver around 30km of new lanes between Melton and Caroline Springs.

The announced scope includes 3 lanes each way from Ferris Road to Hopkins Road, 4 lanes each way from Hopkins Road to Ballarat Road, a new half-interchange at Mt Cottrell Road and upgrades at Ferris, Leakes and Hopkins Road interchanges.

And the numbers show why this investment is needed.

🚗 86,000+ vehicles a day already use this corridor
📈 110,000+ projected by 2031
🚛 5,400+ trucks every day
🏘️ 225,000 additional residents expected along the corridor by 2046

These aren’t small growth numbers. Melbourne’s west needs infrastructure that keeps pace with the communities, jobs and freight relying on this corridor every day.

But there is still an important question: will the additional freeway capacity remove our bottlenecks, or move them further along the network?

And for our communities around Mt Atkinson, there is another critical piece of the puzzle — Hopkins Road.

The freeway interchange is being upgraded. Hopkins Road itself is not being duplicated as part of this announcement.

That deserves its own conversation.

Part 2: Why Hopkins Road duplication can no longer wait — the traffic, population growth, freight, school buses and safety numbers tell a compelling story. Follow along.

Luba Grigorovitch MP
Broden Borg - Labor for Melton

Alice Jordan-Baird MP
Ben Carroll MP

Jess Wilson MP
David Southwick MP

David Ettershank MP
Dr Joe Garra

03/09/2026

🚆 Why does Mt Atkinson need a train station?

The ANSWER is in the DATA.

Mt Atkinson area sits within the ABS-defined Rockbank–Mount Cottrell statistical area—one of Australia’s fastest-growing communities.

📈 Population in 2025: approximately 37,500
🏘️ Growth in just one year: around 4,600 people—the largest increase of any area in Australia
👥 Projected population by 2041: approximately 90,000

At the same time, annual station entries have increased by 76% at Caroline Springs and 865% at Rockbank since 2018–19, further evidence that this increase usage is a result of significant population growth in this area. These stations are about 11 km apart, with Mt Atkinson and other growth communities positioned right at the heart of this growth.

The proposed Mt Atkinson Station would serve a rapidly expanding local catchment, reduce pressure on Caroline Springs and Rockbank stations, and give thousands of residents an alternative to driving on already congested roads.

The population is already arriving. The rail infrastructure must follow.

🚉 Build Mt Atkinson Station
⚡ Electrify the Melton Line

Source: Transport Victoria and ABS

Ben Carroll MP Jess Wilson MP Vicki Ward MP for Eltham Gabrielle Williams MP Matthew Guy MP Luba Grigorovitch MP Trung Luu MP - Member For Western Metropolitan Region David Ettershank MP Moira Deeming MP Alice Jordan-Baird MP Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Victoria, Australia

02/09/2026

🚆 A welcome focus on rail in Melbourne’s West

The Victorian Liberal Party’s proposed $1.7 billion investment in 25 hybrid trains for the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines is welcome. It is encouraging to see the Opposition taking interest in our rapidly growing West.

Hybrid trains—like Labor’s nine-car VLocity trains—may provide interim relief, but they cannot replace the permanent solutions our communities need:

⚡ Melton line electrification
🚆 High Capacity Metro Trains
🚉 Mt Atkinson Station
🛤️ Track quadruplication and separation of metro and regional services

With more than 700,000 people already living across Melton, Wyndham and Brimbank, short-term capacity upgrades are not enough.

Mt Atkinson Station and other new stations across the growth corridor are essential to absorb population growth and ease pressure on our already congested roads.

This is bigger than party politics. We call on all sides to commit to deliver Melton electrification and Mt Atkinson station by 2030.

Let’s plan for where the West is going—not where it has been.

Ben Carroll MP Jess Wilson MP Vicki Ward MP for Eltham Matthew Guy MP Luba Grigorovitch MP David Ettershank MP David Southwick MP Moira Deeming MP Trung Luu MP - Member For Western Metropolitan Region Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Victoria, Australia Daniel Bowen, public transport advocate Melbourne on Transit - blog Alice Jordan-Baird MP

27/08/2026

It shouldn’t be this hard to get to work.

Up since early am this morning.

🚗 ~20 minutes lost in Hopkins Road roadworks
🚆 Arrived at Tarneit — one train cancelled
🚆 Finally boarded — then stationary at Deer Park due to a sick passenger
⏰ Almost 9am — and still nowhere near work.

Sitting there this morning, I kept wondering:

What if the future we were promised was already our reality today?

What if Mt Atkinson had a train station within walking distance of our homes?

No drive to Tarneit.
No Hopkins Road congestion just to reach a station.
No dependence on a car simply to access public transport.

How much of this morning could I have got back?

And what if the Melton line was already electrified, providing the frequent, resilient metropolitan rail service our growing West needs?

This isn’t about one bad commute.

It’s about a transport network where one road delay, one cancelled train or one incident doesn’t derail an entire morning.

🚆 Mt Atkinson Station
⚡ Melton line electrification
🚌 Connected, frequent buses

In 2024, our community petitioned for Mt Atkinson Station, backed by nearly 5,000 signatures. This isn’t a new ask, it’s something our growing community has been advocating for for years.

How cool would it be if the future we’ve been promised was simply our reality today?

And it wouldn’t just benefit Mt Atkinson — a station here could provide immediate rail access for surrounding growing communities across Deanside, Fraser Rise and beyond.

Melbourne’s West has waited long enough. We call for action now.



Ben Carroll MP
Luba Grigorovitch MP
Vicki Ward MP for Eltham
Sarah Connolly MP
Broden Borg - Labor for Melton

Alice Jordan-Baird MP

Dr Joe Garra
David Ettershank MP

Trung Luu MP - Member For Western Metropolitan Region
Jess Wilson MP
Matthew Guy MP
David Southwick MP

Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Victoria, Australia
Melbourne on Transit - blog

23/08/2026

Mt Atkinson’s transport challenges were front and centre at the Melton Transport Forum.

A local resident opened the community questions with a simple example: how do you get from Truganina North to a GP in Point Cook without a car? The same resident recently spent 3 hours stuck on V/Line, turning their journey to work into 5.5 hours.

These aren’t isolated frustrations. They reflect what growth communities experience when population arrives before infrastructure.

The forum highlighted the need for the Western Freeway upgrade, rail investment and electrification, better cross-suburban buses now, and a future Mt Atkinson Station.

Mt Atkinson Station and Melton line electrification are critical to giving our growing communities reliable access to jobs, education and services — and must be planned, funded and delivered by 2030.

It was particularly encouraging to hear 4 out of 5 candidates acknowledge John Stone’s work on bus reform as a common-sense way forward.

But the bigger question remains: when will infrastructure investment match the scale and speed of growth in Melbourne’s west?

Our community needs State and Federal governments to prioritise growth corridors — not decades after people move in, but as communities are being built.

Mt Atkinson is growing now. Our transport network needs to grow with us.

More than 70 community members filled Wednesday night’s Metropolitan Transport Forum at Melton Library to hear from state election candidates for the Melton electorate and the Western Metropolitan region.

Speakers (left to right) Dr Joe Garra, The West Party; Matthew Katselis, One Nation; Veronika Levchenkova, Greens; David Ettershank MLC, Legalise Cannabis and Broden Borg, Labor, outlined their position on key transport issues and fielded questions on:
• the electrification of the Melton Line
• roads
• additional train stations at Mt Atkinson, Thornhill Park and Calder Park
• active transport
• expanding the bus network, and
• local employment.
Huge thanks to ABC journalist, Margaret Paul (pictured right) for facilitating the event.

The forum was live streamed, and you can watch the recording online: https://mtf.org.au/upcoming-events/mtf-melton/

17/08/2026

It’s Rail Safety Week — and safety must also include what happens to passengers when our rail network fails.

Melton electrification is an important investment in the future of Melbourne’s western growth corridor. But electrification will not happen overnight, and there is currently no committed delivery date for electrification itself.

So what is the plan in the meantime?

During last week’s V/Line disruption, a Mt Atkinson resident spent around three hours stranded with no practical alternative connection. The experience was particularly difficult due to claustrophobia, and what should have been a routine commute ultimately took around 5.5 hours.

That wasn’t simply a delayed train. It meant lost working hours, lost productivity and a resident having to apologise to their workplace because the transport network serving their community had no resilient Plan B.

Multiply that experience across workers, students and families throughout Melbourne’s western growth corridor and regional Victoria.

While we progress towards electrification, we are calling for an interim V/Line Emergency Transport Plan now:

* Predetermined replacement-bus routes and surge capacity
* Connections to alternative Metro lines and transport hubs
* Clear, immediate passenger communication
* A connected everyday bus network that can become our resilience network when rail fails

This is something we can start working on now — we don’t need to wait for electrification.

We welcome the continued focus on Melton electrification during Rail Safety Week. Our ask to the State Government, V/Line and our western representatives is equally clear:

Can we commit to an interim emergency transport plan for the western growth corridor while electrification progresses?

Reliable public transport keeps people at work, businesses productive and young people connected to education and opportunity.

Electrification is the future. Resilience is what residents need today.

When V/Line fails, what is your Plan B u— and does one actually exist?

Alice Jordan-Baird MP
Ben Carroll MP
Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Victoria, Australia
Melbourne on Transit - blog
BCSV: Bus and Coach Society of Victoria
ABC Melbourne
Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly
Vicki Ward MP for Eltham

12/08/2026

*V/Line grinds to a halt — again. What’s our Plan B?*

We want to hear from you: where do you travel for work or study, and what ONE bus or rail connection would make the biggest difference?

Comment: where you work → where you need to go → what’s missing.

Just one month after the last major outage, we are here again. Disruptions cannot become our new normal.

We need a staged plan: emergency resilience now, a connected bus network next, and stronger rail capacity for the future.

We are not asking for billions on Day 1. We are asking for a plan on Day 1, followed by measurable delivery.

NEXT 1–2 MONTHS | EMERGENCY PLAN

When V/Line fails, a predetermined response should activate — replacement buses, alternative Metro connections, surge capacity and clear communication.

A train failure should not send shockwaves through Melbourne’s western growth corridor and regional Victoria. People still need to get to work, young people need to get to education, and businesses need to keep moving.

NEXT 6–8 MONTHS | BUILD THE BUS NETWORK

Credit where it is due: Ben Carroll’s Victoria’s Bus Plan established a strong foundation. Now we need to accelerate that vision across our growth communities.

One full bus can take the equivalent of 50 cars off the road. Imagine the compounding effect of a connected network of frequent buses linking our suburbs to railway stations, employment, universities, TAFEs, healthcare — and to each other.

Buses shouldn’t appear only when trains fail. They should be part of everyday life and become our resilience network when rail goes down.

NEXT 18–36 MONTHS | BUILD RAIL CAPACITY

Progress Melton electrification, more trains, increased capacity and better frequency.

Rail is our high-capacity backbone. Buses create the connections and alternatives around it. We need both working as one network.

This is bigger than transport. When people cannot get to work, businesses and productivity suffer. When young people cannot independently reach universities, TAFEs and employment, their access to opportunity is limited. V/Line reliability also connects Melbourne’s growth communities with regional Victoria.

As we head towards the election, this is the practical roadmap we are asking both major parties to respond to: what can you deliver in 2 months, 8 months and 36 months?

We need our State and Federal representatives and western Mayors working together around measurable outcomes.

Reliable public transport is essential infrastructure for a functioning economy and growing communities.

Dr Joe Garra
Jess Wilson MP
Matthew Guy MP
David Ettershank MP

Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Victoria, Australia
BCSV: Bus and Coach Society of Victoria
Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly
Melbourne on Transit - blog

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db266_ayRLi/?igsh=YjZ6Y3BucWczdTh2

10/08/2026

An hour’s buffer for a 30-minute train journey — and still late.

This is the reality of relying on V/Line in Melbourne’s west.

Students stranded or late to school.
Women and working parents missing work commitments.
Families losing hours and being pushed back into cars — made even worse on cold, rainy mornings.

V/Line’s punctuality target is 92%. Ballarat short-distance services achieved just 85.2% in June.

Nine-car VLocity trains add capacity — but capacity is not frequency or reliability.

Melton electrification has been talked about for more than a decade.

Melbourne’s west doesn’t need more announcements.

We need reliable trains. We need frequency. We need a clear timeline for electrification. We need delivery.

10/08/2026

An hour’s buffer for a 30-minute train journey — and still late.

This rainy morning’s V/Line disruption on the Melton/Ballarat corridor isn’t just another delayed train. The impact is real.

Students are stranded or late to school, sometimes waiting in cold, wet weather with no easy alternative.

Women and working parents miss work commitments while juggling school, childcare and family responsibilities.

Working families lose productive hours and are pushed back into cars on already congested western roads because the train simply cannot be relied upon.

And the numbers back up what commuters are experiencing.

V/Line’s own punctuality target is 92%. Ballarat short-distance services achieved just 85.2% punctuality in June.

This isn’t the standard Melbourne’s rapidly growing west should be expected to accept.

Residents plan ahead. They leave earlier. They allow extraordinary buffers. They use the public transport available to them.

What more are residents expected to do?

Nine-car VLocity trains may increase capacity, but capacity is not frequency — and capacity is not reliability.

We need stronger action.

Fast-track Melton electrification.

Set and publish a clear delivery timeline.

Improve frequency and reliability now — not only after electrification.

And hold V/Line accountable when services consistently fall below its own punctuality target.

After more than a decade of planning and another $152.7 million going into development work, Melbourne’s west needs more than another announcement.

We need delivery.

The standard we walk past is the standard we accept.

This should not be an acceptable standard for Melbourne’s west.

Ben Carroll MP
Gabrielle Williams MP
Luba Grigorovitch MP
Vicki Ward MP for Eltham
David Southwick MP

David Ettershank MP
Jess Wilson MP

Matthew Guy MP
Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Victoria, Australia

Melbourne on Transit - blog

06/08/2026

📢🛍️ MT ATKINSON MAJOR TOWN CENTRE UPDATE

Thank you to everyone who has reached out seeking the latest information about the Mt Atkinson Major Town Centre.

To address the various questions and speculation surrounding the project, below is a summary of the information shared at Stockland’s community update meeting held on Saturday, 25 July 2026:

• A representative from Mt Atkinson Holdings (MAH) advised that the planning permit application for the Major Town Centre has been lodged directly with the State's Department of Transport and Planning (DTP).

• The application has been lodged through the Development Facilitation Program (DFP), rather than through the standard council planning process, to help avoid potential delays.

• To qualify for this pathway, a development generally needs to have a project value of at least $100 million.

• As a result, the originally proposed Stages 1 and 2 have been combined into this application covering approximately 25,000 sqm of retail space.

• Construction is still intended to begin with Stage 1 first, consisting of approximately 10,000–12,000 sqm of retail space.

• The MAH representative also advised that Coles has been finalised as the anchor supermarket for Stage 1.

• We are advised that the DFP pathway is generally expected to be faster than the standard council planning process, with a planning decision anticipated to take a minimum of approximately six months.

• For comparison, it was advised that obtaining the full planning permit for the nearby Large Format Retail precinct through council took approximately 2.5 years.

• Melton City Council will still be involved in the assessment process and will have an opportunity to provide input to DTP. However, the council will not be the final decision-maker.

From a planning approval perspective, we believe this is a positive approach if it helps reduce unnecessary delays and allows the long-awaited Major Town Centre to progress sooner.

The lodgement of the planning application has also been confirmed by a senior Stockland stakeholder via email, which is attached to this post.

⚠️Disclaimer: We are sharing this information for community awareness based on the updates provided by MAH and Stockland representatives. We are not the project developer or planning authority and cannot independently guarantee project details, approval timeframes or delivery dates. These may change as the planning and assessment process progresses. We will continue to share further updates with the community as more confirmed information becomes available.

More on DFP: https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/planning-approvals/planning-enquiries-and-requests/development-facilitation-program