Yan Yean MP Danielle Green has slammed the Napthine government’s public transport plan and committed a Labor government to building a railway station at Mernda as a matter of priority.
“The Liberal government have put all their eggs in one basket by spending $8 billion on a tunnel in the centre of town and neglecting public transport in the north,” Ms Green said.
Visiting the site of the former Mernda station with opposition public transport spokeswoman Jill Hennessy, Ms Green met representatives of the South Morang and Mernda Rail Alliance and Whittlesea Council, saying Labor was working on the costings and logistics of bringing rail back to the fast-growing community.
“We’re working through our commitment and the logistics at the moment,” she said.
“We don’t agree with the 2032 time frame put forward by the Liberal government. For Labor, it’s a short-term priority.”
Ms Green and Ms Hennessy went from Mernda to nearby Donnybrook railway station, where state dollars to repair the car park and station surrounds have come to a halt.
Ms Green said the contractor had “gone broke” and the car park was a awash with mud and puddles.
She said the current government had rejected Labor’s $1 million solution for Donnybrook and had instead tried to upgrade the carpark only.Ms Green said although the station “looked like a tip”, Donnybrook offered a good service to people living in the outer north.
“I can drive from Doreen to Donnybrook and get to Parliament in under an hour, on a good day.”
