By ANEEKA SIMONIS
IT’LL be a smooth ride for Officer residents who have been promised railway repairs under a re-elected Napthine Government.
Officer railway station’s car park is a bumpy danger mine of pot holes, attracting little over 30 cars a day.
But Member for Gembrook Brad Battin said that would change under the government’s $1.5 million railway upgrade.
“Today, I can inform residents that having successfully made the case to the Premier and Transport Minister, a re-elected Napthine Government will upgrade the car park to provide 150 new parking spaces, install lighting and CCTV cameras and fix those dreaded pot holes,” said Mr Battin as he joined local residents on their commute from Officer railway station on Tuesday 28 October.
He said complaints from residents about the worn out parking lot needed to be addressed to meet growth demands in the area.
“Patronage at the Officer station has increased with our growing population and locals have approached me at the station appealing for an upgrade of the car park.”
The CCTV cameras, which are installed during all station upgrades across the state, will help stamp out high levels of car theft, Mr Battin said.
The upgrade forms part of the Napthine Government’s commitment to improving public transport in the south east which includes the $2-2.5 billion Pakenham-Cranbourne rail capacity project.
“Under the Victorian Coalition Government, an extra 264 services have been added to the Pakenham line each week, and the service has improved in all areas of performance and reliability,” Mr Battin said.
“The Coalition has also delivered more than 1500 new car parks in the south east corridor since coming to Government in 2010.
“This exciting (Pakenham-Cranbourne rail capacity project) will deliver a 30 per cent boost in capacity on the rail lines; the equivalent of two new lanes on the Monash Freeway,” Mr Battin said.
Mr Battin said the railway upgrade will be completed within four years under the state Coalition.
