Rowville-Rail-Study-Final-Stage-1-Report-FINAL

“Rowville and residents in surrounding areas are starved of decent public transport.”
Final Stage 1 Feasibility Report
Community and stakeholder views
“This was supposed to happen back in the 1970s when I was a student at Monash. Now I'm on staff and it's still
not happened. It would be life-changing for many people who either spend hours on several forms of transport to
get to Monash, or decide not to bother coming to Uni. From the staff perspective, it's also difficult to get
international visitors to come to the campus when they have to negotiate a range of unpredictable stages of public
transport from the CBD and inner city.”
“The Clayton campus would simply be more accessible and quicker to get to...”
“A central spine down Wellington Road to capture an underground tunnel could be integrated into the urban
design of creating commercial opportunities with offices/retail, community centres i.e. Childcare, council facilities
and connect the line to its immediate community.”
“Melbourne rail network desperately needs to be expanded and improved to provide better public transport
services for its rapidly growing population. Huntingdale to Rowville rail line is absolutely necessary.”
“.....[T]here's definitely a demand for a higher capacity mode of transport into the area! The buses are quite
inconvenient and probably deter many people from taking public transport, as many prefer to drive!”
Specific comments were raised with varying degrees of support. Comments that generally
received feedback or affirmation from others, included:
Access to/from Monash University
Concerns about impact of the rail line – noise, visual impact, vibration etc
Questions over train stations – divided views on effects on property values (worries about
security contrasted with desires for improved transport access and choice)
Need for integration with other modes of transport primarily bus and dedicated bicycle
access
Need for direct services to the City as opposed to shuttle services/transfers
Suggested alternatives or variations included:
Light rail or bus rapid transit – could be cheaper/less impact
Rail link from Glen Waverley to Rowville
Extensions beyond Rowville (e.g. to Ferntree Gully or Lysterfield)
Rail links to other places (e.g. Chadstone, the Alamein line, or along Eastlink)
4.3 Overall support during the study
Two hundred and twenty five comments were submitted in general support of the proposed
rail line and 794 ‘likes’ and ‘votes’ were posted in response to some of them. The comments
were typically short responses such as “do it”, “great idea”, “so overdue”, “in full support”, “a
fantastic benefit” and “about time”. Other examples:
“As the years have passed its need has become more urgent. There have been so many feasibility studies. Let's
just get it done.”
“It is such a pain to get to Monash I am sure it puts a lot of people off coming here. I'd vote for a rail link any day!”
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