THE proposed hub for improved bus services at Frankston Station is not feasible, an advocacy group for the Mornington Peninsula says.
A 30-year strategy released by Infrastructure Victoria earlier this month recommended improving bus services in Frankston rather than moving forward with the planned rail extension to Baxter. It suggested that the Frankston Station Precinct should become a hub for better bus connections to the Frankston metropolitan activity centre, railway station, Chisholm TAFE, and Frankston Hospital (“Better buses suggested rather than rail extension” The Times 24/8/21).
Committee for Mornington Peninsula executive officer Briony Hutton says that the existing congestion at the Frankston bus interchange makes the addition of more services difficult. “The CFMP would welcome next generation buses on the Mornington Peninsula to connect commuters to a metropolitan train line in the next 12 months, however increasing bus movements to the current interchange at Frankston Station is not possible due to existing congestion, and one of the key issues of our bus network is service frequency,” she said.
“The CFMP is disappointed that beyond recommending next-generation buses, there is no meaningful recommendation for improving public transport infrastructure for the Mornington Peninsula in the 2021- 2051 strategy. We are concerned that beyond this, Infrastructure Victoria is recommending to further constrain transport access between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula by recommending against the Frankston line extension and imposing an urban congestion tax for peak hour road users.
“If the Mornington Peninsula is unworthy of metropolitan public transport investment in the next 30 years, according to the Victorian Government’s key infrastructure advisers, then the legitimacy of our current metropolitan classification is once again thrown into serious question.”
The CFMP says that “vast majority of [Mornington Peninsula] residents still do not have adequate access to bus services”, with three out of 12 bus routes on the peninsula receiving upgrade funding last year. It recommends either an upgrade of Frankston Station or an “urgent decentralisation of the transit interchange from Frankston CBD” to increase service frequency for Mornington Peninsula bus routes connecting with the Frankston train line.
“The CFMP does however put hope in Infrastructure Victoria’s recommendation that in the next five years, the Victorian Government should complete feasibility studies to plan the ultimate development of public transport services on the Mornington Peninsula and secure the remaining land required. We hope that this recommendation will enable the progression of the Frankston rail extension proposal to a detailed business case, to pave the way for the extension of the Frankston train line under a National Partnership Agreement and enable an efficient Mornington Peninsula next generation bus network that is directly connected to a metropolitan train line,” Ms Hutton said.