By XAVIER SMERDON
PARKING at Hoppers Crossing railway station has become the subject of an investigation by the Department of Transport, according to the Member for Altona, Jill Hennessy.
Ms Hennessy said she had been pushing the issue in parliament for a long time and following a visit from the DOT several weeks ago, the Minister for Transport, Terry Mulder, and the department had launched an inquiry into how parking could be increased.
“I have been calling on the Baillieu State Government to address the car parking situation at Hoppers Crossing station,” Ms Hennessy said.
“So many commuters are fed up with the failure of the government to address this issue.”
Ms Hennessy said the previous Labor government had committed to upgrade the station.
“The Department of Transport is now currently investigating potential improvements to car parking at Hoppers Crossing railway station,” she said.
“It is important that the Baillieu State Government takes responsibility to improve the overall experience of public transport for commuters in the West.”
According to the Department of Transport’s website, Hoppers Crossing station was one of seven stations to undergo a carpark extension in recent years.
“In the past two years, 2700 car parking spaces at railway stations across the network have been built or upgraded. A further 1700 will be built over the next four years as part of a $60 million expansion,” the website claims.
Industry experts have recently been calling for greater investment in public transport that connects people to train stations, rather than just increasing the number of car parks.
