By Vanessa Chircop
WITH more than 55,000 cars registered in Hobsons Bay and limited land space, it’s no wonder finding parking in certain pockets of the municipality has become a nightmare.
Over the past three weeks Star has been investigating parking issues in the city as part of our campaign ‘Out of Space’ and this week we’re looking at parking issues at train stations throughout the municipality.
According to The Department of Transport (DOT) figures the number of car spaces per train station in the city varies greatly from station to station.
With Laverton train station being one of the busiest stations in the city with almost 5000 people getting on at that station each weekday – it’s no surprise then that this station has the most car spaces.
Despite despite the 799 spaces provided by DOT, commuters are calling on the state government for more.
Member for Altona, Jill Hennessy MP has joined the commuter campaign calling on the Minister for Public Transport, Terry Mulder to listen to commuters and take steps to address the issues around parking at the station.
“Most parking bays are taken up by 8am and some commuters have complained that they have to find parking up to a kilometre away,” she said.
All other train stations in Hobsons Bay have less than 80 car spaces provided by DOT forcing commuters to find street parking several hundred metres away.
Williamstown train station has the lowest number of car spaces with only five provided by DOT.
A spokesperson for DOT said the department is aware of the high demand for car parking spaces at various stations within Hobsons Bay and at various points across the train network.
“The department is regularly working to find solutions to help people get to and from railway stations quickly and conveniently,” he said.
“The Minister has also instructed the department to look for any opportunities to improve car parking facilities at Laverton railway station.”
The spokesperson added parking options on the Werribee train line are expected to improve with an upgrade at Newport Station which presently has only 50 car spaces. “Along with the pending completion of the Williams Landing station and addition of 500 car spaces is also expected to add options for commuters in the area,” he said.
