Melbourne’s Newest Suburb Gets New Station

Details have been released for Melbourne’s newest suburb station at Pakenham East as part of a huge project to remove three more level crossings in Pakenham and extend the rail line to the new suburb.

The fast-tracked project will deliver better transport connections for the growing Pakenham community– with the suburb to be completely boom gate-free in 2023/24, making travel safer and easier for more than 60,000 vehicles that travel through the area’s level crossings each day.

The rail line will be elevated through Pakenham to remove three dangerous and congested crossings – including the notorious McGregor Road boom gates that disrupt the vital north-south connection through the heart of Pakenham, as well as Main Street and Racecourse Road.

As part of the Labor Government’s $15 billion investment along the line, the project will cater to Pakenham’s growth to the east, extending the metropolitan rail line by two kilometres and delivering new stations at Pakenham and Pakenham East as part to improve safety, reduce congestion and allow for more trains, more often.

A map of Pakenham East released today outlines the location of the new station, which will be built between Deep Creek and the Princes Freeway.

The new station will benefit both suburban train passengers and those travelling onto Gippsland, removing a major bottleneck where V/Line and Metro trains are currently required to merge onto the same tracks – with separate Metro turnback tracks and dedicated V/Line tracks to be built, avoiding congestion and improving train reliability.

Melbourne’s newest suburb in Pakenham East will feature 7,200 new homes, creating 1,300 new jobs and adding more than $1 billion to the Victorian economy over the coming years – and confirming the station location is a vital next step in making sure the infrastructure is in place to support the new community.

While the project paves the way for more reliable services and future-proofs the new suburb, it will also mean a small number of property acquisitions – and the project team is working closely with owners and residents throughout this process.

In December last year, 100 locals submitted their ideas for the rail project – with the vast majority saying they’d like to see improved traffic flow and safety and better connections between shops, parks and public transport in and around Pakenham.

The next stage of community consultation will begin later this year as early works on the level crossing removals begin, with locals encouraged to have their say on look and feel of the new station precincts.

The three level crossings are set to be removed in 2023/24 and the new stations open in 2024 – alongside the recently removed Cardinia Road crossing, they are four of 17 crossings to be removed along the Pakenham line. For more information, visit levelcrossings.vic.gov.au

ENDS

Thursday 11 February 2021 – Media Release

Full media release here

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