The new Southland station has opened on Melbourne’s Frankston line between Highett and Cheltenham stations, at a location close to the Southland shopping centre.
Works had been carried out on the $21 million station since August last year, including improvements to the thoroughfare connecting the station and Westfield shopping centre car park, allowing for pedestrian walkways and ramp access.
“This station has been talked about for more than 130 years – it was the Andrews Labor Government that got it done,” said the state public transport minister Jacinta Allan, who was present at the opening.
Roughly 4,400 passengers per day are expected to use the station on average, and it is hoped that it may ease somewhat road congestion in the area.
Now the twelfth station built by the Labor government, the design was refined from an original plan based on feedback received by Public Transport Victoria in its community consultations with the area’s residents back in 2015.
Accessible toilets, shelter and CCTV have been installed on both platforms, while bicycle hoops have also been erected in the station’s precinct.
“We’re getting it done – delivering new stations, more trains and the biggest pipeline of public transport projects in Victoria’s history to get people home safer and sooner,” Allan said.
Nick Staikos, Labor’s member for Bentleigh, said that access to the nearby shopping precinct had been improved by the construction of the station, which will also provide an economic boost to the area by giving workers better contact with available jobs.
“We promised a new station at Southland and we’ve delivered – right on time for the busy Christmas period,” Staikos said.