My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Public Transport, and the action I seek is that the minister upgrade Windsor station. A good local train station is so critical to the livability of any community, and Windsor station is right in the heart of the Windsor community. In response to my local survey hundreds of commuters suggested several important but relatively low cost and achievable upgrades to the station, all whilst maintaining the station’s important heritage status. The top most popular upgrades were increasing the frequency on the Sandringham line, a second entrance at the western end of the station and a tenant in the empty station building.
In terms of increasing the frequency on the Sandringham line, currently there are about eight trains an hour running during peak hour, and we know there is capacity for more because they put on an extra train when other lines are being shut down due to works. During the off-peak hours there are waits of 15 minutes during the day and 20 minutes during the weekend. This is a train line that is servicing one of our major destinations in Chapel Street, and it is running only every 20 minutes on the weekend. This needs to be improved to run every 10 minutes on the weekend and during the week.
In terms of a second entrance at the west end of the station, this would be a very low cost and easy to implement upgrade just requiring a gate, some Myki readers and possibly some steps or a ramp, and this would greatly benefit residents in the western half of Windsor having travelled through Windsor Siding. Windsor Siding has recently been upgraded with better paths and lighting by the council, and I think this upgrade would be a welcome contribution by the state government to that upgrade.
Finally, there is strong support for having a tenant in the empty station building. The station building has been out of use for many years. It was half renovated following a proposal that did not go ahead and many residents would now like to see it put to community use, so I would urge the government to get the internal building up to shape and proactively seek a tenant. That would be very much welcomed by the local community.
As I said, all these upgrades are cost-effective, they are achievable and they would make a real improvement to Windsor station and for local residents. I urge the minister to upgrade Windsor station.
