I arrived at the new Melton Station this week expecting the modern, accessible facility the government has been promoting for months. What I found instead was a half-built shell of a station dressed up for a ribbon-cutting.
There are no public toilets. There is no café, no kiosk, nowhere to grab a coffee before the morning commute — just commuters standing on exposed platforms, hoping the trains run on time because there’s genuinely nothing else to do while you wait.
The lifts and stairs work, the platforms are long enough for the promised nine-car trains, and the underpass gets you under the line safely. But calling this a finished station is a stretch. Walk around the precinct and you’ll see unfinished paving, hoarded-off sections, and construction equipment still parked where a waiting room is supposedly going to be. The bus interchange isn’t built. The air-conditioned waiting room everyone was told about doesn’t exist yet.
And yet, to hear the government tell it, Melton has a shiny new station, mission accomplished, ribbon cut, press conference held. That’s the part that grates. Commuters aren’t asking for marble floors — we’re asking for a toilet and a coffee before a 45-minute train ride into the city. These aren’t luxuries; they’re the basics you’d expect from any train station, let alone one being celebrated as a centerpiece infrastructure win.
If this is what “open” looks like, I’d hate to see what “still under construction” is meant to be, because right now they look identical. Melton commuters deserve honesty about the timeline, not a premature victory lap dressed up as a finished product. Until there’s a working toilet and somewhere to buy a coffee, this station isn’t done — it’s just open.
Hi Brian,
This in my view look like half hearted job for Melton…..It seem to look they confused a Regional Travelling Hub with a Metro Travelling hub.
Why do one get the impression this was design was rushed out bunch of PT advisors who don’t even use the rail transport system decideded to do a el cheapo version of what could being a decent upgrade turned into expensive lemon due to their lack of pride of their role?
I don’t think the people of Melton got value for the money and hrs forced to buses during the occo of Ballarat Line shut down. Do you get the impression that some the bulk the funds $$$ to do a fit for purpose upgrad ended up in someone else’s bank account?
There is absolute truth to this. I liked there article for the raw views and the sensibility of what has been built. The approach from Level Crossing people is minimalist and not fit for purpose. Why not incorporate a retail cafe component of the station into the design and allow it to become a meeting place for people who are about to travel. Look at the older stations on the network and they have meeting rooms and some have a cafe nearby, there is nothing it seems nearby to this bomb site.
You seem to be confusing operational with finished. The get it so people can use it and we can finish the rest of the work safely has been used on every single station upgrade recently. Trains can run through safely. The people finishing the other parts like the northern most platform can work safely and it doesn’t need to be used as yet, but they can use the other tracks and platforms whilst that is being completed. Those traveling from beyond Melton can then still use trains. What a beat up.
Lizzie,
I disagree….. Gov should not do a song and dance until all is complete….
Yes safety comes first but when there is disruuption… Do u expect people to take a dump on the station?
How about catching a cold whist waiting for train services?
It not a metropolitan station but regional stations where u can call a cab or bus at short notice!
Again, there is a difference between operational, and finished. No one will have said finished. And what about all of the other stations without operational toilets during operating hours. Of which there would be many on the regional network. Let alone the coach network and it’s lack of toilets. The main aim first and foremost is to get things operational, people can use the trains. The other things will come at a safe distance.
And yep, I catch a coach regular with no toilets, no ticket office, no coffees, no food, no nothing close, and can leave town early in the morning and get home late at night. With no connecting local bus services as they start 2 hours after and finish 4 hours before the coach get back for any realistic trips.
But yes, tell me more about operational vs open.
Good enough traveller in CBD but not Regional areas!!!
U like line suspensions due track faults and waiting in the rain?
Wetting your pants whist waiting for delayed services?
Do have a clue how long it takes to go to Ararat and beyond without toilets or eating facilities?
Try doing the whole route to and form without breaking the Journey mid route!!!
I would expect more services in a regional area
Good news, Melton is considered part of Melbourne.
Wlould I prefer to stay on the train through Melton and not have coach services whilst everything else happens? Yes please.
Would I like toilets at my local coach stop? Yes please. Have they been shut for 10 years? Yes. Can I buy tickets there anymore? No. Can I get a coffee anywhere close? Yes. Can I take it on a coach? No. Do I have access to anything other than a coach to get out of town? No. Do I have to often change to Platform 2 in Ballarat from the coach bay? Yes. Even though there is a 10 minute gap between the train arriving and coach departing. Is this a stop just on the highway? No. It is in a regional town. Do I have a clue about this? You tell me.
LizzIel,
Victoria doesn’t stop at Melbourne….
Just Because you are okay with this sub standard upgrade doesn’t mean thee Regional Vic people should have to settle for less with u….
Try observing what Regional traveller deal On daily basis with on all lines in the system instead focusing on your own experinces…
People with the triats u showing online should not making decision on users behalf on policies of Public Transport enhancement….
The people who medically, can’t drive for safety reason disabled and immobile and ederly all lose out due to this trait.
I am alright, stuff u jack!
Two points from me.
1. No escalators at stations like
Melton when other sky rail stations have revived them what is that about?
2. Melton is a dreary place at the best of times the station rebuild was an opportunity to lift the place and it appears to have failed. Stations are meeting places where you get a coffee and the paper and move on with your day.
Hell even Werribee has a cafe and food locations at the station.
I question if Melton needs a better station being such a large city and the largest in the west of Melbourne. I say it should be a suburb of Melbourne, then how does it compare to other stations on the Melbourne network?
It does not be accounts on this post. Railway stations in Melbourne are surrounded by services Melton is not. They have a place for coffee and food, Melton does not. The design is more like a regional V/Line station no more.
City of Melton (LGA) 2026 Forecast: 254,482 residents, does this station meet expectations for 1/4 of a million people on a station designed on the cheap?
This is how I look at it.