Why I Drive 20 Minutes Past My Local Train Station

I live in Atherstone. Cobblebank Station is 5 minutes down the road from me.

This morning, like most mornings, I drove 20 minutes to Watergardens Station instead.

Not because I'm irrational. Because it's genuinely faster.

Cobblebank to the city: Wait up to 40 minutes, then 50-60 minute train ride. Total: 90-105 minutes.

Watergardens to the city: Wait 5-10 minutes, then 35 minute train ride. Total: 60-65 minutes.

I drive an extra 15 kilometers to save 30-40 minutes.

If that sounds absurd, welcome to transport planning in Melton.

The Comment That Started This

I've been lurking in Melton community Facebook groups lately, and I keep seeing variations of the same frustration:

"From Sunbury to Croydon... they have finished nearly 100 of these crossing removals and dozens of new train stations... Why is Melton always typically last?"

And this one, which really got me:

"Melton Electrification was first promised in 1969... Even now, it's 10 years away."

60 years. Still waiting.

Meanwhile, in February, Luba Grigorovitch announced "Great news for the west!" - $650 million for longer trains on the Melton line.

Longer trains. Not more frequent trains. Not faster trains. Not buses to actually get you to the station. Just... longer trains.

And I'm sitting here thinking: does anyone actually think that's the problem?

The Frequency Issue

There's this concept in transport planning - actually, it's basically settled science at this point - that public transport needs three things to work:

Frequency, Access, and Cost.

Get all three right, people use it. Fail on any one, they drive.

Melton fails on all three, but frequency is the killer.

The Melton line runs diesel trains every 40 minutes. Watergardens is on the Sunbury line, which was electrified back in 2012. Trains every 10-20 minutes.

That difference - 40 minutes vs 10-20 minutes - is why I drive past my local station.

With 40-minute frequency:

• You have to plan your entire day around the timetable
• Miss the train by 2 minutes? Wait another 40
• Train delayed? Your wait just became an hour
• The whole trip takes longer than driving

With 10-20 minute frequency:

• You just show up at the station
• Miss a train? Next one's coming soon
• The system is actually usable

This isn't my opinion. This is decades of transport research showing the same thing over and over: frequency matters more than almost anything else.

The Access Problem

But even if trains came every 10 minutes, I'd still have a problem: how do I get to Cobblebank Station?

My options from Atherstone:

Walk: 30-40 minutes. Maybe doable on a perfect spring morning. Not happening in 40-degree heat or pouring rain.

Bike: 10-15 minutes. Sounds good until you think about where to park it. Leave it outside, the wheels get stolen. Use the Parkiteer cage, that's a $50 deposit for the privilege of parking your bike in a metal box. And you're still waiting 40 minutes for a train anyway.

Drive: 5 minutes. But here's the thing - if I'm already in the car, why not just keep going to Watergardens where trains actually come regularly? Or drive the whole way to the city?

Bus: The 456 runs through Atherstone. Every 40 minutes. For what should be a 5-minute trip. Most people don't even bother.

This is what transport planners call the "first mile problem." If you can't easily get to the station, the whole system falls apart.

And the brutal logic of it is: if you have to drive to the station, you might as well drive the whole way.

The Comparison That Makes It Obvious

Sunbury line (electrified 2012):

• Frequency: 10-20 minutes
• Result: High patronage, housing development accelerated, system works

Melton line (promised electrification since 1969):

• Frequency: 40 minutes
• Result: Low patronage, people drive to Watergardens instead, politicians look at usage numbers and say "see, people in Melton don't want trains"

But that's backwards causation. People don't use trains because the service is terrible. The service isn't terrible because people don't use trains.

Fix the service, usage will follow. We know this. Sunbury proved it. Cranbourne/Pakenham proved it. Mernda proved it.

But somehow, when it comes to Melton, we're still having this conversation.

The $650 Million Question

So the government is spending $650 million on longer trains for the Melton line.

Longer trains mean more people can fit on each train. Great for peak hour crowding.

But they don't mean:

• Trains come more often
• Trains run faster
• You can get to the station without driving
• The trip becomes competitive with driving to Watergardens

The core problems - frequency and access - remain unsolved.

And I keep coming back to this: who looked at the Melton line and thought "you know what this needs? Longer trains"?

Did anyone ask Melton residents what they actually need?

Because I'm pretty sure the answer would be: "Trains that actually come" and "Buses that actually run."

The Pattern

Here's what really gets me. During the 60 years Melton has been waiting for electrification:

• Sunbury line: Electrified
• Cranbourne: Electrified
• Pakenham: Electrified
• Mernda: Extended and electrified
• 100+ level crossings removed across Melbourne (mostly not in Melton)
• Dozens of new stations built (mostly not in Melton)

And Cobblebank Station - which opened in 2017 - was built with a level crossing. They're only removing it now. They built it wrong, knowing they'd have to fix it later. Two contracts instead of one.

I don't think this is incompetence. I think this is what happens when you're a safe Labor seat with below-average income in a system that rewards marginal seats and wealthy suburbs.

Eastern suburbs get the $200+ billion Suburban Rail Loop. Melton gets longer diesel trains and promises.

What Would Actually Fix This

I'm going to be honest: I don't know if I have all the answers here. But I know what the research says, and I know what works in other parts of Melbourne.

Fix the frequency. Even diesel trains every 10-20 minutes would be transformational. You wouldn't need to check timetables. You'd just go to the station. The system would become useful.

Build actual buses. 10-minute frequency throughout Atherstone, Strathtulloh, Kurunjang, Rockbank, connecting to stations. Solve the first-mile problem. Make it possible to use trains without driving.

Electrify the line. Like they promised in 1969. Electric trains enable better frequency, faster service, higher reliability. Every other major metro line has this.

These aren't radical ideas. These are things that already exist in other parts of Melbourne. We're just asking for the same.

Why I'm Running

I'm running for Melton in 2026 as a Fusion candidate. I'm not expecting to win - safe Labor seat, minor party, do the math.

But I've watched how political pressure works. When a minor party gets 10-15% of the vote, major parties panic and start adopting their policies to win those voters back.

That's my theory of change here. Not winning the seat. Creating enough pressure that Labor has to actually deliver something beyond longer trains.

And honestly? I just want someone asking these questions in public.

Why does Watergardens get 10-20 minute frequency while Cobblebank gets 40?

Why has Melton been waiting 60 years for electrification while the eastern suburbs got a $200 billion rail project?

Why is the "great news" for the west... longer trains?

Someone needs to ask. Might as well be me.

What Do You Think?

I'm writing this from Atherstone, living the same transport problems as most people in Melton. But I'm curious what others think.

Is frequency the issue, or is there something I'm missing?

Would 10-minute trains and buses actually get you out of your car?

What would it take for you to use Cobblebank instead of driving to Watergardens?

I'm genuinely interested in hearing different perspectives, because if I'm wrong about what matters, I'd rather know now.

You can reach me at ethan.c@fusionparty.org.au or find me at community events once the campaign gets going properly.

Because at the end of the day, this isn't really about me or Fusion or even the election. It's about whether Melton gets what it was promised 60 years ago, or whether we keep accepting longer trains while other suburbs get proper infrastructure.