A new 745 space car park has opened at Craigieburn Station, boosting the total number of parking spaces at the station to more than 1,200 and making it easier for commuters to find a car park and catch the train.
The project was supported by the Morrison Government's Urban Congestion Fund and delivered through the Victorian Government's Car Parks for Commuters program, which is building and upgrading car parks at stations to make it easier to catch the train.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the Commonwealth has committed $70 million to commuter car park upgrades along the Northern Lines to increase accessibility and safety for all commuters in this growing community.
"The Morrison Government is getting on with delivering infrastructure projects that improve congestion and safety for commuters across Australia, making it easier for them to move around our capital cities and ensuring they get home quickly and safely," Minister Fletcher said.
"Under the Urban Congestion Fund, we are delivering 177 individual packages of works nationwide. The total number of Urban Congestion Fund projects around Australia that are completed or underway is 68, with a further 47 expected to start construction this year.
"This is just the latest example of us delivering on our commitment to progress critical infrastructure projects across the country under our record $110 billion, 10-year infrastructure investment pipeline, which is helping to drive Australia's world-leading economic recovery."
Victorian Minister for Public Transport, the Hon Ben Carroll MP, said the new car park was needed to meet the demand of the popular area.
"The new car park has made it much easier for people living in the rapidly growing outer Northern suburbs to access public transport," Minister Carroll said.
"The significant increase in spaces responds to the demand we are seeing for parking at stations in Melbourne's growth areas."
Member for Yuroke Ros Spence said the new car park will benefit the entire community.
"People wanting to drive to Craigieburn Station will now spend less time looking for a parking space and are less likely to need to park on surrounding streets."
The upgrade includes a new footpath connecting people from the car park to the station and the added lighting and CCTV will make it safer for people to use the car park at all times of the day and night.
A signalised pedestrian crossing over Potter Street and an upgraded pedestrian crossing over the railway line have also been provided to assist commuters in accessing the station safely from the new car park.
More than 30 new parking spaces were built at Craigieburn Station in 2019. This was in addition to the 123 spaces delivered since October 2016, helping to ease congestion in the short term.
The Car Parks for Commuters program is helping to deliver the Victorian Government's commitment of 11,000 new and upgraded car parks at train stations across metropolitan and regional Victoria - on top of the almost 10,000 new and upgraded car parks delivered between 2014 and 2018.
The 11,000 new and upgraded car parks will free up local streets, make it easier to catch the train, improve safety, and generate jobs across the state.
Further information can be found at https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au and https://carparks.vic.gov.au/.
