Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Rachel WESTAWAY (Prahran) (19:19): (1467) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Public and Active Transport, and I ask: what is the government’s plan to manage the Metro Tunnel’s big switch, when Prahran constituents will face forced transfers, overcrowded Frankston line services and thousands of new activity centres with residents with less connectivity to the CBD? On 1 February 2026 – that is just two months away – the big switch will introduce a new timetable across buses, trams and regional and metropolitan trains. The Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines will run exclusively through the Metro Tunnel. This is being hailed as a triumph, but the government has been remarkably silent about who wins and who loses in this situation.

The electorate of Prahran is currently served by four train lines: Sandringham, Frankston, Pakenham and Cranbourne. Of these, only the Frankston line will then run through the city loop. Pakenham and Cranbourne trains run express from Caulfield, bypassing Toorak, Hawksburn, Armadale and Malvern, and from 1 February will also bypass South Yarra and Richmond entirely, no longer stopping at any city loop stations. Direct journeys become forced transfers. These are the losers from the big switch.

My constituents fear less connectivity and not more. After eight years of planning this project we still have no clear indication of what our constituents will face. Eight years to plan – still no timetable. The government rushed to open the Metro Tunnel services in November without finishing the timetable. You do not open a railway without telling passengers where the train is going. Two months from the big switch, commuters still do not know how their journey will change. Where is the detail? Where is the full timetable? None of the existing train stations in my electorate will connect to the Metro Tunnel except Anzac, and only one Frankston train will run through the city loop, forcing Cranbourne–Pakenham line passengers to change at Caulfield, exiting the station entirely before boarding a crowded train from Frankston.

This matters even more because of the government’s own planning agenda. Prahran, South Yarra, Hawksburn, Windsor and Toorak are all designated activity centres. Thousands of new residents are expected. Here is the contradiction: more density and less connectivity. The government encourages high-density living near train lines while simultaneously making it harder for residents to access the city, with more people, fewer direct services, new bottlenecks at interchange stations and simple journeys made more complex. As Shadow Assistant Minister for Melbourne I say my constituents deserve answers, not announcements. We need to make it easier for people to work in and visit Melbourne. We want Melbourne to be marvellous again, and a key ingredient is people. But they are facing less connectivity, more congestion and longer journeys at precisely the moment the government is packing more people into these neighbourhoods.