While I support the service being extended to Epsom, I do feel sorry for the Epsom community that they have been short changed by a Government making rushed decisions and policies on the run, without proper planning and consultation with the community. 

There was only one public meeting that was publicised and the project had already been started. 

They are supposedly building a station, from my observations it’s a platform that has been slapped together to get it open before the next election, something that was promised over four years ago. 

The platform (station) has two shelters approximately four metres x 20 metres either end, with bench seats around the inside wall, some rubbish bins, a couple of wooden bench seats on the platform, not like the $30,000 seats the Bendigo City Council put in the CBD. 

There is no toilet and from what I could see or any drinking taps at this stage. 

A small shelter still being  erected I take it will be the ticket machine is outside the platform, why wasn’t this put on the platform itself? 

There a few more seats along the outside of the platform and some more rubbish bins, there are more rubbish bins than shelter. 

The bike racks are stainless steel hoops out in the open, not a caged area like at the Bendigo station.

It’s quite obvious that they didn’t look at the setup of the Vlocity Trains which will operate on that line where the doorways are on the carriages. 

 The majority are in the middle section of the platform where there is no shelter not at either end of the platform. 

So if it is cold and wet or boiling hot commuters have not been considered because if they did there would or should have been shelter in the middle section of the platform. 

You also make mention of the good service from Melbourne, this was only brought about by the Labour Government after Jeff Kennett and the Coalition Government sold off all the transport systems to privatisation which they couldn’t  run properly. 

So if this is the result of a $7.76 million project, heaven forbid if this mob get re-elected at the next state election in November what will be the cost of the pie in the sky Tullamarine link cost  the taxpayer.

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