V/LINE will consider dimming the lights overnight at the new Epsom train station.
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Residents who live opposite the new station say the lights are keeping them awake, long after the last train has arrived at 7.26pm weeknights.
The station was opened with much fanfare at a community celebration on October 11, attended by Transport Minister Terry Mulder.
The first service departed a day later at 10.10am, with 24 passengers aboard.
Residents closest to the station say lighting and sound issues at the station have become an unnecessary intrusion on their lives.
Spokesperson Kerryn Baldwin stressed the affected residents were not anti-train, but wanted a bit more common-sense applied at the station.
“My house faces the station, when I walk out my door at night I need sunglasses,” Ms Baldwin said.
“Certain houses down the track nearer the Epsom pre-school might not be as affected, but we are.
“I’m not against the train as long as it’s utilised correctly, but it’s not.”
Ms Baldwin said residents also had sound issues, with the first weekday train leaving the station at 5.58am.
She said the train arrived from Bendigo each morning at 5.30am and sat idle at the station for 28 minutes with the engine turned on.
“We are dead smack in front of the platform, so we cop the full brunt of the carriages,” Ms Baldwin said.
“Even if they put up a sound barrier we would be better off.
My house faces the station, when I walk out my door at night I need sunglasses.
- Kerryn Baldwin
“It sounds like I am being negative, but it needs to be utilised properly.”
V/Line communications adviser Clare Steele said train officials would visit the station to look at the lighting.
“It is possible to dim the lights by 50 per cent after the last train service and before the first train service, so we will definitely look to address the issue,” she said.
Ms Steele said V/Line would also look at ways to roster the train to reduce idling time and sound issues on mornings.
“The first morning train sits at the platform ready to take Epsom customers into Melbourne at 5.58am,” she said.
“While the train does turn off its main engine, it is still necessary to run the auxiliary engine which powers lighting and air-conditioning.
“The air-conditioning needs to remain on so the carriages are pre-conditioned for passenger comfort.”
The new station is part of a $7.76 million state government investment in Bendigo region trains, including modifications to infrastructure at Eaglehawk station.
It includes 100 car parking spaces, two drop-off car parks, two shelters and nine bicycle hoops, with a bus bay on Station Street.