This might just be Australia’s worst car park.
In a dusty overflow parking lot next to a busy railway station in Melbourne, inconsiderate motorists don’t seem to think twice about double parking other cars rows deep, sparking hours-long delays for fellow commuters at the end of long work days.
Locals in Tarneit — a rubbish-strewn fringe suburb 30km west of the Melbourne CBD which has seen a population explosion over the past decade — say the state government has failed to keep up with infrastructure demands.
The problems are particularly pronounced at Tarneit Railway Station, where daily commutes regularly turn into a nightmare.
“The state government has made excuses for many years, and the residents are struggling,” independent political candidate Aijaz Moinuddin said in a Facebook video on Thursday showing a long line of cars backed up.
“You can see the cars are parked randomly and no one can come out.”
One motorist, who said he had been waiting nearly half an hour, told Mr Moinuddin, “I don’t know why people are parking the cars like that. They should understand where it should be parked.”
Mr Moinuddin wrote in the caption, “After finishing work, some commuters are facing long queues and hours of waiting just to leave the station car park. People shouldn’t have to lose hours of their day simply trying to park and get home.
“Tarneit is growing rapidly. Our infrastructure needs to keep pace. More parking. Better traffic management. Better public transport.
“It’s time Tarneit gets its fair share.”
Local social media news page Wyndham TV shared similar footage earlier this year, including one clip with a cameo by embattled former Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who blamed the Labor government for the pothole-ridden, overcrowded nightmare.
“This is car park Tetris,” Ms Deeming said.
“People are so desperate that they’re blocking each other in. I know one mother who actually was blocked in for so many hours after work that she missed the pick-up for her daughter at daycare and she was fined.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. The government knew when they built this train station that they needed far more car parks than they paid for.”
Victorian Transport Minister Vicki Ward has been contacted for comment.
Tarneit, located in the City of Wyndham, is one of Australia’s fastest-growing suburbs where sprawling paddocks have rapidly been consumed by an explosion of new housing developments.
The suburb has added nearly 22,000 new residents between 2016 and 2021.
As of the 2021 Census the population of Tarneit had grown to 56,370, a 63 per cent increase in five years.
Residents listing Indian or Punjabi ancestry made up nearly 35 per cent of the population, while around one fifth were either Australian or English.
A Victorian government spokesman said in a statement, “We’re building the brand new West Tarneit train station and delivering more local bus services connecting with stations in Melbourne’s west including Tarneit and Wyndham Vale — making it easier to leave the car behind to catch the train.
“We have boosted Tarneit Station carpark to over 1500 car spots — the biggest of all our train stations.
“Jess Wilson and her Liberal-One Nation Coalition have already promised to cut trains to Wyndham Vale and Melton as part of their $40 billion cuts plan.”