The Australian Football League plays games at Eureka Stadium where attendances at each of the games attracts close to the stadium available capacity. The two games per year are close to sellout or sold out. In addition the AFLW played at the stadium last year and the A League played several games at the stadium in 2023. Eureka Stadium forms part of the Ballarat Major Events Precinct.
Presently is it very difficult and tiresome to get from Melbourne to the stadium unless you are driving and just as hard if travelling from Geelong. Despite being located adjacent to the Ballarat to Maryborough Railway Line no railway station exists at the location. Available space for a station at a suitable location is readily available with ample trackside reserve for a platform or two with a siding into a second platform to ensure the main line is kept clear of waiting and parked trains for commuters.
There is also space for an overhead walkway to be constructed linking the railway station directly to the stadium or sufficient space for an underground walkway or underpass of the highway as is common in other station locations around Melbourne and in the regions and around the world.
Despite the Western Bulldogs continuing to ensure regular games each AFL season are played at the stadium, there are no plans to enable train based public transport easier to the venue. This is a gross oversight and surprisingly this has not been considered in the network plan and not addressed by the PTV and the AFL nor the Western Bulldogs.
This trend of half completing a major project (the upgrade of stadiums or the building of such) appears to run rife in Victoria where how to get to a stadium or a major event on public transport is an afterthought. There is a similar case in point for new stadiums and grounds at Casey Fields at Cranbourne East where the Melbourne City (A League) and Melbourne Demons Football Club are based. VFL and AFLW games are also played at the venue.
Casey Fields regularly hosts nationally televised events such as AFL pre-season, AFLW, VFL, Women’s Big Bash League, NRL pre-season and A-League Women’s games.
This location has a disused railway line sitting right outside the venue. Many broken promises have been made to provide passenger services on this line to a population of over 100,000 people.
If a station were to be built at the Eureka Stadium venue, knowing the venue has been upgraded for AFL and AFLW games, more people could easily access the venue rather than having to drive or try and take an infrequent bus to the ground.
Some of us remember (not me) and others have read about the disaster getting into and out of the old VFL Park and there are many photos of the ground surrounded by cars with no train station ever being built to the ground when it was in operation and hosting a crowd of 70,000 attendees. This could be one of the single biggest planning failures of Transport Victoria or whatever it was called back then.
Regional grounds mean longer commutes for patrons unless direct access to train services is available to those who attend.
Thankfully the Geelong Football Club Home Ground called Kadina Park is located close to Geelong South Railway Station where many who attend games at the the venue can easily take a V/Line service to and from the ground usually coming from Warrnambool or Melbourne. This station has recently been upgraded by V/Line to dual platforms and double track allowing easier access and more people to join trains at the station. Sidings on the downside of the station make it much easier for trains to sit waiting for the game to finish and for the punters to arrive to travel home.
There is as mentioned sufficient vacant land adjacent to the a proposed location for a railway station at Eureka Stadium to allow the same operation to work effectively.
South Geelong to Waurn Ponds has been completed it is time for the new station at Eureka to be designed and built with two platforms, holding siding for trains and pedestrian overpass or underpass to be completed.
Once this is done the Eureka Stadium will be complete and ready for not only the same number of games per year (9 majors in 2023) but the ability to extend the number games played at the venue for whatever national sporting code.
You can catch a train to South Geelong for a game at the Cattery however V/Line are super unreliable on the Geelong line and you need to check if buses are running again for the line. This happens quite a lot.
Reading the new article from bevans online today and he visited the line recently it looks and says the siding near the south Geelong station to stage quick trains for footy fans has been removed.
Agree a station would be a better solution to the unworkable one now. If the rail line is there and it is the investment in a station should be a component of the ground upgrades. The area is being further developed for sporting major events.
People come from other places not just Melbourne or Geelong to the ground. Rail directly could and would make a big difference.