Train station runs late

IT IS not the train running late but the station, prompting the State Opposition to ask for a please explain.Ballarat's new train station, set to be built in Wendouree, will not open until 2009, a year later than first announced.Now Opposition public transport spokesman Terry Mulder has asked Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky, to explain why."Ms Kosky has failed to inform Ballarat residents that the new Wendouree railway station will not be ready for passengers for up to a year,'' Mr Mulder said. He said Ms Kosky needed to explain why 27,000 residents in Alfredton, Lake Wendouree, Learmonth, Miners Rest and Wendouree would need to wait for the new station to open.The project was announced in September 2006 and was to be ready by 2008, Mr Mulder said."Ms Kosky's failure to award the construction contract on time to ensure Wendouree station opens in 2008 will be familiar to Ballarat rail users who are used to Labor being unable to operate local trains on time, despite a six-minute window before short distance services are counted as officially late,'' he said."This new station is a simple project.''Stephen Moynihan, a spokesman for Ms Kosky, said the project had been announced and funded."It has taken some time to get the correct contract and design work done,'' he said."We want to make sure we get the project right."Mr Mulder also said all Ballarat trains needed to extend to Wendouree while all trains which ran through to Ararat should also stop at the new station.Ms Kosky recently announced Melbourne civil engineering firm Cut and Fill Pty Ltd as the successful contractors for the project.