Southland railway station

Southland
An artist's impression of the station
Location	Bay Road, Cheltenham
Coordinates	37°34′22″S 145°01′31″E / 37.5728°S 145.0254°E / -37.5728; 145.0254Coordinates: 37°34′22″S 145°01′31″E / 37.5728°S 145.0254°E / -37.5728; 145.0254
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro
Line(s)	Frankston
Distance	21.30 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Status	Under construction
Fare zone	Myki zone 2
Website	www.ptv.vic.gov.au
History
Opened	2017 (scheduled)
Electrified	Yes
Services
Preceding station   Metro Trains   Following station Highett toward Flinders Street Frankston line Cheltenham toward Frankston

Southland railway station is a planned railway station on the Frankston line currently under construction in the Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham. It is scheduled to open in the second half of 2017.

The first proposal for a railway station between Highett and Cheltenham stations on the Frankston railway line at Bay Road, occurred in the early 1880s, during the completion of the Frankston Line. Plans progressed throughout the 1880s, until they discontinued in 1892, by the City of Moorabbin, which at the time had other issues demanding attention.

When Westfield Southland (then Southland Shopping Centre) opened in September 1968, discussions were raised on whether a railway station would be built on the Frankston line, adjacent to land then-occupied by the St John of God home for boys. Despite this, plans were not submitted.

The proposal arose again in 1990, by this stage, almost 110 years after the initial idea was established. This was in conjunction with the redevelopment of Westfield Southland shopping centre, which was expanded across the Nepean Highway to land adjacent to the Frankston railway line. The Public Transport Corporation wrote a letter to the City of Moorabbin, responding to suggestions that Cheltenham station be relocated; stating that the project would be infeasible. The Public Transport Users Association predicted that the redevelopment of Westfield Southland would create traffic congestion, unless a new railway station was built. Although plans had been discussed, the proposal was once again moot.

During the Victorian Election campaign in November 2002, the Labor State Government announced their intentions of implementing a feasibility study into the possibility of a station at Southland. The Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce expressed disapproval with these plans, fearing that the station would "kill" the nearby businesses on Charman Road (adjacent the Cheltenham railway station). Despite this, in 2004, the State Government commenced feasibility works. In 2009, the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry listed a Southland railway station project as "urgent" and in need of a 2012–2014 completion, to support the population increase in Melbourne over the next 30 years, that would require established suburbs to have improved transport.