West Tarneit Station opening Sunday 13 September

The new West Tarneit Station better connects the growing suburbs of the west to Melbourne’s CBD.

Earlier this year, crews completed a major construction blitz, including extensive signalling works in preparation for the new station.

Since then, work has continued across the station precinct, with crews carrying out rail track works, building walking and cycling paths, completing pedestrian stairs and ramps, installing road signage and landscaping with more than 65,000 plants including shrubs, grasses and 650 trees.

We've also completed the commuter car park and bus interchange, while sustainability initiatives are helping reduce construction waste across the project.

We've continued sharing project updates through station pop-ups and recently visited nearby childcare centres, where children learned about construction and the new station being built for their community.

The new West Tarneit Station features a 4-bay bus interchange, 400 car spaces and an accessible pedestrian underpass.

Key dates

Sunday 13 September – West Tarneit Station opens for the first train service.

Monday 14 September – enjoy a sweet treat from us during the morning peak.

Saturday 3 October – come along to a community celebration featuring entertainment, food, and prize giveaways.

Meet the mini engineers of Tarneit

In June, our West Tarneit Station team visited 2 local childcare centres, Bright Beginnings in Tarneit and Explorers Early Learning in Mount Cottrell, to talk trains and construction with more than 100 of the suburb’s youngest residents.

There was plenty to keep little hands busy. The mini engineers got to sit in the driver’s seat of a real 1.7 tonne digger, dress in a hi-vis vest and hard hat and settle in for a story about becoming an engineer. They also enjoyed colouring sheets with the new station design and putting together cardboard cut-out V/Line trains.

Our site engineers and project team members were on hand to answer plenty of curious questions and share what a day on a major rail project looks like.

Rail signalling works blitz

During a 4-day construction blitz in May, crews installed the rail signalling necessary to integrate the new West Tarneit Station into the rail network.

The works included laying more than 17.8km of new cabling to service 5 new train signals and 7 new train safety systems for the new station.

What is rail signalling?

Rail signalling is often referred to as the railway’s nervous system. It's not something you can easily see or touch, but it's essential for trains to function.

Signals, cabling and other control systems work together to help trains operate safely and efficiently by controlling train movements, speed and distance between trains.

Cutting waste at West Tarneit

Crews building the new West Tarneit Station have been using excavated rock as part of a recycled concrete mix that has reduced the project’s waste.

The rock was excavated from around the site, including beneath the rail line to make way for a pedestrian underpass that will connect passengers to both platforms and future links to the growing suburb. Crews removed about 60 cubic metres of basalt rock while excavating the new underpass. Typically, only a small portion of this material would be reused locally, with the rest sent to a quarry as waste.

Instead, the basalt was sent to Aurora Construction Materials, located less than 20 minutes from the site, where it was crushed and incorporated into a concrete mix that was returned to site and poured to form some of the ramps in the new precinct.

Reusing excavated rock in concrete at the same site it came from is still relatively uncommon in Australia, largely due to logistical challenges. Similar approaches have only been trialled on a small number of projects, highlighting the potential for more sustainable construction practices in future.

From paddock to platform

A year of progress at West Tarneit Station.

A year ago, works were just getting underway at the future West Tarneit Station site. Since then, crews have built platforms, an accessible pedestrian underpass, a commuter car park and a bus interchange.

Here's how the station precinct has taken shape over the past 12 months.

July 2025 – Site establishment began as crews prepared the future West Tarneit Station precinct.

October 2025 – Earthworks were well underway as the footprint of the future station and surrounding precinct started to emerge.

February 2026 – The new station took shape, with new platforms, the pedestrian underpass and station entrances in construction.

July 2026 – The station precinct nearing completion as crews put the finishing touches on station features, the bus interchange and commuter car park.

Planting for biodiversity

The landscaped West Tarneit Station precinct will include more than 65,000 plants, including shrubs, grasses and 650 trees.

Over 50% of the site the station is built on was originally covered with weeds and plant species that offer little support for habitat or increasing local biodiversity.

During our community engagement phase in 2024, we heard that 89% of local residents value natural landscapes, such as the local native grasslands, wetlands and Davis Creek.

Our team has prioritised increasing biodiversity in the precinct landscape design and chosen a range of plants that draw on the surrounding bioregion.

The result is more than 50 native species and multi-layered planting designed to provide shelter, nesting opportunities and habitat connection to local wetlands and Davis Creek.

Project timeline

2023

• Early development and planning work
• Site investigations

Late 2024

• Concept designs released
• Community engagement

Mid 2025

• Final designs released
• Major construction commences

September 2026

• Station opens
• Major construction complete

* Timeline subject to change.