“Bringing Stations to Life will turn train stations into hubs of community activity.” — Metro
The theory of Metro’s “Bringing Stations To Life” programme makes sense: encourage development around stations, to help provide passengers with services nearby, boost safety through “passive surveillance” (a place busy with people is safer than one that’s empty) and grow public transport usage (particularly outside peak times) by providing destinations close to stations. It could also raise money that could (hopefully) be invested into better rail services.
But Caulfield so far is a bit of a flop. The “Metro Cafe” adjacent to platform 4 faces away from the railway station. There’s no visibility from the platform into the cafe, and it’s thoroughly uninviting for passengers. And a year after opening, reviews indicate even the cafe itself isn’t anything to write home about. (Not that Metro can be blamed for that.)
Metro also claimed the programme would better integrate Caulfield’s train, tram and bus services, but as far as we can see, little has changed.
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