🟠 The train will arrive in Doncaster ... in 27 years

WHAT’S ON COMING UP 🎟️

• FRIDAY 17/04/26, 7-11PM | Elsa Mouratidou and Taxim Trio

• SATURDAY 18/04/26, 8.30AM-3PM | Ferntree Gardens Antiques and Collectables Fair

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 19/04/26, 10AM-5PM | Tesselaar KaBloom Festival

• TUESDAY 21/04/26, 7.30pm | Eric Bibb

• THURSDAY 23/04/26, 7.30-10PM | Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow

• FRIDAY 24/04/26, 7.30-9:30PM | Paul Grabowsky and Michelle Nicolle

• SATURDAY 25/04/26, ANZAC DAY, 11AM-4PM | Melbourne Tram Museum

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

“Sleepless nights” for Boronia cafe owner as station works cut off 50 percent of foot traffic

Boronia cafe owner Kalyani Parkele says she has lost 50 percent of her sales revenue since rail station upgrades began, closing the main pedestrian walkway to her coffee shop in late March.

With completion timelines changing, Parkele isn’t sure how she’ll keep the lights on before the crucial access point is reopened.

Cranes, trucks and workers have descended on the Boronia station precinct as part of a $60 million rail upgrade, including a landscaped plaza between the station and Dorset Road, widening of the station concourse and new platform shelters.

Boronia station will be closed from 11.30pm on Friday May 8 to late 2026, with a shuttle bus running commuters between Boronia, Bayswater and Ferntree Gully.

In works notices seen by the Eastern Melburnian, the Big Build Rail team notified businesses in January that Lupton Way would be closed from February 24 to March 11.

However, in March, the project team returned to say the thoroughfare would instead be closed from March 27 to late September.

According to a public notice, the Big Build Rail team would “be in touch with impacted traders directly and work to mitigate this impact”.

According to a Level Crossing Removal Project spokesperson, the extended closure of Lupton Way was necessary to “minimise further disruptions for locals…allowing crews to safely relocate underground services and drainage and begin works on the new plaza”.

“We are working closely with local business owners to provide project updates and support during disruptions, including tailored marketing, vouchers and support with deliveries,” said the spokesperson.

Parkele said the morning traffic of commuters on the way to their train had “reduced drastically” since works began on March 27.

A mother of three, Parkele opened the business last January, leaving her full-time job and investing her family’s savings.

“There’s lots of stress and sleepless nights,” said Parkele. “I put my heart and soul into this business.”

Parkele said the Big Build Rail team had offered no compensation, with support including pre-purchasing coffees for workers and spending $250 for free coffees.

“That doesn’t help me pay any bills,” said Parkele. “I have to somehow stay afloat for the next six to eight months.”

Read the full story here.

Doncaster has waited 135 years for a train. It will have to wait at least 20 more.

71-year-old Doncaster East resident Frida sits and waits for a bus at the main bus interchange at Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre.

It’s a daily routine for the retired pensioner – but unfortunately she says it isn’t likely she’ll be able to catch a train from Doncaster in her lifetime – with a planned station not set to open for at least another quarter of a century.

“It is a bit of a nuisance to connect to the different buses,” Frida told the Eastern Melburnian. “The train service would make it a lot easier. With all the new housing…a lot of newcomers and now the shortage of fuel, it’d be good to have a train.”

At the turn of the century, Doncaster Hill was transitioning from a low-density residential area into a higher-density hub.

Now, the area is in a type of limbo, awaiting a new train station as part of the Suburban Rail Loop North proposal, which is still more than 25 years away from completion.

At 120 metres above sea level, Doncaster Hill is one of the highest points in Melbourne and covers 58 hectares along the major corridors of Doncaster Road, Williamsons Road and Tram Road.

Major developments in the area included the Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre in 1970 and the MC Square Community Centre in 2012.

First endorsed by Manningham Council and introduced in 2002, the Doncaster Hill Strategy was a 20-year outline, detailing $2 billion worth of development across 4,080 new residences by 2021.

As of 2019, about 1,770 apartments had been constructed, with permits issued for an additional 1,000 apartments.

The 2026 population forecast for Doncaster Hill is 4,832 and is forecast to grow to 9,318 by 2046.

The push for train connections to Doncaster date back as early as 1890, with plans entering discussions periodically throughout the decades, with the main push imagining the line to run along the median strip of the Eastern Freeway.

Plans took initial steps but costs blew out and words became too heated to see them over the line.

In March 2008, local councillors sent a petition of 7,000 signatures supporting the Doncaster rail line to then-Transport Minister Lynne Kosky.

The North East Link project and associated busway, which included a narrowing of the Eastern Freeway median, quashed any hopes for a Doncaster rail line as it was first imagined.

The State Government has proposed a new station at Doncaster as part of the Suburban Rail Loop North, but plans have put the start date for construction at 2035 at the earliest.

No work will take place until the SRL East section is complete.

No site has been locked in for the station as the project remains in the early planning stages.

Read the full story here.

Eastern Melbourne restaurants hold off on price hikes despite fuel levy strains

Restaurant and cafe owners across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs are waiting to see how the next month will play out before rising prices, but the pressures of increasing fuel levies and slowing foot traffic could force action.

Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen brought its Indian food and culture to the small Yarra Valley township of Warburton in November 2023.

Owners Billy and Max Crombie put their house on the line to launch their second location and are now sitting on the edge of launching a third, but are unsure whether the leap is too risky.

Monbulk local Billy Crombie met her husband Max 18 years ago in the beachside town of Varkala in the Indian state of Kerala.

The pair began their hospitality journey with a market stall selling their food 13 years ago, followed by a take-away and 65-seat restaurant spot in Belgrave about seven years later and a second, 200-seat location in Warburton in November 2023.

Crombie said she could not guarantee they wouldn’t have to bump up their prices to account for increased fuel levies from their suppliers or reduced patronage.

“It isn't about greed, it's about survival,” said Crombie. “Are we going to be down to 30 percent of our turnover? We’re a very resilient business, but nobody knows what’s coming.”

The fuel crisis is not just impacting larger businesses, but small local business too. Boronia’s Two Cats Espresso Bar is among those dealing with new costs.

Owner Kalyani Parkele said while her suppliers used to waive the delivery fee if she ordered past a certain threshold, they were now placing an extra $8 to $10 on top of each delivery, adding up to $40 to $50 per week.

“A month ago, we were not spending that additional cost for the same product,” Parkele told the Eastern Melburnian. “For a small business, that becomes too much week on week.”

Parkele said the timing of the increased bills was unfortunate, as she had seen a 50 percent reduction in her sales revenue since rail station upgrades began.

“The cost is just going up and the income is going down, so it’s not balancing,” said Parkele.

Read the full story here.

👀 DID YOU SEE?

Bad timing: One of Australia’s two petrol refineries catches fire

Energy Minister Chris Bowen says a blaze at one of Australia’s last remaining oil refineries will impact petrol production, as emergency personnel continue to fight the Geelong fire.

One of two refineries in the entire county, Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery supplies 10 percent of the nation’s fuel. Emergency Services were called to the facility in Corio, about 60km southwest of Melbourne, shortly after 11pm on Wednesday following reports of explosions and flames.

About 50 firefighters, 10 fire trucks and a boat attended the blaze with firefighters telling reporters the inferno started small but after several explosions grew into a large, intense fire.

Fifty percent of Victoria’s fuel comes from the site, according to Viva Energy’s website.

The refinery can produce more than 120,000 barrels of oil per day, manufacturing petrol, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, avgas and low aromatic fuel.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said petrol production has been affected, while jet fuel and diesel are being produced at reduced levels.

Bowen told Nine: "At this point, the impact is mainly on petrol production, but obviously this is very early days."

In November last year a power supply disruption at the refinery led to the safety flare bellowing out black smoke over the community.

In January 2026 another “operational disruption” led the flare to burn “larger than normal”.