A 7-car HCMT only needs a 160 metre long platform, so they would have gotten away with it!

The incoming Baillieu government paused work on Caroline Springs station because the “New stations in growth areas” project ran out of money, having to upgrade traction substations at Cardinia Road and Lynbrook so trains could actually stop there in peak times.

https://wongm.com/2013/08/caroline-springs-railway-station-saga/

The only timetable with a worse mix of stopping patterns is the Belgrave/Lilydale line.

https://danielbowen.com/2024/04/13/stopping-patterns/

Through between December 2020 and January 2024 V/Line ran a six times daily unidirectional shuttle bus between Caroline Springs / Deer Park because the timetable made such a trip impossible by train.

https://railgallery.wongm.com/kinetic-vline-shuttle/

Same at Malmesbury and at Clarkefield. But these are historic limitations (ie the platforms stayed the same length and the trains got longer). It is reasonable to grandfather in the existing short platforms.

However this is a new build. Where did the problem come from? Poor contract management? Poor oversight? Just plain complete incompetence? Maybe all of the above.

Similarly, a double VL set is too long for some platforms between Pakenham & Longwarry, with announcements made not to alight from the last car.

But on the other hand, this is what we tend to get in Melbourne’s west because we are told to be more interested in the latest AFL news or watch some crap like The Voice or The Block, while the rich in places like Toorak or Camberwell are told to be more interested in politics. That is why places like Toorak or Camberwell get something that works, while those in the west (such as this correspondent) gets dodgy. I think it is high time that people in Melbourne’s west follows politics more. But unfortunately, we won’t get it in the Liberal Party front that is the Herald Sun.