KNOX councillors have vowed to make the decades-long quest for a Rowville rail station a priority at this year's federal election.
Despite council officers saying it was too early to meet with local MPs because the final stage one report was yet to be released, councillors voted to request meetings with government.
They are targeting talks with Premier Ted Baillieu, Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder, Scoresby MP and Treasurer Kim Wells and Ferntree Gully MP Nick Wakeling.
The council is also seeking a meeting with Aston federal MP Alan Tudge. The council resolved to insist on meetings with any candidates for Aston in the lead-up to this year's federal elections.
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Cr Adam Gill said it was imperative that the full feasibility study was released before the federal election. "Aston is now a marginal seat because of significant electoral boundary changes, so hopefully federal candidates will be looking at the needs of our city, and I think we should put this on the agenda in the lead-up to the election."
While councillors expressed anger that the final version of stage one of the feasibility study was yet to be released, the second stage, which was supposed to start mid-last year, is yet to begin.
Cr Nicole Seymour said she would have expected the council and the community to have received a courtesy email explaining why there was such a delay. "It makes me question the government's commitment to the project and also its commitment to the people of Rowville, Lysterfield, Scoresby, that whole corridor."
Cr Seymour said uncertainty over whether the Rowville Rail would be built made developing a long-term plan for the area unnecessarily difficult.
"It would be great to have this study here and now that we could use in our input and our dialogue that we're having with the community so that the structure plan is being formulated with a vision in mind and not on the whim of a dream."
Cr Gill compared the Rowville Rail study to a Metro train. "You don't know when it's going to arrive and it seems like it's running late."