Residents fight for improved air quality at Southern Cross

For many city dwellers, their apartment’s balcony is a place where they can sit back and soak up the bustle of the city. However, for Paul Smitz this is not the case.

Paul, like many other residents at 620 Collins Street, refuses to spend time on his balcony due to the stench of diesel fumes drifting up from the neighbouring Southern Cross railway station. He has even found soot caked on the railings and the outdoor furniture. 

“You can move your finger through it and leave a trail and the residue on your finger,” Paul told Docklands News.  

When Paul and his partner Catherine moved into their apartment two-and-a-half years ago, they bought an air purifier to clean up and improve the air quality of their new home. However, this action only increased their concerns, due to the purifier detecting that the air quality was very poor. 

While the Docklands residents feel lucky to own an apartment in the city, the air quality around Southern Cross station certainly has tainted their purchase, but they are attempting to change this. 

Earlier this year, Paul and Catherine created a petition calling on the Victorian government to address the air pollution issues within the station. 

The petition received close to 600 signatures and was tabled in the Legislative Assembly in November. 

It recommended that the state government prohibit the idling of diesel trains and buses for any longer than five minutes and install extractor fans to remove harmful diesel fumes.

But with no response required by the Legislative Assembly, questions still loom around whether or not appropriate measures will be taken to improve the air quality at and around the station. 

Last year, the Southern Cross Station Air Quality Working Group was formed, which includes representatives of the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, station owner Civic Nexus, and V/Line.

However, the creators of the petition believe that the working group should also include a representative of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria. 

To date, the group has sought to find ways to improve the air quality of the station, with Civic Nexus undertaking ongoing monitoring and reporting its regular air quality data findings to the Department of Transport and Planning.

Additionally, in 2022 new air quality sensors and more sophisticated controllers were installed to improve the measurement of nitrogen dioxide in the Bus Interchange Facility (NO2).

Reducing idling time has also been a priority of the working group according to a spokesperson from the Department of Transport and Planning.

Any bus idling longer than 5 minutes is switched off and V/Line has been working to further reduce idling times of trains where “operationally” possible.

However, a source who has been involved in consultations with the working group said that despite the quality of data improving and idling measures enforced, the workplace exposure standards for NO2 levels set by Safe Work need to be stronger. 

Earlier this year, an ABC investigation revealed that under the current standards, the NO2 levels are more than 90 times the World Health Organisation’s guidelines. 

Melbourne MLA and Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell, told Docklands News that, “locals and the Greens have been demanding better ventilation at Southern Cross Station for years, but there’s been no meaningful response from the Labor State Government.”

Ms Sandell also raised concerns over there being no government response to the Inquiry into air pollution’s health impacts, which was tabled more than three years ago. •