The State Government plans to build the station in 2011, but there is an increasing demand for it to be completed much sooner.

Eastern Region MP Edward O'Donohue joined residents at the Lakeside estate last week to garner support for the station.

He said residents had expressed frustration over a lack of infrastructure in the growth corridor. "There has been enormous support and there is a high awareness that the station is planned but a degree of uncertainty as to when it will be delivered."

Mr O'Donohue said that with more than 4000 residents at Lakeside, the nearby Arena estate under construction and the employment precinct ready to take off, now was the time to provide a railway station. "We must make public transport accessible and the first option for local residents." A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the Government's 10-year, $10.5 billion Meeting Our Transport Challenges action plan included a commitment to build the Cardinia Road railway station between 2011 and 2016.

Petitions can be signed at various shops and outlets in Pakenham, at the Lakeside estate shopping village and in Officer.

For more details, contact Edward O'Donohue's office, 51 James Street, Pakenham, 5941 1112.