Make your way down to the end of the Frankston train line and you arrive at the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula: the state seat of Frankston.

So it is small wonder the electrification of the Frankston Train line towards the Mornington Peninsula is emerging as an election issue.

Currently, Melbourne’s electrified network terminates at Frankston and continues to Stony Point with diesel-run services.

Local advocacy group Committee for Greater Frankston (C4GF) called for the train line to be expanded with stations added in Karingal, Langwarrin and Frankston South as well as a station nearby Frankston Hospital and Monash University.

Previous C4GF President Fred Harrison said in a C4GF case report the line extension would drive job creation, get cars off congested roads, and make better use of public and private assets like Frankston Hospital and Monash.

“Extending the line will radically transform public transport in our region,” he said.

In an article in the Mornington Peninsula Magazine, C4GF CEO Ginevra Hosking said outer suburbs with “poor public transport like Frankston” should be prioritised for rail investment.

“It’s time for the state government to start properly planning to construct this vital public transport project,” she said.

In an article in The Frankston Times, newly-appointed Liberal candidate Michael O’Reilly said he planned to advocate for the funding of the Frankston train line extension.

“The project I believe should go ahead, and that is realistic, is twin tracks to Langwarrin stopping at Leawarra and the university,” he said.

Prior to preselection, O’Reilly was a Frankston councilor for eight years and served as mayor between 2018 and 2019.

O’Reilly said Frankston had “issues with transport” and “cars on the road we want to reduce”.

“If you have jobs in satellite cities rather than all in one location people don’t have to travel as much,” he said.

O’Reilly said by having jobs spread out instead of just in one central location, some commuters would be “travelling against the traffic rather than with it”.

“You don’t have to build more roads if you just get people to use the other side of it,” he said.

The state seat of Frankston has yo-yoed between the Liberals and the Australian Labor Party control since its establishment. The current sitting member is Australian Labor Party’s Paul Edbrooke who has held the seat since 2014.

In a Parliament of Victoria online post, Edbrooke said among his priorities for Frankston was reliable public transport.

“Frankston, as the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula, needs to rapidly grow to provide the services of the major CBD,” he said.

Earlier this month, Edbrooke raised the issue of the Frankston & District Basketball Association facilities in Victorian Parliament.

Edbrooke said the facility is “bursting at the seams” and is “clearly unable to keep up with the huge demand”.

In his time in government Edbrooke has successfully secured the $100,000 Peninsula Strikers Soccer club grant renovation, State Government funding for the Jubilee Park indoor stadium and construction of a new pavilion for the Pines Football Netball club.

In a Facebook post Edbrooke said the government was delivering Frankston the “great sporting facilities it deserves”.

“We love our sport in Frankston,” he said.

He said he had successfully lobbied for the Young St Transit precinct and the expansion and redevelopment of Frankston Hospital.

The Victorian Greens have not yet announced their candidate for Frankston.