It is expected that a mayor will talk up the town he represents, often in polished soundbites, so Hume mayor Adem​ Atmaca's​ unvarnished scorn for the railway station at the heart of the city he serves is telling.

"For the number of passengers that use it, Broadmeadows would be the worst station in Victoria," Cr Atmaca​ said.

Drab, "worn out" and with inadequate parking for the many buses that stop there, it is, Cr Atmaca​ says, in urgent need of rejuvenation.

Which is why the City of Hume was so excited when the Labor government committed $80 million to redevelop the station and surrounds as a way to attract new investment to one of Melbourne's most disadvantaged postcodes.