 Restoration of the railway to Mernda was identified as a goal in the Strategic Transportation Study undertaken by the City of Whittlesea in 2002.The City of Whittlesea has forecast that the population in Mernda and Doreen will be 40,000 by that time.The South Morang and Mernda Rail Alliance, which was successful in lobbying the state government to fulfill its promise of reinstating the rail line to South Morang, then lobbied the government to commit to reinstating the line to Mernda.