A dedicated events platform has been mooted as a key facility for games spectators, but city leaders have also backed it as an important piece of legacy infrastructure to facilitate the city's northern growth and develop transport alternatives.

The state government has promoted a transport hub for the games at the Creswick Road sports precinct but last week it highlighted its focus on bus transport as key to transporting visitors.

Speaking before the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee on Tuesday, Commonwealth Games Delivery minister Jacinta Allan said there was "simply a factor of time" when it came to promising an events platform.

"The Games are in 1008 days in terms of the time that's needed to be taken to deliver these Games, and I am confident, the team is already doing significant planning work," she said

When previously questioned by The Courier about an events platform, state government spokespeople have pointed to the $49.2 million upgrade to Ballarat Station, the result of years of advocacy from groups like Grampians disAbility Advocacy.

Last week, Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said the bus network would play a significant role when it came to moving people around for the Commonwealth Games.

Ms Allan said she was not able to commit to or announce plans to develop Creswick Road, including duplication north of Howitt Street, which becomes a difficult bottleneck on game days.

But she said the government is working on plans for how this space outside of Eureka Stadium will be used.

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"We are planning to have that part of the road around Eureka Stadium operate as a transport hub," she said

Games Victoria 2026 chief executive Jeroen Weimar, in charge of the event's operating body, said logistics of moving crowds of people around was one of their "biggest challenges".

He said they are looking to "boost the core public transport networks" within the five games hubs.

Park and ride faculties as well as active transport options like walking and cycling are on the table.

"In the middle of all that, [we are] ensuring we've got a dedicated athlete transport networks to move them from those local villages to those local venues and making sure they can get to their competitions at the right time."

The state opposition's transport infrastructure spokesperson David Southwick said in a statement it appeared the platform plan had been "ruled out".

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"Given the Commonwealth Games will be the biggest event regional Victoria has ever hosted, a dedicated events platform at Mars Stadium shouldn't be out of the question," he said.

"The growth and development of Ballarat is crucial to the future of our state. A state-of-the-art stadium in Ballarat deserves and requires its own train platform."

It's expected crowds of up to 30,000 people will be attending Eureka Stadium for athletics and para-athletics events, with more people at nearby Selkirk Stadium for boxing.

The Commonwealth Games begin in March 2026.

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