[3] The first proposal for a railway station between Highett and Cheltenham, at Bay Road, occurred during the construction of the Frankston line in the early 1880s.

The push was led by the Shire of Moorabbin, whose president for some of that decade was Thomas Bent, a land developer and, later, Premier of Victoria.

The Public Transport Corporation wrote a letter to the City of Moorabbin, responding to suggestions that Cheltenham station should be relocated, stating that the project would be infeasible.

The Public Transport Users Association predicted that the redevelopment of Westfield Southland would create traffic congestion unless a new railway station was built.

[4] During the Victorian Election campaign in November 2002, the Labor State Government announced their intentions of implementing a feasibility study into the possibility of a station at Southland.

[8] In 2009, the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry listed a Southland railway station project as "urgent" and in need of a 2012–2014 completion, to support the population increase in Melbourne over the next 30 years, that would require established suburbs to have improved transport.

[17] Public Transport Victoria's (PTV) 20-year Network Development Plan, released in March 2013, stated a railway station at Southland would be built within the next five years.

[26] Following discussions between stakeholders and the community, Public Transport Victoria confirmed in its February 2016 feedback summary report that the station would be named Southland.