The Victorian Government has unveiled a Suburban Transport Blitz in its 2019/2020 budget, which provides $27.4 billion for road and rail projects.
It is expected to create thousands of jobs across projects such as the North East Link and the Level Crossing Removal Project.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the Suburban Transport Blitz will transform the way Melburnians travel, reducing congestion, boosting train services and getting people home sooner.
“From fixing a pot hole at the end of your street to the biggest transport projects in Victoria’s history – this Budget will get you where you need to go,” he said.
The package of works will include $3.4 billion to upgrade the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Hurstbridge lines. Each station on the Sunbury line will be upgraded to enable the rollout of High Capacity Metro Trains, along with signalling and power upgrades along the track. This aims to cut travel times and provide for an extra 113,000 passengers during peak times.
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A further $750 million will be spent on the Cranbourne Line to duplicate the track and double the amount of trains to deliver trains every 10 minutes.
$546 million will be provided for the next stage of the Hurstbridge Line Upgrade, which aims to duplicate 4.5 kilometres of track and the construction of bigger stations at Greensborough and Montmorency.
Three new stations will also be built around Bendigo at Goornong, Raywood and Huntly, thanks to a $49.6 million in funding. More money will be provided to fund the next stage of the Bendigo Line upgrade to enable trains to run every 40 minutes during off-peak times.
The Budget includes $608 million to upgrade local roads, including $22.6 million to fix some of the state’s busiest intersections.
The Suburban Rail Loop will also see $300 million set aside for planning, technical investigations and development.
“These projects should have been built years ago. We can’t change that, but we can keep our promises and keep delivering the projects Victorians voted for and need – and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said.