The Victorian government has announced a massive new suburban rail loop, which will link every suburban train line in Melbourne, as well as Tullamarine Airport, in what is being billed by the state government as the ‘biggest public transport project in Australian history’.
The $50 billion underground suburban rail network – expected to be completed by 2050 – aims to ease the pressure and address the future needs of the fastest growing city in the country.
The 90km line called the ‘Ring Road’ will connect every major railway line from the Frankston line to the Werribee line via Melbourne Airport. The rail network will be partially underground between the Airport and Werribee.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the project was about connecting people to jobs more easily.
“This is about connecting Universities and TAFEs and hospitals and employment precincts, it’s also about being able to live closer to where you work,” Andrews said.
“This is about taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road and giving people a public transport system that they can leave the car at home for.
“It will take time to build, it will take a lot of money, but the real questions is what’s the cost if we don’t deliver this? A congested city that just doesn’t function.”
The project will be built in stages over multiple decades and is designed to connect major employment, health services and education precincts.
Business case development and the detailed design would start next year to determine exact station locations, route alignment and rolling stock.
The Victorian government will invest $300 million in business case development, detailed design, and community consultation, which will commence in 2019, with work on the first stage expected to begin by the end of 2022.
Transport minister Jacinta Allan said the new line would carry 400,000 passengers a day and take 200,000 cars off major roads.
“The government forecasts the loop would become the busiest train route in Melbourne once completed,” Allan said.
“Just as the previous investments in the city loop were made many decades ago, the investments in a ring road were made over many decades ago.”
Infrastructure Victoria CEO Michael Masson said Melbourne’s public transport system would struggle to meet the city’s needs in the future, and new ideas were welcome.
“This proposal is new and was not considered in the 30-year strategy released in 2016,” Masson continues.
“We will be interested to assess it in more detail in light of the long-term needs of the state, and the benefits it brings.”
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the project was incredibly ambitious and a game changer.
“If they can pull it off, this project would have huge benefits for Melbourne,” Bowen adds.
“To work well with the existing network, all rail lines, including loop line, would need to run frequently all day every day.”
Highlights of the Suburban Rail Loop project include:
- South east section running underground between Cheltenham and Box Hill with new rail tunnels linking the Frankston, Cranbourne-Pakenham, Glen Waverley and Belgrave-Lilydale lines;
- Six new undergroun stations;
- North east section connection the Belgrave Lilydale line to the Hurstbridge, Mernda, Upfield and Craigieburn lines before heading to Melbourn Airport;
- North west section comprising of the new Airport Rail Link; and
- The western section connecting to the Werribee line via the new Sunshine super-hub.