Article: Victorian public transport upgrade hopes derailed

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Victorian public transport upgrade hopes derailed

Victorian public transport upgrade hopes derailed
Article from: Herald Sun

Ashley Gardiner

May 12, 2009 12:00am

PLANS to ease Melbourne's commuter crush were gutted after several major projects failed to win desperatel needed dollars.

A new rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield, to relieve the congested core of the train network, got barely 1c in every dollar needed to build it.

But the Federal Government will pour in the bulk of money needed for the Regional Rail Express project, delivering Victoria almost half the total money for transport.

Of $4.6 billion nationally for metropolitan rail projects, Victoria snared $3.2 billion.

A new line from Werribee to Southern Cross, the express project, will separate regional and suburban trains and eliminate delays that western suburbs commuters suffer daily.

On Monday, tens of thousands of western commuters endured a slow ride home after a V/Line train spilt fuel at Spotswood station, forcing suspension of Connex services. When operating in 2014, the Regional Rail Express would prevent this debacle.

A new 40km line will be built from West Werribee to South Kensington, and disused track from there to Southern Cross, will be recommissioned.

Existing platforms on the route will be extended and a new station built at Tarneit in the four years of construction, to begin next year.

It will accommodate 84,000 passengers on 120 extra trains during the daily peak.

Regional Rail Express comes with a $4.3 billion price tag, but Canberra allocated only $3.2 billion, leaving a significant gap.

The centre piece of the Victorian Transport Plan, the east-west rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield, will get only start-up money needed for the planning process.

The project is designed to allow an extra 14 trains an hour into the city from overburdened lines in the northwest, such as Sydenham, Melbourne's most overcrowded.

Estimated at $4.6 billion for the first stage from Footscray to the Domain Interchange, it received only $40 million.

Infrastructure Australia, the Federal Government's advisory body, said the tunnel would go ahead with private dollars. Budget papers still committed to the State Government's timeline of starting work on the first stage in 2012 and finishing six years later.

The tunnel was first proposed to the State Government by transport expert Sir Rod Eddington, now head of Infrastructure Australia.

A plan to extend suburban train services to Bacchus Marsh also missed out, and won't go ahead until Regional Rail Express is finished.

Estimated at almost $1 billion, it would have extended more frequent services to the booming outer western suburbs. An electrified line would have served Deer Park West and Melton, where V/Line services will be boosted when the state-backed Sunbury electrification project is complete.