Articles: Western suburbs line gets green light

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Rail link delay as bill nears $5bn

Rail link delay as bill nears $5bn
Clay Lucas
April 5, 2011

THE proposed new rail line through Melbourne's western suburbs will take an extra two years to complete as the Baillieu government struggles to meet what it says is an uncosted blowout of up to $700 million.

After months of speculation about the fate of the Regional Rail Link, Transport Minister Terry Mulder yesterday confirmed that it would go ahead.

But he said the line would take two years longer to build than promised by the previous government after state Treasury officials found a ''financial black hole'' in costings totalling hundreds of millions of dollars.

When first announced by then premier John Brumby in 2008, the line was to be completed by 2014 at a cost of $4.3 billion. It emerged yesterday that this figure included an $800 million allowance for unforeseen contingencies.

Now, Mr Mulder says, the final bill will be closer to $5 billion and construction will take longer to help find money for it.

The link will involve a 47-kilometre extension to Melbourne's railways, running from Southern Cross Station to near Werribee with new stations at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale.

The project will allow V/Line and Metro services to run on separate tracks, reducing delays to services currently caused by the sharing of tracks through Melbourne's inner west.

Costs that Mr Mulder said had been overlooked comprise:

■Land acquisition, signalling and unforeseen construction costs totalling between $700 million and $1.1 billion.

■New trains to run on the line to cost $260 million.

■Two new underpasses on Anderson Road, Sunshine, to cost $150 million.

After the initial $800 million allowance for contingencies, this means an additional blowout of between $300 million and $700 million.

The federal government in 2009 agreed to contribute $3.2 billion to the link. But in January, Canberra said $500 million of this would be held back until at least 2016 to allow budget savings to pay for Queensland flood reconstruction.

Mr Mulder blamed the

Brumby government's failure to adequately cost the project for the months of uncertainty. ''The Regional Rail Link will go ahead despite the massive shortfall we've been left with,'' he said.

The Age last night asked Labor's public transport spokeswoman Fiona Richardson whether the former government had left behind a financial ''black hole'' in the project.

She said the new government was looking for ''any excuse to dither rather than deliver'' on it. ''The Baillieu government has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to support a Labor project that will benefit both regional and metropolitan commuters,'' she said.

Construction of the project's first stage - new platforms at Southern Cross - has already begun. Other works will not commence until after tenders for various components are received later in the year.

A group of Footscray residents whose properties will be compulsorily acquired to make way for the line last night hit out at the new government's approach, saying it appeared to be little different to Labor's.

Spokesman Nick Fahey said the news the project was proceeding was conveyed to residents last night in a phone call from the Department of Transport, with no other detail.

He said they were disappointed Mr Mulder did not follow through on commitments to keep residents informed.

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Western suburbs rail line to go ahead

Western suburbs rail line to go ahead

    * Ashley Gardiner
    * From: Herald Sun
    * April 05, 2011 12:00AM

A NEW rail line through Melbourne's western suburbs will go ahead despite a massive funding black hole.

The line, from Werribee to Deer Park, and then into the city, was in doubt after the discovery of the blowout.

Treasury experts now put the extra cost at between $700 million and $1.1 billion, due to underestimated signals and land costs.

On top of that is another $259 million needed to buy more trains and $150 million to remove two level crossings in Sunshine.

Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder blasted the former Brumby government for failing to properly cost the project, originally estimated at $4.3 billion.

"It is a vital piece of infrastructure for both the booming western suburbs and regional Victoria," Mr Mulder said.

"Suburban trains will not be stuck behind country trains, and country trains will not be stuck behind suburban trains."

The project will free up capacity along the Sydenham and Werribee lines, to allow Metro to run more services on overcrowded lines.

This is the result of the removal of V/Line services from the Metro track.

Geelong trains will travel along new track from West Werribee to Deer Park, adding time to the trip to Melbourne, where they will join the Ballarat line.

From Sunshine, trains from Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong will have their own dedicated line into the city.

New stations will be built along the West Werribee-Deer Park section at Wyndham Vale and Tarneit.

But work on the new Caroline Springs station is on hold while the Government works out how much it will need to spend for when its armed station guards begin.

The Federal Government had previously promised $3.2 billion for the project, but $500 million has been deferred to pay for flood reconstruction. The project will not be finished until 2016 at the earliest.

RACV public policy manager Brian Negus said confirmation the project would proceed was good news.

He said removing the level crossings would "improve overall safety and reduce road congestion".

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said doubt remained on how the new line would affect Geelong commuters.

"We need action on expanding the rail network, but there are still significant questions about this project," he said.

[#Metro]

$5 BILLION

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE PRICES??!!!

[ozbob]

CRR is looking cheap .. lol

[Stillwater]

Gazza's pediction that CRR will cost about $6 billion is looking shaky.  Time for the Qld Govt to recost CRR in light of higher prices for concrete and steel etc as a result of the flood reconstruction and higher wages costs in construction to counter well-paid jobs in mining.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Rail link project lacks detail, says transport group

Rail link project lacks detail, says transport group
Clay Lucas and David Rood
April 6, 2011

BASIC details of how a new $5 billion rail line through Melbourne's west will operate remain unanswered by the Baillieu government, despite it being the most expensive single rail project in Victoria's history, a transport users group says.

Transport Minister Terry Mulder said on Monday that the proposed Regional Rail Link would proceed despite a two-year delay in its completion, and a huge increase in costs.

The move comes as the government weighs up whether to give up $1 billion in revenue from a controversial plan to ''tax'' freight entering the Port of Melbourne.

After ending months of speculation about whether it would proceed with the Regional Rail Link, Mr Mulder was unable to say how the government would fund a blowout in the project it estimates at up to $1.1 billion.

''That's a matter for Treasury. There is possibly going to be a requirement for additional budget allocations, depending on how the tenders for the project come in,'' he said.

The Public Transport Users Association criticised the government for approving the project without releasing details of timetables or travel time savings for public scrutiny.

The government also cannot say whether trains using the line will stop at North Melbourne.

While the government looks for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the new rail line, it could give up $1 billion in revenue as it remains undecided on whether to scrap a controversial plan to charge freight users at the Port of Melbourne.

Despite admitting it faces ''serious challenges'' in putting together its first budget, the government is considering abandoning Labor's freight infrastructure charge.

The toll, set to start in the second half of this year, was to contribute $1 billion over 12 years to the then Labor government's $38 billion transport plan, and would have charged for each truck visit to Swanson Dock. Victorian business, farmers and transport companies oppose the charge, with the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry saying it would increase grocery prices.

A spokeswoman for Ports Minister Denis Napthine, who criticised the charge when in opposition, said, the ''tax'' would be considered for the budget.

''The government is facing some serious challenges in framing this year's budget in light of the federal government's proposed slashing of Victoria's GST revenue, the hundreds of millions of dollars of budget black holes left behind by Labor, and the cost of the floods,'' she said.