Victoria’s $3.2b rail link reaches milestone

The centrepiece of the state government’s $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan (VTP), the jointly funded project received $3.2 billion from the federal government via Infrastructure Australia – the largest amount of federal funding given to any of the rail projects that made IA’s priority and pipeline list of infrastructure projects – with the Victorian government investing $1.1 billion.
Separating Victoria’s regional and metropolitan trains for the first time, the rail link’s $4.3 billion price tag is the single biggest investment since the city loop was built and the first major new rail line for metropolitan Melbourne in 80 years.
A 40 kilometre dual track link from West Werribee to central Melbourne's Southern Cross Station via Sunshine, the Regional Rail Link will improve reliability for Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo V/Line services and free up capacity for more trains on the Werribee, Craigieburn and Sunbury (Sydenham) suburban lines, public transport minister Lynne Kosky said.
The government said the project will deliver enough capacity for an extra 9000 passengers every hour.
The Regional Rail Link also involves:
.Construction of a new rail line from Werribee to Deer Park;
.New stations at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale;
.Activating and lengthening Platforms 15 and 16 at Southern Cross station;
.Duplication of existing tracks between Sunshine and Kensington; and
.At least four grade separations so that no new level crossings are created by the project.
Initial works on Southern Cross Station began in August, while full scale construction is expected to begin in 2010.