Melbourne's underground rail link: a critical connection

The tunnel is Stage One of the $4.5 billion Melbourne Metro project and was included as a short-medium term priority in the State's submission to Infrastructure Australia (IA). The project made it to IA's priority list of infrastructure projects and received $40 million in Federal funding.
The tunnel is proposed to run between Dynon and in the west and St Kilda Road at Domain.
A new Parkville station would provide rail access to Melbourne University, serving thousands of tertiary students and health care workers in the area as well as providing a seamless link from the inner west to the St Kilda Road precinct, Brumby said.
“Stations could also be constructed or redeveloped between Footscray and Parkville, the CBD, South Melbourne and Domain," he said.
According to IA's National Infrastructure Priorites report, by creating more rail track in the inner-city, the underground rail link will provide higher capacity with an additional 120 trains during peak periods each day, or 84,000 additional commuters.
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia’s executive director Brendan Lyon said that the Melbourne Metro project is the most important way to increase capacity and reduce public transport congestion in Melbourne.
With Melbourne’s growing population driving unprecedented demand for public transport, Lyon said that in the past three years, patronage has surged by 10 per cent each year.
“Without these kinds of transformational projects, Melbourne’s famous liveability would be put at risk,” he said.
The new Metro rail tunnel is particularly important because it will also address capacity on bus and tram networks as well as the rail system, Lyon said, adding that the tunnel will boost capacity at the City’s two main existing transport bottlenecks – the city loop and the St Kilda Road tramline.
Brumby also revealed concept designs of stations and opportunities for urban renewal, and said that soil and engineering test works on the Melbourne Metro project could start before the end of the year.
Construction on Melbourne Metro is expected to start in 2012 and the Victorian Government will be seeking Federal funding for the project.
Stage Two, linking Domain to Caulfield with additional tracks between Caulfield and Westall, will be considered in the longer term.
Lyon said that Victoria’s Transport Plan is one of the nation’s most comprehensive roadmaps for transport infrastructure.