Freight Rail, Passenger Rail, Rail Supply, Rolling stock & Rail Vehicle Design

Fully-funded Melbourne Metro tunnel headlines big rail budget

Level crossing boom gate removal, with David Andrews and Jacinta Allan. Photo: Level Crossing Removal Authority

The Victorian Government will fully fund the Melbourne Metro Tunnel, as part of a massive state budget for rail announced on Wednesday.

The Andrews Government unveiled its 2016/17 budget with the platform of “good hospitals and schools, reliable roads and public transport, and secure jobs in growing industries”.

Described by Andrews as “the centrepiece” of the budget is the state’s decision to fully fund and deliver the Melbourne Metro tunnel project.

“While the Government will welcome a partnership from any future Federal Government, this project simply cannot wait any longer,” the state government said.

The move is a major development in a saga that has seen the state government ask the Commonwealth for funding on countless occasions.

“Funding the new Metro Tunnel in full, removing 50 level crossings, buying high capacity trains, duplicating the Ballarat line to Melton, fixing the Hurstbridge line, the list goes on,” Andrews said.

“We’re getting it done.

“Passengers will get more trains, more often, that turn up on time, so they can spend more time with family and friends, and less waiting on the platform or stuck in traffic.”

$134 million has been assigned for a planned safety upgrade to the Melbourne Metro City Loop.

The state will also fully fund the $588 million Mernda Rail Project, which will build an 8-kilometre extension from South Morang to Mernda.

$140 million will be invested to upgrade the Hurstbridge line, which includes a pair of level crossing removals.

The upgrade will include duplicating the single section between Heidelberg and Rosanna through a new train tunnel, and installing better power and signalling, to run more trains to Melbourne’s north-east.

The Mernda and Hurstbridge projects will both be managed by the government’s Level Crossing Removal Authority.

“We’re investing $1.3 billion in better regional trains and tracks to reduce overcrowding,” public transport minister Jacinta Allan said, “improve reliability and run more services to growing communities across regional Victoria.”

The Ballarat line will undergo a “massive upgrade,” with $518 million set aside to duplicate the line to Melton, build new crossing loops, carparks, platforms and stabling, and run more service for Ballarat and suburbs in Melbourne’s west.

And the state will fund the next stage of its rolling stock strategy, committing:

  • $875 million for 28 extra High Capacity Metro Trains, on top of the 37 funded by the last budget
  • $280.4 million for 27 VLocity carriages and extra stabling
  • $105.2 million for five X’Trapolis trains
  • $15 million for upgrades to trains on the North East line

$198 million has been set aside to rebuild the capacity of V/Line, and $141 million has been earmarked for major maintenance to improve reliability on the operator’s regional network.

Smaller rail initiatives outlined on Wednesday include:

  • $50 million to deliver the Frankston Station Precinct Upgrade
  • $35 million for metropolitan rail service improvements
  • $23.6 million for minor rail works delivering improvements across regional Victoria
  • $15.8 million for improvements to Bendigo Station and nearby Eaglehawk Station
  • $9 million for practical passenger improvements at stations on the Gippsland line
  • $7.6 million for business cases for projects that will deliver extra services and reliability on the Gippsland and Bendigo lines, and to Armstrong Creek near Geelong
  • $5 million for a business case for track, signalling and other infrastructure upgrades between Upfield and Somerton to increase services to and from Seymour
  • $5 million for planning the next phase of regional rail upgrades identified through work on Victoria’s first ever Regional Network Development Plan
  • $3 million for a business case for duplication of the line from South Geelong to Waurn Ponds