A new cross-city rail tunnel providing faster and more frequent trains to Melbourne’s growing western and north-eastern suburbs was slated to open as early as 2030 before being delayed indefinitely when the state government committed to building the Suburban Rail Loop through the eastern suburbs.

Transport experts say booming areas around Melton, Wyndham Vale and Werribee cannot get the modern train services they need without a second rail corridor to the CBD and are calling for detailed planning work on the Melbourne Metro 2 (MM2) to begin.

Documents seen by The Age reveal how prominent the MM2 once was in state government transport plans and how quickly it disappeared after the former Andrews government embarked on the SRL East and North projects in 2018.

Melbourne’s west is Australia’s fastest-growing region. Wyndham and Melton residents complain of overcrowding on the V/Line trains they share with regional travellers.

The Age is increasing its focus on Melbourne’s booming west with a special series examining the positives and challenges for the region. Our reporters are moderating a West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance’s (WoMEDA) summit, which begins on Wednesday night.

A Victoria University report, commissioned by WoMEDA, shows that within the next decade more than half of the western suburbs workforce will commute outside the region to work, putting further pressure on congested roads and public transport while reducing quality of life.

The MM2 was first detailed in a rail Network Development Plan published in 2013, and consisted of a 15-kilometre rail tunnel from Newport to Clifton Hill, via Fishermans Bend, the CBD, Parkville and Fitzroy.

It was seen as a follow-up project to the soon-to-open Metro Tunnel (or Melbourne Metro 1) that replicates many of the same benefits. The MM2 would link the Werribee and Mernda lines and unlock development in the now-stalled Fishermans Bend precinct.

The transport department has not publicly released a long-term rail network plan since Labor won power in 2014.

But a Public Transport Victoria plan from April 2018, seen by The Age, shows the now-defunct agency envisaged that a western leg of the MM2 – connecting Werribee to Parkville – would open in 2030.

A second stage, from Parkville to Clifton Hill, would have been completed in 2034, the confidential plan shows.

But less than a year later, the MM2 was airbrushed out after then-premier Daniel Andrews announced Labor’s commitment to the Suburban Rail Loop in the lead-up to his November 2018 election victory.

The $34.5 billion SRL East, from Cheltenham to Box Hill, is set to open in 2035, followed by SRL North, from Box Hill to Melbourne Airport, in the early 2050s.

Victoria’s Rail Plan from February 2019 introduces SRL East and SRL North and removes any mention of the MM2.

Instead, the plan makes a vague reference to a project that would deliver “increased capacity from the west and the north-west” and be built in the third of three future “horizons”.

The SRL North, which has a 2053 completion date, is also in “Horizon 3”, suggesting MM2 was pushed back 20 years or more.

The 2019 plan is marked cabinet-in-confidence and was signed off by now-premier Jacinta Allan, in her former role as infrastructure minister, and Melissa Horne, the then transport minister and member for Williamstown.

Eric Keys, a transport planner and project director of the Metro Tunnel during its early development, said the state government needed to start detailed planning for the MM2 or the western suburbs would be condemned to suffer the economic, health and environmental impacts of car dependency.

“Abandoning the long-mooted Melbourne Metro 2 will undermine two decades of planning work to ensure Melbourne’s west is provided with the sort of public transport infrastructure taken for granted in the south-eastern suburbs,” he said.

Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch said the MM2 was essential to enabling high-frequency rail services to the west, especially when the Melbourne Airport Rail Link is built in the early 2030s and takes up some of the already limited capacity.

“Fundamentally, what the rail system lacks is more capacity between the CBD and Sunshine,” he said. “There is no other solution – you have to have another corridor.”

Infrastructure Victoria said in 2021 that the MM2 could be needed as soon as 2036, could take a decade to build and cost between $27.4 billion and $36.7 billion.

It estimated the number of Wyndham residents who could access a job within 60 minutes would increase by 22 per cent by 2050 if the MM2 was built, and called for the government to produce a business case and protect land for the project.

It is not clear if the transport department has revived MM2 in its rail plans since 2019 and if so, what the delivery time frame is.

Earlier this month it released a new Fishermans Bend Integrated Transport Plan, which proposes two underground train stations in the urban renewal precinct and a third next to Marvel Stadium in Docklands, which could connect to Southern Cross, in the 2050s.

An Allan government spokesperson said the MM2 was a long-term plan and the state would continue to assess and invest in transport projects.

They said the state government was investing $650 million on Melton line upgrades to prepare for longer V/Line trains and that the $4 billion Sunshine Superhub work would enable its eventual electrification.

“We’re getting on and delivering the biggest pipeline of transport projects in this state’s history,” the spokesperson said.

The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, is held on October 22-23. For details go to womeda.com.au

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