Suburban Rail Loop to get huge cash kick-starter in state Budget
Daniel Andrews has pledged a $2.2 billion cash boost for Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop to kickstart the first phase of the project — and he has confirmed where the rail line will start.
Victoria
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New 26km underground rail link between Melbourne’s southeast and eastern suburbs will get a $2.2bn cash injection in the state budget.
The eye-watering “early works” funding has been locked in ahead of an investment case being finished next year to show the costs and benefits of building the tunnel.
The link, from Southland station in the southeast to Box Hill in the east, will be the first stage of the massive 90km Suburban Rail Loop promised in 2018 by Premier Daniel Andrews.
No cost has been provided for the SRL, which would eventually stretch all the way to Werribee via Bundoora, Broadmeadows, and Melbourne Airport — connecting to every existing rail line except Sandringham.
Mr Andrews said the massive project would change the way Melburnians moved around the city and connect many major education, employment, and industry hubs to a rail service for the first time.
This includes Monash University and Deakin University in Burwood under the project’s first stage.
“This is all about connecting people to where they work, where they live, less cars on the road, less trips to the city if you don’t need to make those trips,” the Premier said.
Other underground stations built in stage one will be at Southland in Cheltenham, at Clayton to link with regional services, and at Box Hill and Glen Waverley.
Mr Andrews said the project would create 800 jobs and during construction would see 20,000 people in work.
The spending splurge comes as the government faces massive cost blowouts on other major projects, including the West Gate Tunnel and a Melbourne Metro rail tunnel.
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the SRL was still a “headline without a deadline”.
Mr O’Brien said early cost estimates had ranged between $50bn and $100bn, and his transport infrastructure spokesman David Davis said the public deserved to know how the project would be funded.
“Will there be levies on people’s rates notices? Will small businesses along the route pay additional fees? How much and for how long?” Mr Davis said.
He said cross-city transport options were needed as Melbourne’s population grows, but the investment had to be sound.
The Melbourne Metro rail link was costed at $11bn in 2017, for 9km of underground tunnels. However, Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan cautioned against assuming that 26km of tunnel for the SRL Stage One would cost about triple that figure.
Ms Allan said the investment case due next year would guide the delivery date and costs.
“This is a lot of money, this is a very, very big project,” she said. “We can keep funnelling people in and out of the city. Or we can look at putting jobs closer to where people live.”
The $2.2bn comes on top of $300m spent on design and planning work.
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Originally published as Suburban Rail Loop to get huge cash kick-starter in state Budget
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