Eastern section of Suburban Rail Loop to run as stand-alone rail line
A yet-to-be-built train line linking suburbs in Melbourne’s outer reaches will run as a stand-alone line, raising questions about how the system will fit in with other ambitious rail projects.
National
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Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop will run as a separate line complete with shorter platforms, frequent services and its own fleet of trains when built.
Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday announced new details of the ambitious project, expected to begin by 2022, to mark the one-year anniversary of the 2018 state election.
But the announcement has raised questions about how the line will work with Melbourne’s airport rail link.
Newly released plans indicate four to five carriages trains will be built for the loop to allow for faster speeds than existing services.
Passengers will use the same ticketing system across the state and new technology will be used rather than retrofitting the fleet into the city’s century-old network.
Mr Andrews said the decision was an important step in developing the 90km rail ring, with drilling and soil testing already underway between Box Hill and Cheltenham.
“This will be a really big game changer in terms of how people move around the city,” he said.
The state government is hoping to use private investment, driven by the growth around stations, to help fund the project.
But Mr Andrews said it was not yet known if the new trains would be automated or how much the project would cost in total.
“The ultimate decision about that (automated trains) probably won’t be made by our government,” he said.
“My preference would be for drivers. I think you get better services and you get safer outcomes that way.
“Each stage will have its own unique cost and its own unique challenges … It is a bit difficult to answer until we get that investment case finished.”
The dedicated trains will run along the section of the loop stretching from Box Hill to Cheltenham but the decision has raised the possibility passengers may have to switch services to use the city’s airport rail link.
The government is currently considering a proposal from a private consortium that would deliver separate 20 minute express services between Tullamarine and Southern Cross Station.
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Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the government had time to make sure new projects integrated into the rest of the public transport network.
“In big cities you can have different rail technologies coexisting,” he said.
Originally published as Eastern section of Suburban Rail Loop to run as stand-alone rail line