How commuters across Melbourne will be impacted when the Suburban Rail Loop is built
Peak hour commuters in one Melbourne suburb could save up to 40 minutes getting to university or work once the $34.5bn Suburban Rail Loop East opens. See the journey mapped.
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Peak hour commuters in one Melbourne suburb could save between 24 and 40 minutes getting to university or work once the $34.5bn Suburban Rail Loop East opens, new data shows.
Updated expected travel times for SRL passengers have been released by the Allan government as it seeks to showcase wider benefits for its signature rail project — the most expensive ever built in Melbourne.
In a bid to show winners aren’t confined to new station precincts, they studied real-time car and public transport trips across Melbourne, including from suburbs such as Frankston, Ringwood, Cranbourne, Essendon and Preston, to compare commutes.
Most routes selected showed travel savings, but in some scenarios it was still quicker to drive than use the SRL combined with other public transport options.
The most significant time savings were from Cheltenham, where a new station will be built and public transport options towards the city’s east are poor.
Passengers on the SRL would be able to travel to Monash University in 10 minutes, compared to 50 minutes using current public transport options, or 34 minutes by car.
To get to Deakin University in Burwood from Cheltenham would take 19 minutes – also saving 40 minutes on public transport and 29 minutes by car.
The research shows public transport time savings from other suburbs across wider Melbourne that do not have direct access to SRL stations when the project opens in 2035, such as Frankston, East Pakenham and Laverton.
But some of the routes selected had shorter car journeys than SRL travel times, such as between Kew and Monash or Clayton, and between Coburg and Monash University.
Driving from Bayswater to Monash University was 7 minutes quicker than under SRL East scenarios.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the project would mean “less time stuck in traffic or stuck on the train”.
“Our advanced transport modelling shows just how the Suburban Rail Loop will slash travel times, giving you more time back in your day,” she said.
Deakin and Monash universities have strongly backed the project, saying it would open up new options for students and investment around their tertiary precincts.
Deputy vice-chancellor of partnerships at Deakin University, Dr David Halliwell, said connecting rail to the university’s busiest campus for the first time would make “it easier for students living across Melbourne, and beyond, to access high quality tertiary education”.
Senior Vice-President at Monash University, Simon Kupec, said the SRL would “significantly enhance connectivity, drive economic and employment growth, and support long-term development for the Monash community”.
“The SRL Monash station will support more than just Monash University,” he said.
“The Monash Technology Precinct is the largest employment hub outside of the CBD. Employment activity centres that will be serviced by the Monash station include the Victorian Heart Hospital, the Moderna manufacturing site, CSIRO, the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre and the Australian Synchrotron.”
The research set to be released by the government on Sunday used real-time travel conditions at 8am on weekdays, ascertained through the PTV app and Google Maps.
It was done with point-to-point travel, so does not factor in walking or driving to stations, parking for car commuters, or service wait times.
For example, the government says a journey for a nurse living in Burwood and working at Box Hill Hospital will only take 3.5 minutes — which is just the time spent on the train.
It says a patient from Frankston will slash 15 minutes off their trip to Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, with a “seamless interchange at Southland station”.
The government has fended off accusations it is overcapitalising on the SRL East, which is a 26km tunnel from Cheltenham to Box Hill.
Last year, the Herald Sun revealed secret government modelling that showed a low number of passengers were expected to step aboard the SRL, which was designed to be built through to Tullamarine by mid-century.
The leaked analysis showed patronage was up to 11 times higher on existing rail lines.
But the government says that the SRL, which was designed to connect almost all radial rail lines in Melbourne with a new circular line, would allow for 70,000 more homes to be built along the SRL East route, and that once built to Tullamarine it would remove 600,000 cars from roads.
The state opposition has called for the project to be halted or scrapped due to Victoria’s dire budget position, but the premier says the state can’t afford not to build the SRL.
More than $7.6bn in contracts have already been inked, while a further $9-10bn package is at the preferred bidder stage and is expected to be awarded by the end of the year.
Originally published as How commuters across Melbourne will be impacted when the Suburban Rail Loop is built
Sacked street sweeper says he’s speaking for ‘silent majority’
The Darebin City Council worker who won his unfair dismissal claim after being fired for questioning an Acknowledgement of Country has revealed why he took a stand.
Bike lanes ‘a risk’ for cyclists, cars: Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor Nick Reece says the condition of the city’s bike lanes are dangerous for both cyclists and cars— but hasn’t included any funding to fix the problem in the draft council budget.