Federal government axes Geelong fast rail pledge

Advocates have called for culled fast rail funding to be locally reinvested in a bid to help relieve pressure on an overcrowded Geelong line.

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Catherine King holds a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A Victorian commuter group has called for culled fast rail funding to be reinvested in a bid to help relieve pressure on an overcrowded Geelong line.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Catherine King announced $2bn in federal funding for Geelong fast rail would be culled alongside dozens of other projects after a review of the Commonwealth Government’s infrastructure pipeline.

It comes a year after the state government put the project on hold owing to rising costs.

Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) Geelong convener Paul Westcott said the fast rail project proposed by the state government was “no loss” to local travellers, only cutting 10 minutes from a one-way commute.

Waurn Ponds Train Station. Picture: Alan Barber

“It would only have led to minimal time savings, and not increased reliability or frequency of services,” he said.

While the $2bn will remain unallocated Victorian state funding, there is no guarantee it will be spent on Geelong projects.

Instead, Mr Westcott called for the money to be invested in the western rail plan - which would involve duplicating the tracks to Wyndham Vale to improve capacity on the Geelong line.

“Two of those tracks would be metro train tracks, and the other two would be available for V/Line trains to bypass stations like Deer Park and Tarneit,” he said.

“We know the most severe overcrowding happens between Wyndham Vale and Melbourne.”

Similar calls to reinvest money were echoed by Avalon boss Tony Brun and Committee for Geelong chief executive Michael Johnston on Thursday, who wanted cash splashed on a train station at Avalon Airport.

“This funding could be redirected into delivering a train station at Avalon, providing an airport rail connection for the state as well as a public transport option for the growing number of employees on site at the Avalon precinct,” Mr Johnston said.

Senator Sarah Henderson also said the Commonwealth should “ensure this federal funding is not lost to our region”.

Geelong state MP Christine Couzens and federal Corangamite MP Libby Coker didn’t say whether or not she felt the $2bn stripped from the project should go to other local plans.

“We will consider the findings in the report – and in the meantime, we are getting on with delivering projects across Victoria, building the infrastructure that Victorians need,” Ms Couzens told the Geelong Advertiser.

“All funding for Victorian projects the Commonwealth has cancelled must stay in Victoria - in their Budget, the Commonwealth promised Victoria our fair share of infrastructure funding, and we’ll make sure every cent stays in our state.”

Premier Jacinta Allan did not respond to request for comment.

‘Bitter blow’: Feds axe Geelong fast rail funding

Key community leaders have slammed a federal government decision to axe fast rail funding worth $2bn for Geelong after an independent review found the project didn’t stack up.

A review of the federal government’s $12bn infrastructure pipeline released Thursday revealed concerns over planned costs, with recommendations from an independent panel calling for 50 projects – including Geelong fast rail – to be culled.

The review identified $32bn worth of cost blowouts on infrastructure projects across the country.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan said the news was a “bitter blow” for the region.

“Having promised our community a world-class rail system, the Federal Government has now abandoned those promises,” he said.

“We will now ramp up our fight for our transport funding from the State Government.”

Federal Minister Catherine King told media on Thursday the Geelong Fast Rail, as well as other major state projects including the business case for the Melbourne Intermodal Rail Terminal, and the Frankston to Baxter rail upgrade would not receive federal funding.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan. Comm Games presser. Picture: Alan Barber

“The government has made necessary decisions to no longer provide funding,” she said.

“This includes projects that were not realistically going to be delivered with the funding available, have made little to no progress over a significant amount of time, and projects that do not align with Commonwealth or state and territory priorities.”

Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said the move was a “kick in the guts”.

“Geelong Fast Rail was set to deliver very major benefits for our economy as well as reduced travel times for commuters,” she said.

“This project was expected to create some 2800 construction jobs.”

But Corangamite MP Libby Coker and Corio MP Richard Marles defended the decision to slash funding in a joint statement.

“The concept of the Geelong Fast Rail is another example of the Liberal Party promising pie in the sky projects without proper funding,” it read.

“They never gave the project the funding it needed to be taken seriously.”

Premier Jacinta Allan and the state government were contacted for comment.

Geelong Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jeremy Crawford said funding for transport infrastructure – particularly in growing areas like Geelong – was “critical”.

“We’d like to see governments at all levels more effectively cost these types of projects, rather than back-and-forth budgets,” he said.

“It sets the dial back many years, if not decades, on the work that goes into projects like this.”

While it’s understood the $2bn will remain with Victoria as unallocated funding, there’s no guarantee it will go to Geelong.

Committee for Geelong chief executive Michael Johnston and Avalon boss Tony Brun called for funds to be redirected into funding a train station at Geelong’s regional airport.

“We still recognise the need for a Melbourne Tullamarine Airport train service,” Mr Brun said. “Melbourne and Victoria need a simpler, quicker and cheaper train solution delivered first – and that is the Avalon Airport Rail project.”

Longtime rail advocate and Geelong councillor Bruce Harwood echoed Mr Crawford’s sentiments, telling the Geelong Advertiser the news was “disappointing”.

“The Geelong line is already running at 140 per cent capacity, it’s completely unsustainable and we’ve done nothing about it,” he said.

Committee for Geelong boss Michael Johnston. Picture: Alan Barber

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and ex-Premier Dan Andrews committed $2bn funding for the long-anticipated project in November 2020, with initial plans to begin construction this year.

Under the plan, track would be upgraded between Werribee and Laverton and a new dedicated express track would have slashed 15 minutes of commuter time between the state’s two largest cities.

But the project soon ran into trouble and was paused by the state government last year due to a budget deficit.

It comes amid news the federal government committed to stumping up half the money for Victoria’s $10bn airport rail link.

When asked about the decision to slash Geelong’s fast rail cash, Ms King said Victoria received its “fair share” of federal funding.

“Every state is getting a good and fair share of the infrastructure pipeline,” she said.

According to G21’s transport strategy released in July, all levels of government would need to invest heavily in public transport connections to avoid a 491 per cent increase in Geelong road congestion in the next 20 years.

“We are attracting record numbers of young people and have a rare opportunity to turbocharge our regional economy,” G21 chief executive Giulia Baggio said.

“We will not achieve that without a serious program of transport investment, which is already overdue.”

It’s understood a Geelong-Portarlington Rd intersection upgrade will receive an additional $500,000 cash injection from the federal government, while the Surf Coast Hwy, Reserve Rd and Felix St intersection improvements will move forward with an additional $185,000 in federal funding.

Originally published as Federal government axes Geelong fast rail pledge