Matt Johnston: Labor’s subway plan has a long way to travel
LABOR’S $50 billion plan to build a new suburban subway system is such a “bold idea” that it risks sounding like a pipe dream to many voters, writes Matt Johnston.
Opinion
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LABOR’S 2014 state election promise to get rid of 50 level crossings was easy to sell because it helped road and rail users.
You catch the train and want it to come more regularly or travel a bit faster? You need level crossings removed.
You drive and want your trip to work a bit quicker? You need level crossings removed.
It was practical and people believed it could happen — even if it was ambitious and expensive.
Today, the Andrews Government has released its 2018 version of that policy, on steroids.
It’s such a “bold idea”, as Dan Andrews trumpeted on his social media pages, that it risks sounding like a pipe dream to many voters.
$50B UNDERGROUND NETWORK FOR MELBOURNE’S SUBURBS
I’ve got to admit when I first saw the plan to build a suburban orbital rail tunnel from Cheltenham to Werribee I thought the government had jumped the shark on infrastructure.
It’s taken several decades of talk about a rail line to the airport to happen, how are we suddenly tunnelling around Melbourne to create something several times longer?
On Triple M where Dan first spoke about his idea, Eddie McGuire bowled up a few Dorothy Dixers but then made the quip that it sounded like an idea from Utopia.
There is no actual cost yet, although to tunnel from Cheltenham to Tullamarine and then link to Werribee is being put at the $50 billion mark. But how would they know?
Andrews was upfront about the fact it was expensive, and would take decades to build.
He said just because he wouldn’t be premier when this thing is built was no reason to avoid planning for a city of eight million people.
He said Labor was building Melbourne Metro and was ahead of schedule on level crossing removals.
The cost of these projects is substantial, and was part-funded by leasing the Port of Melbourne for $9.7 billion.
There isn’t another Port of Melbourne.
But by putting $300 million on the table next year to properly plan and do a business case for the new line is a huge commitment.
The project could also be done in sections. For example, tunnelling from Cheltenham to Monash University first.
That makes the whole project seem more feasible. Comparing it to the ring road is a good way for people to imagine the project coming together a piece at a time.
The state opposition has not outright rejected the proposal, saying it should be considered by Infrastructure Victoria.
That’s the body Andrews said would “take the politics out of infrastructure” — a body he needed after dumping contracts for the East West Link.
But the opposition’s decision to effectively play dead on this proposal — for now — tells us plenty about its potential popularity.
Both sides of politics know that people jamming into trains in the morning, and braking and beeping their way to work, want to hear about solutions.
Even if, for many, this one won’t be built during the term of their working lives. That is, if they believe it will be built at all
WHAT WE KNOW:
• $50 billion
• Up to 90km of rail, connecting all major lines between the Frankston and Werribee lines
• At least 12 new underground stations
• Busiest train line in Melbourne by 2051, with about 400,000 passengers a day
• About 20,000 jobs created during construction
• Planning to begin next year and construction underway in 2022, if Labor wins November’s election
• Construction to take about 30 years
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