Liberals pledge to extend Frankston line to Baxter

An opposition proposal to extend one of Melbourne’s busiest railway lines is billed as a solution to the southeast’s “growing pains”.

Melbourne’s busy Frankston railway line would be extended out to Baxter under a Matthew Guy government in an effort to cut congestion and address a shortfall in public transport.

Under the $971m plan, the metropolitan network would be expanded with fully electrified and duplicated tracks towards the Mornington Peninsula, with suburbs past Frankston currently serviced by V/line.

Both local councils in the area, along with community groups, have long-called for the Metro network to be extended out to service areas with poor public transport, match population growth and to provide better options for people on the peninsula.

Federal funding of $225m has been put aside but the Andrews Government is yet to commit to the proposal, with Infrastructure Victoria last year suggesting an improved bus network instead.

The Metro train line would be extended beyond Frankston Station under the proposal. Picture: Wayne Taylor

In 2018, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy promised to match federal funding for the project but on Saturday unveiled an updated $971m pledge with added improvements.

The existing V/Line Stony Point line would be electrified and duplicated between Frankston and Baxter, with stations upgraded at both locations.

Local residents in growth suburbs would also access two new railway stations at Langwarrin and Frankston East, where a medical and education precinct continues to develop.

A Coalition government would also remove six level crossings along the new electrified track.

“Once we deliver this much-needed extension, thousands of families will have better connections both to and from the CBD,” Mr Guy said.

“We will electrify, extend, and duplicate important parts of the Metro network to ensure commuters get to where they need to go more quickly and more reliably.

“Our plan is a real solution to the growing pains the southern suburbs are feeling after years of being left behind.”

Once the project is finished, V/line services would no longer run from Frankston to Baxter but would continue out to Stony Point, with the option of further electrification in the future.

Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman, Matt Bach, said Frankston residents had been ignored despite vocally pushing for the railway upgrades

“Despite $225 million of Commonwealth funding being available for the project, Daniel Andrews has failed to act, and it’s Frankston and surrounds that are being left behind,” he said.

“Our plan will deliver more stations, more trains, and set our public transport network up for the future.”

Earlier this week, the Liberals and Nationals also pledged to extend the Cranbourne line out to Clyde to service other booming parts of the outer suburbs.

A spokesman for the Andrews Government hit out at the Opposition over the announcement.

“You can’t trust Matthew Guy’s Liberals on public transport,” he said.

“They’ve opposed all 20 level crossing removals along the Frankston line and promised to cut the Suburban Rail Loop, putting at risk thousands of jobs.

“Last time they were in charge, they broke their promises on Avalon Rail, Doncaster Rail, Airport Rail and Rowville Rail and didn’t deliver a single kilometre of track.”

Libs’ $1bn rail pledge

The Andrews government is under intense pressure to match an almost $1bn pledge to extend the Metro train line by 5km to service Melbourne’s booming southeast.

As revealed by the Herald Sun, Clyde would become connected to the Metro train line as part of a $928m upgrade if the Coalition wins November’s election.

It’s a project that the community has long been calling for, and one that has been backed by the City of Casey and Infrastructure Victoria.

In mid-2021, 97 per cent of surveyed Casey residents said they supported the project.

City of Casey Chair of Administrators Noelene Duff welcomed the Coalition’s commitment.

“Council has been advocating for Clyde Rail Link for many years and is pleased to see it being prioritised by the opposition Government,” Ms Duff said.

“Clyde Rail Link is needed to connect our fast-growing communities to essential services and jobs and to ease traffic congestion.

“We’d like to see commitments from all major parties towards Clyde Rail Link in the lead up to the election to see that it gets delivered and achieves the benefits for our community sooner rather than later.”

Daniel Andrews was non-committal as to whether a government he leads would match the opposition’s pledged project. Picture: Nicki Connolly

The growing suburbs of Clyde and Clyde North are set to be home to more than 100,000 residents by 2031 and are currently without access to a local train station.

But Premier Daniel Andrews was non-committal as to whether a government he leads would match the project.

“You can’t catch a Liberal Party promise to work because they never deliver on them,” he said.

“They can make their promises.

“We’ll have more to say about rail over coming weeks.”

The opposition’s total package, expected to cost $928m, would also include a new stabling yard built in Clyde, new train stations in Cranbourne East and Clyde, and an upgrade to the existing Cranbourne station.

Road-rail grade separations would be used to ensure level crossings were not created.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy is set to announce plans to extend the Cranbourne rail line by 5km to Clyde. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The long-awaited project, backed by the City of Casey, was first flagged by the Liberals at the 2018 election and has been the centre of a long community campaign.

The City of Casey is one of Australia’s fastest-growing communities, with the area’s population set to reach nearly 550,000 by 2041.

Last year, 42,843 people called Clyde and Clyde North home, with that figure expected to rise to almost 160,000 within the next two decades.

In its 30-year infrastructure strategy, released in 2016, Infrastructure Victoria recommended that the government extend the Cranbourne rail line to Clyde within 10-15 years.

“This will provide better access to high growth areas in the southeast of Melbourne,” the report stated.

Despite the area’s rapid growth, Mr Guy said local communities were forced to live in worsening congestion, and had a lack of railway connectivity to the Metro network.

Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman Matt Bach says the community has been ‘neglected and left behind by the Labor government’. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

The opposition took the rail extension to the 2018 election and if elected pledged to have work under way by the following year with works to have been completed by 2022.

Mr Guy said the commitment was an “important real solution” to deliver quick commutes and better connectivity for communities across Melbourne’s growing southeast.

“Under this plan, residents across southern Casey will finally be connected to the Metro network, meaning quicker and more reliable travel for hundreds of thousands of Victorians and their families,” he said. “Only a Liberals and Nationals government will deliver this long overdue project and cut congestion in the rapidly growing southeastern suburbs of Casey.”

Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman Matt Bach said for years the community had been “neglected and left behind by the Andrews Labor government”.

“It’s unacceptable one of Melbourne’s fastest growing communities isn’t connected to the metropolitan rail network,” he said. The project will be delivered in the first term of a Coalition government.