Suburban Rail Loop business case not sent to Infrastructure Australia

The Andrews government’s Suburban Rail Loop is expected to cost taxpayers $34.5bn, but the nation’s leading body on infrastructure hasn’t seen a business case for it.

The Andrews government has been accused of hypocrisy by ploughing ahead with its $30-34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop before having a business case assessed by Infrastructure Australia.

Infrastructure Australia has confirmed it has not been sent a business case — which was done last year by the Andrews government — for the SRL because it is still working on a “defining problems and opportunities” stage of a project assessment framework.

The advisory body, which helps the Commonwealth decide what to back with federal taxpayer cash, has put a project on its priority list for assessment called “Melbourne middle and outer suburban transport connectivity” — an issue the SRL will purportedly address.
The SRL is a 90km orbital rail line between Cheltenham and Werribee, of which a 26km first stage is being planned for between Cheltenham and Box Hill.

Infrastructure Australia has confirmed it has not been sent a business case — which was done last year by the Andrews Government.

Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman Matt Bach said the government was proceeding with the most expensive project in Victoria’s history without having it properly scrutinised.

He also said it was hypocrisy by Premier Daniel Andrews, who ripped up an East West Link contract in 2015 and declared: “we will never again see a situation where a government, too embarrassed to submit a business case to Infrastructure Australia, lies, deceives and misleads all Victorians on infrastructure priorities”.

“The so-called Suburban Rail Loop was dreamt up by Labor prior to the 2018 election, with no input from any expert body,” Mr Bach said.

“Four years later and still a business case has not been provided to Infrastructure Australia for

analysis.

“Could it be that, given its eye-watering cost, Daniel Andrews’ pet project simply doesn’t stack up?”

A spokeswoman for Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan dismissed the criticism, saying Victorians had voted for the SRL.

She also took aim at the structure of the federal advisory body, which was first established by Anthony Albanese, suggesting it was too slow to assess projects.

“If we waited for Infrastructure Australia to finalise all their assessment processes before starting work on projects then the Metro Tunnel would be years away, 65 level crossings would not have been removed and we would not be building Melbourne Airport Rail,” she said.

T Suburban Rail Loop is expected to become the most expensive project in Victoria’s history..

The airport rail link is backed by federal and state governments, with $5bn pledged to get it built.

A spokesman for Infrastructure Australia said there had been an early-stage submission for the SRL on November 3, but that did not include a Business Case.

“We continue to engage with the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, however no new material has been received beyond the original submission.

“Melbourne middle and outer suburban transport connectivity was listed as an early-stage proposal on Infrastructure Australia’s Priority List in June 2022, recognising the challenges of Melbourne’s monocentric urban form and the constraints it places on the economic potential of Melbourne’s suburbs.

“The next step for assessment is for an options analysis submission (Stage 2) which should consider infrastructure and non-infrastructure options for addressing the identified challenges.”