Also refer to:
- Battle for Alexandra Parade
- Doncaster Area Rapid Train (Doncaster DART)
- Transport Summit
- Rail Tunnel?
- Tunnel Plans
- Finances
- Quotes
- Tunnel Plans for Royal Park
Dr Paul Mees: Does Melbourne need another Central City rail tunnel?
This paper by Dr Paul Mees makes you wonder about the Department of Transport’s plan to spend $8.5 billion on another hole in the ground, instead of running the system efficiently and improving customer services, arguing that $8.5 billion could pay for:
- elimination of all rail level crossings in greater Melbourne ($3 billion), plus
- new lines to East Doncaster, Rowville (via Monash), Mornington, Aurora, Mernda (via South Morang) and Melbourne Airport ($2 billion), plus
- electrification of lines to Melton (via Caroline Springs, and including track duplication), Sunbury and Cranbourne East, and duplication of single-track sections on the Cranbourne, Hurstbridge, Epping, Lilydale, Belgrave and Altona lines ($1billion), plus
- doubling the size of the train fleet ($2 billion).
Dr Mee’s argues that ample capacity is already there in the city loop, but we forgot how to run a train system effectively over many decades of neglect.
So why build it? Is it just to give the department an excuse why Connex can’t improve services for another decade.
Another possibility is that the Victorian Government is focused on the Federal Government’s suplus funds for big Projects. Mr Brumby hinted at the massive funding boost that would be needed to pay for the projects included in November’s transport plan. He said: “(The projects) will be projects that are bigger than EastLink, bigger than channel deepening.” [The Age, Sept 6 2008].
This is why the Government focuses on BIG TICKET projects rather than fix real issues, like extending the reach of the train system or bringing back The Connies, and station platform staff instead of ticket inspectors. This would not cost anything according to a study
Staying on track: why conductors keep profits rolling. [The Age, July 20, 2008]
