THE east-west link will prove the most expensive white elephant in the history of Victoria. The Northern Central City Corridor Study (2003) and the Rod Eddington Review (2008) established that most traffic is not travelling east-west but north-south, with most headed for the CBD. The financial wizards have pronounced the project a dud – it will return only 50 cents for every dollar invested.
For years the public has been shouting from the rooftops for efficient, extended public transport to the outer suburbs. One reason the Brumby government lost the ”sandbelt” seats was that people blamed Labor for the overcrowded, unreliable trains on the Frankston line.
With a rapidly growing population, the government will never catch up in providing the requisite infrastructure. Only planning for new train services, as exemplified in Western Australia, will help the travelling public and reduce the congestion now choking major traffic arteries in the city.
Julianne Bell, Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc. Parkville – Melbourne Times Weekly 19 November 2012
