Opposition will derail train loop

THE state opposition will scrap the suburban rail loop if it wins the November election.

When complete, the suburban rail loop will link every major rail line with Melbourne Airport. The first stop on the railway will be at a new Cheltenham Station on the Frankston line.

Last week the Victorian Liberals announced that they would put a stop to the project to divert the funding into the state’s struggling health system. Shadow treasurer David Davis said “instead of tying up hundreds of billions for decades to come, we will shelve this project and put every cent into fixing the health crisis.”

“When Victorians in need can’t get an ambulance, an answer to a triple-zero call or access critical treatments, it’s clear this is the wrong project at the wrong time,” he said.

The eastern section of the rail project, from Cheltenham to Box Hill, was priced at up to $34.5 billion in an investment case released last year. A recent report on the project undertaken by the Parliamentary Budget Office predicts that SRL East could end up costing up to $36.5 billion.

The PBO report estimates that it will cost more than $125 billion to complete the railway between Cheltenham and the airport.

So far the state government has budgeted $11.8 billion for SRL works. It committed $2.2 billion for early works in late 2020.

Suburban rail loop minister Jacinta Allan slammed the opposition’s announcement. She said that scrapping the project would cost 24,000 jobs. “Victorians voted for this project that will create thousands of jobs, and today Matthew Guy has finally come clean. The Liberals will cut the suburban rail loop,” she said. “Whether it’s building the suburban rail loop, the Metro tunnel, the north-east link, upgrading suburban roads, or removing level crossings, only Labor will deliver the projects Victorians need.”

Initial works on the rail loop began in Clayton in June this year. The opposition says it won’t tear up the contracts signed for early works if elected.

SRL East between Cheltenham and Box Hill is expected to be complete in 2035. SRL North linking Box Hill to Melbourne Airport is not expected to be complete until 2053.

A Suburban Rail Loop spokesperson said that Cheltenham “will be the southern gateway to SRL, providing convenient connections to Monash, Deakin and La Trobe universities, and easy access to jobs and health centres along the SRL network. It’ll slash travel times and traffic congestion, taking just 22 minutes to Box Hill.”

First published in the Frankston Times – 23 August 2022