Geelong-Melbourne rail moves up on infrastructure list

BETTER rail connections between Geelong and Melbourne have moved up the timetable of Infrastructure Australia’s priorities, but the works are not proposed to start for at least five years.

Infrastructure Australia (IA) released the 2021 update to its Infrastructure Priority List (IPL) last month.

“Melbourne–Geelong rail capacity enhancement” has been on the IPL since March 2018, and recognises that “limited capacity, and low train speeds resulting from the inability to run express services between the two centres, will limit Geelong’s potential to grow as an economic hub to complement Melbourne”.

The listing remains as a priority initiative – the fourth of four categories in terms of their relative urgency to be completed – but its timeframe has been upgraded from the longer term (10-15 years) to the medium term (5-10 years).

“A faster rail service between Geelong and Melbourne is currently being assessed by the Victorian Government,” the IPL’s entry states.

“Future growth in the region will need to be monitored to determine the optimal timing for and scope of infrastructure upgrades for the corridor.”

The initiative is presently in Stage 1 of the IPL’s assessment framework, and the Victorian Government, as the project’s proponent, must identify initiatives and develop options to progress it to Stage 2.

The IPL states electrifying all of the trains on the Geelong-Melbourne line (as opposed to the existing diesel trains) would allow operation of higher capacity trains with increased reliability and interoperability with the Melbourne metropolitan rail system.

Duplicating the existing single-track pair would also allow for express services to operate through the suburban Melbourne sections of the line, providing faster journey times.

At the moment, a train service between the Geelong and Southern Cross station takes about an hour at an average speed of between 70-80kmh.

In November 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Daniel Andrews jointly announced Stage One of the Geelong Fast Rail project, which will deliver a travel time of about 50 minutes between Geelong and Melbourne.

Construction on the project, supported by $4 billion of state and federal funding, is expected to begin in 2023, subject to relevant planning, environmental and government approvals, and support 2,800 jobs, with the project’s completion date unknown.